Classic Food Favorites Made Healthier

What's the number one comment most people always exclaim about a makeover recipe?

Ugh! What did you do, it doesn't taste right!

Many times, a "re-do" is just not as popular as the full fat, full sugar, full flavor version, or so they say. But every once in a while, if you know the right little kitchen tricks, you can get more compliments on the re-worked version than you ever did on the original.

The important part of this trick though, absolutely never tell anyone ahead of time you have changed the recipe to make it healthier. Their subconscious mind alone will mutiny and, as my husband always says, "it doesn't taste right"... but that's before he even takes a bite.

 Just play it safe, serve tonight's dinner and sit back and reap the compliments without ever stopping to say a word to anyone. With time, all of your slimmed down versions of the family favorites will lead to a normal part of your family's healthier diet.

Five Easy Re-Do's For Classic Favorites

Your final objective is to reduce the calories, lower the saturated fats and trans fats,  reduce the sodium and the sugars, especially in high carbohydrate selections.  So slowly try incorporating a few of these into your daily cooking to help ease your family's diet into better, healthier food selections.

reduce the whole milk used to 2%, then 1% and eventually to skim milk. This reduces both the high fats and the sugar concentrations. Alternatively, change from regular milk to alternative milks like almond milk, coconut milk or hemp milk, unsweetened . Each of these alternative milks add quality fats to your diet while reducing the amount of sugars which are common in regular milk products.

never salt the cooking water before you cook any type of pasta. Many people always do this because they say it prevents the pasta from clumping. Just stir the pot a few times while the pasta is cooking and you don't need the extra salt to prevent clumping.

stop using the mild types of cheese high in saturated fats (like American cheese or Velveeta) and use a smaller quantity of sharp cheddar. Because the flavor is much stronger, you don't need as much cheese. Sprinkle about a 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan then on the top of the casserole for an added flavor twist.

as a thickener for their casserole, remove the white flour products and use arrowroot instead. You reduce the tendency for spikes in your blood sugars and eliminate all gluten for the gluten sensitive. Some people even like to use 100% whole grain oatmeal to absorb the extra liquids which adds some vital extra special nutrients.

for all those people who refuse to eat fruits and vegetables, start small. Don't serve a dish of carrots for tonight's dinner. Grate them instead and put them in the meat loaf or the spaghetti sauce. Add onion, sweet peppers, garlic and celery to almost anything. Having a side salad can become even more special with a chopped apple, some raisins or a few slices of ripe pear. Add a few raw nuts also and enjoy a slightly different type of salad tonight.

These are some of the easiest ways to get your whole family to transition to a healthier diet. Do this every day with each meal for one or two dishes and it is easy to see how the advantages can start to stack up.