Guilt-free indulgence: Healthy swaps for your favourite junk foods

Guilt-free indulgence: Healthy swaps for your favourite junk foods

Let’s face it, junk food cravings hit us all. Those salty crisps, sugary fizzy drinks and creamy desserts can be incredibly tempting. But indulging in them too often can lead to a myriad of health problems. The good news is you don’t have to completely banish your favourite treats from your diet. With a few clever swaps, you can satisfy your cravings while making healthier choices.

This post explores healthy alternatives for some of the more common junk food culprits, allowing you to savour delicious flavours without all the guilt.

1. Chips vs. baked sweet potato fries: Crispy, salty chips are a classic guilty pleasure. However, they’re often loaded with unhealthy fats and a surplus of sodium. A fantastic alternative? Baked sweet potato fries! Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet and packed with vitamins and fibre. Simply cut them into fry shapes, toss with a little olive oil, your favourite spices (paprika, garlic powder, cumin work well), and bake until crispy.

2. Crisps vs. baked veggie chips: Crisps are undeniably addictive. But their high sodium and saturated fat content isn’t doing your body any favours. Opt for homemade baked veggie chips instead. Thinly slice your favourite vegetables – carrots, beetroot, parsnips, even courgettes. Toss them in olive oil and herbs & spices, and bake in the oven or air fryer until crispy. You’ll get a satisfying crunch with significantly fewer calories and loads more nutrients.

3. Fizzy drink vs. sparkling water with fresh fruit: Sugary, fizzy drinks are empty calories at their finest. They contribute to weight gain, tooth decay and other health problems. Swap them for sparkling water infused with fresh fruit. Add slices of lemon, lime, cucumber or whole berries for a refreshing and naturally sweet drink. A splash of 100% unsweetened fruit juice can also add flavour without having to resort to the excessive sugar content of fizzy pop.

4. Ice cream vs. frozen banana “mice” cream: Ice cream is a beloved dessert, but its high sugar and fat content can be problematic. A delicious and healthier alternative is “nice” cream, made simply by freezing ripe bananas and blending them until creamy. You can add other fruits, cocoa powder, nut butter or vanilla extract for different flavours.

5. Chocolate bar vs. dark chocolate: Craving a chocolate hit? Reach for dark chocolate instead of a sugar-filled chocolate bar. Dark chocolate (with a high cocoa percentage of 70% or higher) is rich in antioxidants and can even have some health benefits. Just remember to enjoy it in moderation.

6. Pizza vs. homemade veggie pizza on wholemeal base: Pizza is a crowd-pleaser, but often high in calories, saturated fat and sodium. Make your own pizza using a wholemeal base, load it with vegetables and use lean protein like chicken or turkey. Control the amount of cheese and opt for low-fat options.

Key takeaway:

Making healthy swaps doesn’t mean sacrificing on taste. With a little creativity and a bit of planning, you can enjoy satisfying and delicious alternatives to your favourite junk foods, contributing to a healthier and happier you. Remember that moderation is key – even these healthier options should be enjoyed with restraint as part of a varied diet.

Home-made herb & spice bar nuts

Home-made herb & spice bar nuts in a bowl | H is for Home

If we fancy a pre-dinner drink (or perhaps drinks if we’re ushering in the weekend), we love to accompany them with tasty snacks of some kind. This recipe for herb & spice bar nuts, which caught our eye online, looked absolutely perfect. We’ve just given it a go… and it turned out to be a very good decision. Great rewards for relatively little effort.

Nuts mixed in an aluminium bowl Melted butter, sugar, salt, chopped fresh rosemary and cayenne pepper

I used 100 grams each of hazelnuts, cashews, walnut halves, pecans and whole almonds. However, you can use whatever nuts you like or have in the store cupboard; peanuts, brazils and macadamias. If 500 grams is too large a portion for your needs, it’s really easy to just halve the recipe.

Home-made herb & spice bar nuts

They were gorgeous – and so moreish! In fact, they’re a great snack to include on a party buffet table; they really suit being eaten with beer, wine and whisky.

Click here or on the image below to save the recipe to Pinterest

Home-made herb & spice bar nuts recipe | H is for Home

Home-made herb & spice bar nuts
Serves 6
Ingredients
  1. 500g/18oz unsalted mixed nuts (e.g. peeled peanuts, cashews, brazils, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans or whole unpeeled almonds)
  2. 2tbsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary (from two 8cm/3-inch sprigs)
  3. ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  4. 2tsp Muscovado sugar
  5. 2tsp salt
  6. 1tbsp unsalted butter, meltedBar nuts ingredients ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350ºF/Gas mark 4
  2. Toss the nuts in a large bowl to combine and spread them out on a baking sheet
  3. Toast them in the oven until they become light golden-brown, about 10 minutes
  4. In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, muscovado sugar, salt and melted butter.
  5. Thoroughly toss the toasted nuts in the spiced butter and serve warm
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Adapted from Nigella Bites
Adapted from Nigella Bites
H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Parmesan crisps

Home-made parmesan crisps | H is for Home

We have builders working on our house at the moment. The water, gas and electricity are regularly being turned off and back on as they extend & update our central heating system. Despite the upheaval, I wanted to keep up with our weekly recipe post. I thought Parmesan crisps would be a good option as they’re ultra-quick to prep and make.

