Lighten Up Your Labor Day with Healthy Food Swaps

If you’ve been working hard all summer to keep off the extra pounds, then you probably know how hard it can be to turn down all those tempting high-calorie dishes that keep showing up at summertime gatherings.

To help you keep extra calories away at any get-togethers this Labor Day holiday weekend, check out these 3 simple food swaps featured in one of our recent “Get the Skinny” segments. Aside from saving you from indulging in hundreds of calories, you’ll also be boosting your nutritional intake from these summertime cocktails and snacks.

Swerve Simple Syrup: 0 calories, 0 sugar

Saves 80 calories and 20 grams of sugar per ounce.
Add 1 cup Swerve Sugar Replacement to 1 cup hot water, shake or blend to dissolve, then cool.

Cottage Cheese and Creamy Dips

Replace half of your favorite creamy dips with cottage cheese (our favorite: Daisy Brand cottage cheese) to create a dip with about 30% fewer calories, 3 times more protein, and the added bonus of extra calcium.
Puree cottage cheese until smooth (yogurt-like consistency) and mix with dips in a 1:1 ratio
Works well with guacamole, ranch or French onion dip, even hummus!

Switch to Beanitos (or veggies) for dipping

Beanitos have 2 times more protein and 3 times more fiber than regular tortilla or blue corn chips
My top picks: Chipotle Black Bean or Nacho Cheese White Bean
Or – nix chips altogether and use veggies like sliced cucumber, red peppers, zucchini and squash for dipping

Strawberry Mocktail Margarita by Carolyn Ketchum (makes 2 large margaritas)

2 cups ice
1 cup sliced strawberries
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 to 2 tbsp confectioner’s Swerve Sweetener, depending on how sweet you like it
2 lime wedges
1 tsp granulated Swerve Sweetener for rimming
2 strawberries
4 ounces tequila (optional)

In a blender, combine ice, strawberries, lime juice and confectioner’s Swerve. Blend until smooth. Run a lime wedge around the rim of two cocktail or margarita glasses. Place granulated Swerve in a shallow dish and run the rim of the glass through the sweetener. Divide margaritas between prepared glasses. Garnish with lime wedges and strawberries.

For more details on this topic, watch Molly’s full “Get the Skinny” segment on WGNO.com.