Everyone loves to indulge every now and again. However discovering the different way to prepare and eat can change your family’s relationship with food. Here you will find out some ingenious ways to create healthy alternatives for foods your family already loves.

Can’t Give Up Mac and Cheese?

Processed pasta is not a good thing to eat on a regular basis. Get rid of boxed mac and cheese and make some at home. You can make a velvety cheese based sauce with added butternut squash. This sweet taste on mac and cheese is sure to be satisfying.

Take it a step further and replace your high carb noodles with a plant-based pasta made out of chickpeas or legumes. The texture may be a little grainier than regular pasta but it tastes almost the same.  

Try Nature’s Candy

We sneak candy into our diets without even realizing the damage it is doing to us in the long run. Try frozen fruit instead of your usual sour patch kids. Swapping this out means  will get the nutrients but still get that sweet satisfaction. You can freeze any fruit you want but to get that candy like feel. Try freezing grapes or berries to get an icy cool sweet snack.

DIY Pizza

You have two options you can make the pizza bread crust with a cauliflower alternative, but if the classic pizza dough is what you crave then why not make it from scratch at home and just switch out what’s on top of the pizza instead?

To really add some flavour to your pizza whip up some smoked veggies. Putting the veggies in a natural gas smoker will ensure you don’t have to load up on cheese or fatty meats to add flavour. Try using eggplant or mushroom as they hold a lot of flavour and texture.

So how do you get started? Have your homemade pizza dough ready – spread it out on a baking pan that has been properly floured – brush the pizza dough with some extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle on your smoked vegies as well as a moderate amount of your favourite low fat cheese. (If you’re feeling a little fancy, feel free to mix some black pepper, garlic powder and some of your favourite spices in with your vegies beforehand!)

Don’t Step Away From The French Fries

Self proclaimed health nuts even like to have French fries from time to time. The next time you want fries try baking them instead of deep frying them litres of oil. When at home try tossing your sweet potato wedges in a bag with olive oil and semolina. This coating with ensure you get a crispy oven chip everytime. You can also try using a  healthy oil like coconut to help reduce your cholesterol levels.

Give Up The Soda

Soda is full of sugar and there is no way around this fact. Try brewing your own teas and sweetening with a natural sugar such as honey or raw cane sugar. Being able to control the amount of aimless calories you drink can really help in the aid of weight loss.

If the carbonation is what you are after try drinking kombucha the fermented version of tea, which can give you the feel of drinking a soda.

Exploring new takes on the foods you love can do nothing but benefit your health in the long run. This will not happen overnight but it’s important to be able to change your bad habits into good for a lifetime.

Post written by Brittnay Sharman from The Nut Butter Hub.