Makeover Your Favorite Recipes

As we continue to talk about the ins and outs of meal planning and creating nourishing recipes to fuel your week, it’s important to remember that each of us has to make meal planning personalized. Food takes on a different meaning for everyone and has roots in our culture, background, and upbringing; this sometimes making it difficult for us to change the way we eat and view food. The wonderful part about meal planning is that it can easily be made your own and adapted to fit the flavors and meals you already love. Old recipe favorites can easily be altered with simple ingredient swaps – leaving you with a healthier, more nourishing version of those classic meals you’ve always loved.

Here are some of the most problematic ingredients that can easily be swapped out and change your recipes into new, nourishing favorites!

GLUTEN

Bread/Wraps/Crust

Bibb/Large Leaf Lettuce

Sweet Potato (sliced thin as ‘toast’)

Coconut Wraps

Nori (Seaweed) Wraps

Cauliflower Crust

Flour

Buckwheat Flour

Coconut Flour

Amaranth Flour

Chickpea Flour

Almond Flour

Breadcrumbs

Ground Nuts (Almonds, Macadamia Nuts, Pistachios, Walnuts)

Chickpea Crumbs

DAIRY

Milk/Yogurt

Almond Milk

Coconut Milk

Cashew Milk

Macadamia Milk

Hemp Milk

Non-dairy yogurt

Coconut Kefir

Cheese

Nut cheeses

White or Yellow Miso (in place of parmesan)

Butter

Coconut Butter

Ghee

Olive Oil

Coconut Oil

SOY

Soy Sauce

Coconut Aminos

Soybean Miso

Adzuki Bean or Chickpea Miso

Edamame

Greens Peas

Fava Beans

Lima Beans

Other Dried Bean Alternatives

Soy Milk

Nut Milks (Almond, Cashew, etc)

Coconut Milk

SUGAR

Sugar

Raw Honey

Pure Maple Syrup

Coconut Sugar

Dates (can be ground up)/Date Sugar

Monkfruit

Dried Fruit

Stevia

EGGS

Baking

Flax Egg (1 tbsp. flaxseed meal + 3 tbsp. water)

Applesauce (unsweetened)

Mashed Banana

Arrowroot Powder

Aquafaba

Breakfast scramble

Tofu

Sometimes the easiest and best thing we can do is take what we already know and make it better! Easy swaps create more nourishing recipes that remain just as satisfying as ever. Try out some of these alternatives as you practice meal planning and makeover your recipes!