PASS ON PROCESSED FOOD. Stock your spice cabinet.

Replace processed foods with homemade, fast alternatives. Packaged foods can add unnecessary preservatives such as sugar and sodium; yet, many of these foods are easy to do at home. Simply read the ingredient labels of your favorite packaged items, and use it as a guide to make your own variety at home. Skip added sugar and anything you can’t pronounce.

SALAD DRESSING SEASONING MIX • Replace vinaigrette - Combine Italian Some recipes will try to convince you to buy herbs and chopped garlic with balsamic taco, fajita or other seasonings that can have vinegar, lemon or other vinegar and olive oil high sodium content. Don’t have all these to replace sugar-filled vinaigrettes. Throw spices on hand? Just add what you do have ingredients into a blender with a few frozen and adjust as necessary. Season to taste blueberries, raspberries or strawberries for with salt. a berry vinaigrette. • Taco seasoning - Mostly cumin with a • Replace ranch - Use plain yogurt mixed little chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, with onion powder, garlic powder, chopped onion powder green onions (can be from freezer), dill weed, parsley, pepper and salt. Add a • Fajita seasoning - Mostly chili powder with pinch of each and then adjust as necessary. cayenne, cumin, garlic powder, paprika and Add a squeeze of lemon for extra zing if onion powder you prefer. • Seafood seasoning - Celery seed, dried • Reducing fat in salad - If you are actively mustard, pepper, bay leaves, all spice, trying to reduce the fat in your salads, try powdered ginger, cinnamon and paprika skipping the oil all together, and stick with lemon juice or balsamic with a sprinkle of • Italian seasoning - Dried basil, rosemary, salt and pepper. You could also blend with thyme, oregano and marjoram honey if you want to keep fat down or blend salad dressing with one. tablespoon of water to help it spread with less calories. Grab a cheap spray bottle and put your salad dressing inside if you want to use that method, but watch how much you spray.