Tuesday Tidbit: Healthy-up your comfort food

by Sarah

mashed potatoes

Mmmm. . . the weather’s getting colder. If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking more about tucking into big bowls of carbohydrates. Potatoes? Pasta? Preferably with some sort of artery-clogger as an ingredient or topping? Sign. Me. Up.

But alas. The pounds weight (get it?) for no one. And your heart has no idea if it’s August or October, so let’s keep ourselves in check – at least most days of the week. Here’re some easy swaps that can help you do just that.

Instead of cream, try cornstarch. Get some of the richness, body and mouthfeel of cream without all the calories and fat. And if you need more? Add your cornstarch with with some fat-free evaporated milk – use this instead of heavy cream, for instance. I’d recommend amping up your spice to compensate for the bit of flavor you’ll lose with this sub.

Instead of potatoes, try cauliflower. Seriously! Mash it up – and for 53 fewer calories per half-cup then taters, your thighs’ll thank you.

Instead of butter, try fat-free Greek yogurt. Also a great sour cream sub! You can swap this one almost 1:1 in recipes. And using the non-fat variety saves you 750 calories and 58 g. of sat. fat per half-cup!? Zoinks. With that kinda savings, you can budget in a chili-cheese dog on Saturday.