If you’ve been thinking about embracing healthier food, but feeling hesitant about losing your old favorites, this is the post for you! Today I’m sharing my favorite healthy swaps for 4 old favorites from my grain and soy eating days.
Pasta
Does giving up pasta feel insane to you? If so, you probably haven’t tried the vegetable alternatives yet! Veggies like zucchini, sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots, and even cabbage can make great alternatives to the standard gluten-filled pasta. Not only are you ditching the foods that could be doing a number on your digestion and your blood sugar, but you’re upping your veggies at each meal you include them at! So how the heck do you make pasta from these veggies? You’ll need a tool like a Spiralizer (such as this one)! If you’ve got some picky eaters in the house, get them involved with making these fun noodles and see if they’re more interested in eating their veggies. When we talk about pasta replacements, we can’t forget the spaghetti squash, too! You’ll get thin, long noodles every time from this squash. It’s pretty delicious, too!
What about lasagna noodles? Zucchini and eggplant are great replacements here. Use a mandoline or carefully slice them into thin, wide strips to layer in your lasagna.
Here are some recipes I’ve shared over the years that use these pasta alternatives:
Garlic Shrimp with Sage & Walnut Pesto Zoodles
Orange Beef with Fried Cabbage Noodles
Quick & Easy Chicken Zoodle Soup
Rice
Another carb heavy, blood-sugar-crasher is rice. Not only does this particular food hit your blood sugar hard, it also can be damaging to the gut lining for some. You can easily replace this food with rice made from cauliflower and even broccoli!
Here are a couple recipes that use this alternative:
Lemon & Thyme Shrimp “Risotto”
Teriyaki Chicken Thighs (with easy caulirice)
Bread/Wraps
Sandwiches were a staple for me at lunchtime for many years, but when I adopted a real food lifestyle, the bread had to go. I missed being able to pick up and eat a sandwich, until I realized that I could wrap up my sandwich fixings with some grain-free alternatives!
Here are a few things to try:
Lettuce, chard, or collard greens as the wrap for your sandwich fixings.
Siete Foods wraps are an amazing alternative for tortillas! You can find them here: https://sietefoods.com/
Thrive Market Coconut Wraps. You can find them here, and get an extra 20% off your first 3 orders: Thrive Market
Homemade grain-free bread. If you search for this online, you’ll find TONS to choose from. I recommend using these sparingly, as they can be heavy on nuts and carry a high price tag, given the cost of the ingredients.
Soy Sauce
This ingredient is so commonly used in Asian inspired recipes, but it packs some inflammatory promoting ingredients: soy & gluten. If you weren’t aware, soy sauce is a typical hiding place for gluten since wheat is commonly used in the fermentation of soy. Yes, you can get soy sauce without gluten, but many people do still find that it increases their inflammation. To avoid this ingredient, I love using coconut aminos!
Here are some of my recipes that use Coconut Aminos:
Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Burger
What healthy swap are you excited to try? Is there an old favorite that you’re looking to replace with a healthy alternative? Share with me in the comments!
There are plenty of foods to enjoy that are not only healthy, but delicious! You can check out more healthy foods to add to your kitchen, with my Kitchen Checklist! Download your copy below!