tasty alternatives to your fav foods

I freaking LOVE food. I am a foodie through and through and am always making up new recipes and wanting to try new things. But I also love my body and being healthy, so I try not to over do my yummy splurges. Lucky for YOU, I have come up with some great, healthy alternatives for your favorite meals. 

1

FUN FACT: Our stomachs are not able to digest grain. I swear a majority of problems people have with their stomachs is due to how much grain they're eating. But what about those of us who loooooooove Italian food??

I'm obsessed with Italian food.

Say hello to your new best friend: brown rice pasta

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Whaaaat? Nooooo that can't be healthy for me!! That looks like normal pasta! Well my dear, this stuff is so much better than normal pasta. Sure, rice is still a grain, but because of its genetic makeup it is way easier for our bodies to digest. This stuff also has waaaaay more nutrients than normal pasta. If you're a whore for perfect, al dente pasta like I am, you will not be disappointed. Even leftovers taste perfectly cooked, doesn't get mushy like normal pasta (I'm eating some nooooow) 

2

My second alternative I actually learned from Dr. Oz (yes I'm a viewer and you should be too). This goes hand-in-hand with our current Italian food theme. Use cooked cauliflower as a filler for pasta. I know I just ranted about how tasty and amazing brown rice pasta is, but that doesn't mean you're skimming out on carbs (just bloat). So, use half pasta, half cauliflower, same amount of sauce (we'll get to that later) and you won't even notice the difference! 

3

Would I give you all of these pasta tips and skip out on a sauce tip?? NOOOOO! Ok, raise your hand if you love alfredo... you know you do. We're going to take another half-n-half approach to this. If you make your own alfredo sauce, make half of the amount then add a can of fire roasted tomatoes, some thyme and you will NOT miss the full alfredo experience, especially the calories!! 

4

Chicken parm is next. I've never been a big fan, mostly because I didn't grow up with it, but I know a ton of people are obsessed with it. Replace the egg with just egg whites, replace the bread crumbs with GROUND FLAX SEED and some Italian seasoning. What the hell is ground flax seed? 

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It's this gorgeous stuff. I put this shit on everything! Salad, popcorn, smoothies, scrambled eggs. Go buy yourself some and do the same because it's good for you! It's a great thickener if you like your smoothies frothy or your scrambled eggs more hardy (I mix it in with the raw egg). It has a subtle toasted, nutty taste so don't worry about it over powering other flavors. 

I have some more tricks up my sleeve but I can't give them all away on one post. I hope you try these and if so leave me a comment!!