How can you go about "cleaning" up your favorite recipes?

I am constantly changing recipes and looking for ways to improve and "clean" my favorite recipes up. Last weekend I converted Butter Chicken (featured in my Clean Eating Recipe Book) into a clean version, and it tasted amazing, without feeling the guilt and bloat afterward. So how can you go about "cleaning" up your favorite recipes to enjoy a clean and varied diet?

Sugar... Now theres a good place to start! I have replaced sugar in my diet with coconut sugar, maple syrup and date syrup - you can also use products such as Stevia, Agave, Splenda or Honey. Simply weigh the amount of sugar called for in the recipe, and then use that same weight in any natural liquid sweetener (don't substitute by volume, 1 cup of sugar does NOT equal 1 cup of Honey (unless it's Xylitol).

Oil and butter? I use Coconut Oil, especially when replacing butter. When it is cool enough it sets like butter does, and has a delicious coconut taste. Great for baking and cooking, as it also handles high heat well. Rice Bran, Olive, Sunflower, Avocado, Grapeseed and Pumkin Seed Oil's are all clean.

You can also use unsweetened applesauce as a substitute for butter, it works suprisingly well.

However, watch your baking times as items turn from raw to dry very quickly when in the oven.

Flour is not only used for baking, but also thickening sauces. If you require the texture of flour stick to whole wheat pastry flour. If not, try Oat, Buckwheat, Rice, Quinoa or Almond Meal flour. But remember, there is no rising agent in whole grain flours, so keep batters fluffly and don't over mix or they will come out flat and dense.

Please reload