I thought I should clarify some things about my recipes and what I eat in general.
I try to cook with healthier ingredients.
For example:
I do not cook with ground beef, I use ground turkey instead. It is a little more expensive but a lot better for you. The bests news is Joey likes it too! That being said I should also mention I buy turkey bacon, turkey dogs, turkey sausage, and turkey ham. You need to be careful because turkey still has all the sodium nitrates in it like beef. So just pay attention to what you are buying!
I do not use white flour unless I am giving away what I am making. All other times I use white whole wheat flour or just regular wheat flour. I also but whole wheat pastas and bread. When I eat sandwiches I use Ezekiel bread which is a sprouted grain bread and low on the glycemic index.
I also only try to use regular sugar if I am giving away the food. All other times I use organic sugar or Xylitol, a natural sweetener. The only problems I have found is if you need the sugar to dissolve, don't use the organic kind, because it isn't as fine. So in kool-aid would not be a good idea. And if I use Xylitol, I normally use half that and half regular sugar. Same goes for brown sugar, I use half brown and half Coconut Palm Sugar. It is about the same consistency, just a little lighter.
Salt is another thing. I use Himalayan Sea Salt as opposed to regular salt. This sea salt has very good health benefits like lowering blood pressure. I do not even have regular salt in my apartment, this stuff is just good and good for you.
With all of these substitutes just use your best judgement, because they can alter the tastes or consistencies of what you are making.
I know there are a lot more things you can do to make foods healthy, like with substituting different things for oil and butter, but for now I am content with all I do to try and make foods healthier.
I do buy low fat items like salad dressings, sour cream, and cream cheese. And of course if I drink milk it is skim. I stay away from any drinks high in sugar especially soda, juices that aren't 100% juice, and sport drinks. If I want something sweet to drink I will drink a vitamin water zero because it is sweetened with natural sweetener.
On the chance we actually go to a bar or something I will order a vodka water with lime because I feel it is the healthiest way to go and doesn't taste bad either. If I am buying something to drink when Joey drinks beer it is the Lite Mike's Hard Lemonade because it claims to be naturally sweetened I know it only has 100 calories as opposed to 270 in a regular one.
I think I have gone through everything I can. Oh yeah, I also eat a lot of fruits and veggies, it is just not always evident in my cooking because it is typically just steamed broccoli or roasted cauliflower.
That's just a little insight into what I eat. I hope it helps some of you!