Sprigs of Mediterranean herbs | H is for Home Sprigs of Mediterranean herbs | H is for Home

They are basically just grated and grilled/baked Parmesan. I picked a few sprigs of herbs from the garden; rosemary, thyme and oregano – Mediterranean flavours match perfectly with an Italian cheese. I also cracked a handful of mixed peppercorns with a pestle & mortar to sprinkle over the tops.

Grating Parmesan | H is for Home Putting grated Parmesan into small piles | H is for Home

Little piles of grated Parmesan | H is for Home Little piles of grated Parmesan with chopped fresh herbs | H is for Home

You can either mix the herbs or, do what I did, sprinkle them separately so you have different flavoured crisps. They’re perfect on a cheeseboard, with antipasti or dunked in baba ganoush, hummus or a sun-dried tomato dip.

Parmesan crisps recipe | H is for Home #recipe #keto #ketogenic #nocarb #lowcarb #cheese #parmesan #snack

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Parmesan crisps
Yields 12
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
10 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 150g Parmesan, grated
  2. 1 tsp chopped fresh Mediterranean herbs
  3. ½tsp cracked pepper
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Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/ºF/Gas mark or turn a grill on to medium
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  3. Make piles of about a tablespoon of grated Parmesan - leaving lots of space between each as they will spread out (I could fit 5 on a large baking sheet)
  4. Sprinkle each pile with the herbs and pepper
  5. Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes (or under the grill for 3 minutes) until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown
  6. Allow to cool on the sheet for a minute, lift them off using a spatula and put them on a wire rack to cool completely
  7. Repeat from #3 until all the grated cheese has been used
Notes
  1. Instead of Parmesan (which contains animal rennet), most large supermarkets stock vegetarian hard cheese alternatives
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H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Home-made pholourie

Home-made pholourie with tamarind sauce | H is for Home

When I published my recent post on Trinidad street food, the eagle-eyed ones of you would have noticed a glaring omission to the round up. Pholourie – fried balls made from spiced flour and served with either a mango or tamarind sauce.

For some reason, every Indian food stall I visited while I was in Trinidad either didn’t sell or had run out of the delicious snack. Now that I’m back in the UK, I’ve cooked my own home-made pholourie. I used the recipe from my Trini food bible, The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago and the Caribbean: Naparima Girls’ High School Cookbook. I converted all the measurements from cups to metric and imperial as well as scaled it down so that the portions were right for two people. It made around 20 small balls. It would be simple enough to scale it back up again if needed.

Making split pea flour using an electric spice grinder | H is for Home

Where I live, it’s not easy to get hold of split pea flour without buying it off the internet, so I made my own. I have a little processor that’s for grinding spices so I used it to powder some dried split peas. It worked surprisingly well – I just sieved out the few residual lumps.

Pholourie ingredients in a clear glass bowl | H is for Home Wet pholourie mixture | H is for Home

Simply combine all the ingredients (except the water) into a large bowl, make a well in the centre, pour in the water, whisk and spoon teaspoonfuls into pre-heated oil. A useful tip: dip two teaspoons into the cooking oil before you heat it. Use these to drop the batter into the pan – it will just slip right off!

Frying pholourie in a small wok | H is for Home Removing excess oil from the cooked pholourie on kitchen paper | H is for Home

I looked for tamarind concentrate in the supermarket to make a sauce to accompany my home-made pholourie. Instead, I came across a bottle of imli pani, which I’d never heard of previously. Apparently, it’s served alongside panipuri.

Plate of pholourie with tamarind sauce | H is for Home

The imli pani ingredient list includes tamarind, sugar, cayenne, salt, chilli, mint, cumin coriander, mixed spices and black pepper. Not a million miles from a Trini ‘tambran’ sauce!

Plate of pholourie with a small bowl of imli pani | H is for Home

My pholourie was delicious – crisp on the outside, soft and spongy on the inside, with a lovely flavour. If I’d known how quick and easy they were to make… I might have set myself up with a street food stall – I’d clean up!

Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest

Home-made pholourie with tamarind sauce | H is for Home

Home-made pholourie with tamarind sauce | H is for Home

Home-made pholourie

The multi-cultural cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago and the Caribbean: Naparima Girls' High School cookbook
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine Trinidadian
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 250 ml/8¾fl oz vegetable oil for frying
  • 85 g/3oz split pea flour
  • 80 g/2¾oz plain flour
  • 1⅓ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper sauce
  • 1 clove garlic finely chopped
  • 125 ml/4½ fl oz water

Instructions
 

  • Fill a deep, heavy-bottomed pan with vegetable oil up to at least the 8cm / 3" mark
  • Dip two teaspoons into the oil and set them aside to use later
  • Preheat the pan of oil over a medium flame
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the split pea flour, plain flour, baking powder, turmeric, salt, pepper sauce and garlic
  • Make a well in the centre and add the water
  • Whisk together to form a thick batter
  • Using the pair of oiled teaspoons, carefully drop a teaspoon of batter at a time into the hot oil. The size of my pan meant I could fit about 6 pholourie at a time
  • When the pholourie begin to float (less than a minute), turn them over using a metal skimmer or slotted spoon so they cook evenly
  • Remove from the pan onto some kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil
  • Repeat until all the batter has been used
  • Eat immediately
pholourie ingredients
Serve with tamarind sauce or pepper mango chutney on the side
Keyword Indian food, street food