Exchanging the Bad for the Good

Last night, we had The Sterling's over for dinner. I spent most of the day trying to figure out what to make, until I was reading my new book "Reversing Diabetes". Not that I haven't ever thought about the idea of switching some ingredients in recipes to make them healthier, I just never took the time to actually think about it. I took my favorite lasagna recipe and switched it up to be very healthy. I was amazed at how just switching out a few items really changed the nutritional content of the meal.

Here is a list of the exchanges I made:

ground turkey replaced ground beef
organic spaghetti sauce replaced regular spaghetti sauce
whole wheat noodles replaced regular noodles
fat free ricotta cheese replaced whole fat ricotta cheese
low fat mozzarella cheese replaced whole fat mozzarella cheese

These few changes totally revamped the recipe. The organic spaghetti sauce had no sugar and no carbs, very different than any other sauce I've used in the past. The turkey didn't taste too much different than the ground beef. The fat content was practically nothing. I was surprised because everyone seemed to love it. The best part was that no one was tired like most people are after a meal like that. Though my exchanges made the recipe a bit more expensive than I usually make, the extra money was worth it. The taste was just as good if not better than any lasagna I've made in the past. I'm excited to take some of my favorite recipes and switch out stuff for more health conscious ingredients.

I also made some garlic bread, but opted out of eating any. I recommend taking your favorite recipes and trying to see how you can make them better. It will be well worth it!