9 Food Swaps to Make Today

By Lydia Wallie, Nutrition Director

A nutrient-dense diet including healthy proteins, fats, and fiber/carbs, is part of a great foundation for a healthy life. Knowing that those foods are the majority of what we eat, what are some healthier alternatives to common cravings or treats for celebrations?

I’m craving…

Pasta. Instead of normal noodles, try Trader Joe’s organic brown rice noodles. They’re only $1.99 a pound and they taste amazing! Or, there’s cauliflower gnocchi in the freezer section that’s also great with spaghetti sauce.

Snickers. Mix some nut butter with cacao powder, honey, and Himalayan salt. 

Pizza. Buy a paleo crust, or make your own. Make your own sauce with plain tomato paste and herbs like basil or oregano. And try using an alternative to normal cheese like sheep cheese (manchego) or goat cheese. 

Potato Chips. Try some Siete cassava chips, sweet potato chips, or plantain chips. 

Crackers. These Simple Mills crackers are now in many stores.

Chocolate Chip Cookies. Try the Simple Mills brand of cookies. They’re free of gluten and many other ingredients you’ll want to avoid.

Ice Cream. Buy a dairy-free alternative like Coconut Bliss or Nada Moo. Better yet, make your own Nice Cream by blending frozen banana, vanilla extract (for vanilla) or cacao powder (for chocolate), and Trader Joe’s canned coconut milk. Add collagen powder or your favorite healthy protein powder for extra protein.

Cheese. For many people, a dairy intolerance is common. I have a couple of siblings who can’t tolerate dairy without major symptoms, so I choose to avoid it completely. But what do you do when you’re craving cheese? One of our recent Nutrition Challenge participants discovered that avocado works to satisfy the cheese craving! You can also try sheep or goat cheese which tend to not be as problematic as cow dairy.

My Starbucks Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Caramel Latte. I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing :-). But if it were...add a tablespoon of pumpkin puree to this Chai Latte recipe.

There’s a healthier alternative to almost anything. It takes time to retrain the taste buds and overcome a sugar addiction, but once you define your goal and commit, you can do it!