7 swaps that will make your dishes more healthy and delicious

Although eating at home is generally healthier than eating out, there are many tricks you can implement in your kitchen that will make your meals even healthier without sacrificing flavor. With that said, here are 7 simple swaps that replace less healthy ingredients with ones that are equally, if not more, delicious.

First swap: olive oil for butter. While it can be tempting to put butter on just about everything, olive oil shares the same ability to be diverse in its uses. And by drizzling it over vegetables, you can actually unlock more nutrients than without olive oil.

Second swap: miso paste for salt. As delicious as salt is, it doesn’t offer a huge array of health benefits; on the other hand, miso paste does. Like salt, fermented soybean paste is high in sodium, but it also comes with vitamins and minerals. Additionally, as a fermented food, it provides a good dose of probiotics.

Third swap: pureed cauliflower for cream. It may sound strange, but the seemingly humble cauliflower is actually a super sexy rockstar that can be used to replace anything from the dough of your pizza to the cream you use for your spinach dip.

Fourth swap: baking for frying. Frying food is one of humanity’s more tempting inventions. So crisp, so delicious, so unhealthy. That said, the oven can do a pretty decent job replicating some of that fried-food texture. With a little olive oil and hot temperatures, you can get the crispy feel of frying without actually frying.

Fifth swap: zoodles for pasta. Pasta is high in carbs. Instead, make noodles using nutritious, delicious zucchini.

Sixth swap: plain Greek yogurt for sour cream. Zero fat Greek yogurts, for those watching their saturated fat intake, is thick and creamy and has the sour cream tang.

Seventh swap: beans for meat. Beans also provide lots of bulk and protein, but without the less healthy attributes that come with meat. Plus, you’ll help spare the environment. READ MORE

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Next time you need a creativity boost, try playing Minecraft

While video games are mainly a source of entertainment, new research suggests some games can also get your creative juices flowing. In a recent study, researchers from Iowa State University found that video games such as Minecraft may help increase creativity when players are given the freedom to play as they want, with no instruction.

The new study looked at 352 students at the university who were randomly assigned to four groups. Two of the groups were assigned to play Minecraft, a virtual Lego-like game where you can build anything you can imagine. But while one of the groups was asked to play as they wished for 40 minutes, the other group received the instruction to play as creatively as possible. A third group was asked to play a racing car video game, which doesn’t allow players to be as creative as Minecraft, while participants in the fourth group were asked to passively watch a television show.

After 40 minutes of play or watching TV, the participants completed several creativity tasks, one of which involved drawing a creature from another planet. More human-like creatures scored low for creativity and those less human-like scored high.

The findings showed that the participants who were randomly assigned to play Minecraft without any instruction received significantly higher scores on the creativity task compared to participants in the other groups. Whether this actually means playing Minecraft will make you more creative is still debatable, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind. READ MORE

Aloe Cadabra – each tube is carefully filled over 95% Full of Organic Aloe Vera to moisturize and sooth.

Moisturize
Lubricate
Replenish