Guide to Eating Healthy with Your Comfort Food Choices

Going the healthy route when eating your comfort food is a matter of choosing the right ingredients and the manner of food preparation for your popular food options.

Finding healthier versions of your comfort food choices allows you to make less risky substitutions without actually depriving yourself from the taste of your favorite snacks and meals. In fact, even with minimal effort and planning, you can still enjoy them every once in a while. Ultimately, the discipline in your food intake is essential in letting you enjoy the things you eat, while also taking your health into consideration.

Pasta Dishes

Putting vegetables in your pasta dish ingredients allows you to enjoy more nutritious meal options. There are many spaghetti and macaroni dishes that include mushrooms, peas, red peppers, and carrots. From mushroom and cheese macaroni to spaghetti and meat ball pasta, it's a matter of putting low-fat profile ingredients to your favorite pasta dishes.

To keep up with your daily fiber needs, use whole-wheat over regular pasta and add powerful blue vein cheese to add flavor without having to yield to too much fat.

When adding meat to your pasta, you can also have other options other than the typical ground beef like ground turkey breast and low-fat turkey sausage. Vegetarians or those who want to cut back on red meat intake can also enjoy a spinach lasagna, a regular spaghetti with flavorful tomato sauce rich in antioxidants, or a pasta sauce made of reduced-fat or non-fat sour cream and yogurt.

Desserts

A nutritious diet doesn't have to be a mere bland and dessert-free fare. By making smart choices, you can still satisfy your sweet tooth with the right dessert options. The main idea is to check how much calories you get from trying available desserts, then make sure you don't overeat. If you deprive yourself, there is a greater possibility of losing control over your craving.

Choose the right sorbet over regular ice cream, low-fat or non-fat yogurt, dark chocolate, and other sweet confectionaries -- always with primary consideration in your calorie intake. Cocoa powder has less fat and higher concentration of antioxidants than regular chocolate, so it would be ideal to more frequently use it for your chocolate pudding, flavored muffins, cakes, and other sweet food choices.

Potatoes and Fries

Aiming to reduce your levels of fat, cholesterol, and sodium doesn't mean stopping yourself from eating potatoes and fries. You can still eat them at controlled levels without putting your heart and your figure on the line. When making mashed potato, consider using buttermilk, which tastes as rich as cream, but actually has about 98% less fat. Instead of making a regular one, make a garlic mashed potato dish instead. Crush the garlic before slicing it, then let it stand as you peel the potatoes. This way, you can maximize the garlic's heart-protective compounds for your mashed potato.

Instead of eating regular fries, eat baked fries instead. Simply slice up a sweet potato, brush it with coconut oil and some salt, then bake it on a cookie sheet until it gets crispy. This usually takes about 45 minutes at 350 degree-Fahrenheit heat. This is a much healthier choice than the typical French fries you cook at home or buy at the fast food.

"8 Healthy Comfort Foods," Canadian Living.
"Healthy Comfort Food Recipes and Menus," Eating Well.
"3 Healthy Comfort-Food Makeovers," Health.com.
"Heart-Healthy Comfort Food," Prevention.
"Comfort Food Trends (and Recipes)," Cooking Nook.
"Comfort Food That's Not Fattening," Epicurious.

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