I pulled these ideas from a forum site where the members shared how to substitute ingredients for healthier eating and at less calories:

Substitute nutritional yeast for cheese. Not only is it super flavorful and nutritious, it’s also just way more convenient. When I just want a little bit of cheesy flavor to finish a dish, I don’t have the patience to mess around with a block of cheese and a cheese grater – I just grab my jar of nutritional yeast and give it a liberal sprinkling. No fuss, no muss – and it only adds 10-20 caloriess.

Use canned green beans in place of macaroni. Best of all is to combine the green bean swap with the nutritional yeast swap – as weird and too-healthy as it sounds, I’ve found canned green beans tossed with nutritional yeast to be a delicious and super-convenient alternative mac and cheese. It’s so quick and simple to make – just open the can, drain the beans, heat them up in the microwave, dump a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast on them, stir, and serve. The whole bowlful works out to something like 75 calories, and it’s really satisfying – much more flavorful than the real thing.

Use raw bell pepper halves as the base for sandwiches instead of bread, and using large lettuce or Swiss chard leaves instead of tortilla wraps.

Substitute or supplement noodles with long, thin strips of raw zucchini. A julienne peeler gets the job done perfectly.

Top pancakes and French toast with mashed or pureed fruit and Greek yogurt instead of syrup and whipped cream. Again, not only is it healthier – it’s so much more flavorful!

Instead of store-bought fruit-flavored yogurt loaded with all kinds of sweeteners and additives, just buy plain yogurt and stir fresh fruit purees into it yourself.

Instead of salad dressing, try dressing your salads with:

1.a couple of handfuls of fresh chopped herbs (parsley, dill, and cilantro are particularly good) and a sprinkling of lemon or lime juice
2.nutritional yeast
3.shredded pickled vegetables or sauerkraut
4.kimchi
5.salsa

Swap hot sauce or mustard for ketchup. More flavor, less sugar, and less calories.

Instead of ice cream, eat a frozen banana! So delicious!