Making your favorite foods healthier!

Weight Watchers Smart Ones and TwitterMoms are hosting a fun blog tour featuring 10 ways to make your favorite foods healthier! Weight Watchers Smart Ones offers a variety of healthier meal options for all 3 meals of the day and also offers desserts and snacks!!

1. Skip (or limit) the Salt! So many foods these days are overloaded with salt! Try your recipes with half the salt or don’t add more salt after it has finished cooking!

2. Cut back on total carbs! You can still enjoy the breads you love by try limiting the number you eat – maybe you could cook up serve half the rolls and save the second half for another meal. If the bowl is not as full no one will be grabbing for 2nds and 3rds of those delicious rolls!

3. Use some low-fat or non-fat ingredients! Try using low-fat or non-fat ingredients in place of several of the ingredients in a recipe. You could start with a lower fat milk which you’re not likely to notice or maybe a low-fat cream based soup!

4. Substitute! Try substituting a healthier variety of an ingredient than what the recipes calls for. Maybe it calls for butter where you could use margarine instead or instead of just tomatoes you might be able to add salsa for a variety of peppers and veggies!

5. Add Fruits and Veggies! Use fruits and vegetables as your side dishes instead of breads. A salad would be a great side dish with meats! You can also dress up fruits as a great alternative to dessert! Add some strawberries or blueberries to yogurt and granola and you have a simple yet delicious dessert!

6. Try similar recipes – If you have a recipe that you love but know it’s lacking nutritional content maybe you can find a recipe that sounds very similar but uses just a few different (or differing amounts) of the quantities to give you a healthier recipe over all!

7. Use Healthier Oils – Try to use healthier oils like virgin olive oil in place of your typical oils where you can.

8. Bake rather than Fry – Baking your food lets you skip a lot of the oil used in frying your food. It’s also such an easy way to cook as you can pop it in the oven and go about working on the side dishes while it cooks!

9. Use your Grill! Grilling is another great way to good foods in a more “lean” way without the use of oil. It is also great if you live in a hot state so you’re not heating up your home with your oven! We use our grill all the time!

10. Try new things! Don’t be afraid to try out a few new recipes here and there and you may just find a great new recipe to add to your routine that’s healthy too!

What are your great tips for making your favorite foods healthier? Do you do any of the tips I mentioned? I’d love to hear any additional tips you might have to share!