eat this, not that. smith style.

Have you ever seen the "Eat This, Not That" books?
It's basically books full of food swaps, that are similar in taste but less in calories, fat, or sugars, etc.

 

I've never read any of them, but there are several food swaps I make on a daily basis. Mostly because I like the taste of the swaps I've made, but also because they provide more nutrition and it's so easy, so why not?

Swap Numero Uno: Avocado for Mayo
First of all, I am having a love affair with avocado. But really, who isn't? It soooo good. Oooo baby, avacado. I'm kinda putting it on everything these days.

Now that that's out in the open, let's move onto the swap.

I don't 100% swap out mayo for avocado (I like to make garlic lime mayo to put on salmon burgers), but we are using less mayo. For the most part, avocado provides enough creaminess to make up for mayo, but sometimes I still add a bit of mayo too. Like in various "salads"...egg, tuna, chicken.

Swap Number Two: Applesauce for Oil

This is for baking purposes only. Not like putting applesauce in the bottom of pan before cooking onions. That would not be a good swap. At all.
But when I'm baking cakes or breads, I cut out 3/4 of the oil that a recipe calls for and replace it with applesauce. Just as good. You won't even taste a difference.

Swap Number Three: Ground Turkey for Ground Beef

Sigh. This is a tougher one. Because I love me some ground beef. And turkey spaghetti just doesn't cut it. But turkey tacos? Turkey chili? Turkey meatloaf? [A new attempt for tonight, which turned out like thebombdotcom (yes, I'm stuck in 2006), I'll post a pic in my next post] All good. Might even go as far to say better. And turkey is so much leaner! I love not having to drain all that fat out after cooking.

Swap Number Four: Sweet Potatoes for Regular Potatoes
I mainly do this swap for fries, but I recently tried sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes in stuffed acorn squash, and it was delish. Basically, you can never go wrong with sweet potatoes. They rock.

Swap Number Five, also the bestest swap of all: Plain Greek Yogurt for Sour Cream

This is my favorite swap because you will not taste a difference, and greek yogurt is so good for you and well, sour cream is not. It started out when I was eating my normal fage for lunch and I ran out of strawberries, so I just ate the last spoonful with nothing added to it. Oh, hello crazy tartness. Not that it was terrible, but...well, not what I was expecting. So then, I thought to replace our sour cream with plain greek yogurt. I was planning on pulling a fast one on Ryan and not telling him until after we ate, but I couldn't keep it in. Darn me and my innocence.
Anyways, since we both couldn't taste a difference, we've 100% replaced sour cream. I even make veggie and fruit dips with it. I'm going to attempt a dressing as well. I'll share the recipe if it's tasty.
I freaking love greek yogurt.

Oh and also, if you're gonna try and make the switch too, go with Fage or Chobani. They're the best. Fage is the best for eating as a snack, I like the kind that come with fruit or honey (I like strawberry the best, peach is pretty good too). Both are good for replacing sour cream. You can get 2% fat or 0%, we've done both and they're both good. I just get which ever is on sale.

Do you have any awesome swaps I should add to my list?