I love when I find knew ways to eat healthier. So I was quite pleased when a second hand store purchase (The Deaf Smith Country Cookbook) gave some great tips for healthier eating by supplementing unhealthy ingredients with a more healthy choice. This book has so many good for you recipes for cooking old favorites. It's really amazing. So here goes.
instead of CAKE FLOUR use WHOLE WHEAT PASTRY FLOUR requires more liquid
instead of ALL PURPOSE FLOUR use WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR or OTHER WHOLE GRAIN FLOUR requires more liquid (I used whole wheat flour for half the flour in my ginger bread cookies and no one even noticed and of course I didn't tell anyone either.)
instead of BOXED CEREALS use GRANOLA or WHOLE, FLAKED, OR CRACKED GRAINS
instead of CRACKERS OR BREAD CRUMBS use WHOLE WHEAT BREAD CRUMBS, WHOLE GRAIN FLAKES, or WHEAT GERM
instead of WHITE RICE or OTHER REFINED GRAINS use BROWN RICE or WHOLE GRAINS
instead of SUGAR use RAW UNFILTERED HONEY (1/2 honey instead of 1 sugar), PURE MAPLE SYRUP,
UNSULPHURED MOLASSES, FRUIT JUICES AND PUREES requires more dry ingredients or less liquid
instead of CHOCOLATE use CAROB POWDER (3 tablespoons carob plus 2 tablespoons milk = 1
square chocolate)
instead of COCOA use CAROB POWDER (equal amounts)
instead of BAKING SODA use LOW-SODIUM BAKING POWDER (2 parts instead of 1 part soda) requires; add protein such as milk powder
instead of BAKING POWDER use LOW-SODIUM BAKING POWDER (equal amounts) requires
Active dry yeast (amount depends Use warm liquids on desired rising time)
instead of CORNSTARCH use WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, BROWN RICE FLOUR, ARROWROOT POWDER
instead of SALT use SEA SALT, KELP POWDER (equal amounts), SESAME SALT (adjust to taste),
TAMARI SOY SAUCE(adjust to taste )
instead of DISTILLED VINEGAR use CIDER VINEGAR
instead of HYDROGENATED FATS/SHORTENING use UNREFINED OILS (safflower, corn germ, olive, sesame), (Unrefined safflower oil for deep frying) requires more dry ingredients or less liquids
instead of REFINED OILS use UNREFINED OILS
INCREASING NUTRITIONAL VALUES:
ADDITIONS: non-instant dry milk powder, fresh wheat germ, nutritional yeast
LIQUIDS: Use liquid that is more nutritious than water whenever possible, such as fruit juice,
vegetable stock, milk, or yogurt
Milk, yogurt, and buttermilk are usually interchangeable. Use yogurt instead of
sour cream.
Some things I have been slowly
incorporating into my cooking to give my family time for
their taste buds to adjust. Such as using half whole wheat flour with the white, even when making breading for deep frying. I think it actually tastes better. My sister uses rice flour since her son is allergic to wheat and was surprised at how much better it fried up. Using half brown rice with half white rice, then switching to all brown rice. White rice is just bleached and the process makes it have no nutritional value at all. Brown rice doesn't really taste different, I think it is just the color that throws everyone off.
I haven't gotten to try all of them. If you have experience with any of these ingredients let me know.