Hummus is hard for me, I love it but the protein and carb ratio is hard for me to eat it. I know it’s good carbs so every often I will have some. Then I had an epiphany why not add plain protein powder into the hummus and up the protein in this great snack.

I also just recently started using veggies to replace chips in my favorite dishes. You might remember the Baked Pepper Nachos I made recently. So now I can have a great dip to eat with pepper “chips” or now I’m loving snow pea “chips”.

This is a very basic recipe, but you could really spice it up. You could add roasted red peppers, more garlic, more spices, or anything else to make your own version. This recipe would be great for a lunch, side dish, or just a snack!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

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Isn’t it amazing how different each kind of olive can taste? For this recipe you could use any olives you wanted or happened to have on hand. This frittata is full of flavor and has almost a pizza taste to it. Oh it would probably be amazing with a marinara dip and you have the extra calories for it!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

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Okay you know these are good when your kids start begging you to make more of those carrot cookies. I originally created this recipe for me to put into my bento boxes, but now the boys are addicted! I’m wondering if I could convince them to eat zucchini bread ones.

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

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Plain Greek Yogurt for Baking

Plain greek yogurt is a great substitute for oil and butter in your baking. When baking muffins or other breads that call for oil or butter replace the it with plain greek yogurt to lower the calories and the fat!

I still use butter in our diet because I believe in healthy fats. But for baking I use plain greek yogurt as a partial replacement to cut down on calories. Use 1/4 cup greek yogurt + 1/2 cup butter instead of 1 cup of butter.

• 1 cup butter = 1,628 calorie & 184g fat
• Greek Yogurt + Butter = 847 calories & 92g fat

We’ve cut all oil out of our diet, especially vegetable oil. You can use 3/4 cups greek yogurt for every 1 cup of oil in your recipes.

• 1 cup vegetable oil = 1,927 calories & 218g fat
• 3/4 cup greek yogurt = 100 calories & 0 fat

Plain Greek Yogurt for Dips

I also love to use plain greek yogurt in the place of sour cream or mayonnaise in dips.

• 2 tablespoons sour cream = 60 calories
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise = 180 calories
• 2 tablespoons plain greek yogurt = 33 calories

Hint: Try it on your tacos or other Mexican dishes instead of sour cream

Use your favorite dip mix and replace the sour cream or mayonnaise with plain greek yogurt. Or make your own dips with your own spices and herbs.

Amazing Light Dilly Dip

• 1 teaspoon fresh dill or dill paste
• 1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt

You will find that some brands of plain greek yogurt are strained more so they have a thicker consistency. Find the perfect brand for you, if you like thick dips use a thick yogurt if you like a dressing like dip use a thinner yogurt.

Hint: Try 1/2 greek yogurt and 1/2 light mayonnaise for your chicken or tuna salads

Spaghetti Squash

Pasta is very high in calories and carbs. I will eat whole wheat pasta every so often, but my favorite substitution that offers no guilt at all is spaghetti squash. Spaghetti squash is a squash that once you cook it comes out in spaghetti like strings.

• 1 cup whole wheat paste = 174 calories & 37 carb
• 1 cup spaghetti squash = 42 calories & 10 carbs

Extra Lean Ground Meat

Switching from full fat ground meat to only 7% fat will quickly lighten up your meals. You don’t necessarily have to give up ground beef either.

My husband is a big red meat eater and he really doesn’t love the taste of turkey. But after really looking at some labels I realized I could get ground beef with the same percentage of fat as ground turkey.

• 4 ounces ground beef 80/20 = 288 calories & 19g fat
• 4 ounces ground turkey 93/7 = 150 calories & 7g fat
• 4 ounces ground beef 93/7 = 170 calories & 8g fat
• 4 ounces ground chicken 93/7 = 140 calories & 5g fat

We still do eat ground turkey but I let us have one serving of lean red meat a week so that my husband can have his favorite meals.

Sugar Substitutes

My favorite sugar substitute is stevia, it is all natural and no calorie. My favorite brand of stevia is Truvia, mainly because they add another natural sweetner to cut the bitterness stevia can have.

I do also use Splenda for cooking as it is easier for me to get ahold of. I once was able to find a bag of off brand truvia for cooking, but haven’t been able to find it again.

• 1 teaspoon sugar = 15 calories & 4 carbs
• 3/4 teaspoon Truvia = 0 calories & 3 carbs
• 1 teaspoon Splenda = 0 calories & 0 carbs

What do you use to make your recipes lighter?

Posted on the Gathering Spot Link Up

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

I have to admit every so often I’m tempted by my boys Mac N Cheese. Something about that cheese and pasta brings back those childhood memories of comfort. But as you know I try to avoid pasta, it is one of the things you have to be very careful with a Lapband.

I was staring at my second half of a spaghetti squash sitting on my counter and had an epiphany. I realized with spaghetti squash I may not get that perfect little macaroni texture but I could get that ooey gooey cheesey yumminess with a cheese sauce on the squash.

One thing you have to do when you have made the choice to live a healthier lifestyle is find replacements for food that you love. But this does not mean that you have to give up flavor, actually you may find things that you will love even more than the original food. This recipe is a good example of this. When you try a real cheese sauce versus the packaged powdered you will never go back!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

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One of our families favorite recipes, before eating healthier, was baked nachos. But once you start counting calories and looking at carbs, you realize chips are really hard to fit into a low calorie diet.

So nachos have been one of those things that we gave up, until now!

I have been trying to figure out good substitutes for things we have eaten in the past or things I have been craving. Well I have been craving chips. I found out that you can eat a whole bell pepper for less than 50 calories and it fulfills that crunchy savory craving.

But then it came to me why couldn’t you use bell pepper for chips in recipes also. You could serve them with dip at parties or even make baked nachos!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

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After making my own Montreal Seasoning, I knew the next thing I needed to make was Homemade Taco Seasoning.

We use taco seasoning in everything! Including Mexican Meatloaf, Enchilada Chicken, and Mini Taco Salad to just name a few.

I can get taco seasoning pretty cheap at the store, but my real goal with making my own seasoning was to control exactly what I was adding to my food. Some of those spice packs have more than you expect in them: corn starch, lots of salt, and random ingredients you don’t need.

So here is my quick and easy spice blend. I will probably add salt to my blend also as we don’t worry about salt in our house.

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

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Still fighting the morning rush and trying to find some quick and easy breakfasts. That’s when I decided to play around and make mini protein pancakes! This recipe has no flour in it and is filled with natural protein. And guess who liked it!

Yep that’s right, Zane loved these little things!

Next time I may add some of my frozen berries, bananas or even a couple chocolate chips to make them even more fun.

You could make a large batch and then freeze these pancakes to just heat up on the mornings you are on a rush. They would also be great for a breakfast on the go too!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

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Do you have some left over Corned Beef? Then toss it into a frittata! That’s the great versatility of a frittata you can take left overs from one meal and turn it into a completely different meal.

I use a recipe from Food.com for my Corned Beef and Cabbage, of course I do alter a little bit. I do not put the potatoes in as I rarely eat potatoes and with the corned beef I have little room for the extra calories. I also just place the cabbage on top of the meat in the crock pot 1 hour before serving. One less dish to clean and the seasoning of the corned beef blends nicely into the cabbage.

You will notice that my frittata doesn’t have any cabbage – sadly my guests from St Patrick’s Day ate all my cabbage. Oh well it was really, really good. I don’t know if it would have made it to this meal anyways!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook