Category Archives: Food Tips

10 Ingredient Substitutions to Help You Clean Up Your Meals

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Who doesn’t want a smaller waistline? The truth is, eating right can be a challenge, especially if you aren’t willing to sacrifice flavor for something bland and basic.

If you’re anything like the team at Passanante’s Home Food Service, you are passionate about great food. One of the best decisions you can make for yourself is to make the switch to organic fruits and vegetables. Growers use pesticides to protect crops from insects, molds and diseases.  While residues on most products don’t exceed government safety regulations, a growing number of consumers are opting out of chemically treated fruits and vegetables.  Passanante’s encourages you to make a conscious effort to reduce the chemicals in your meals and enjoy a happy, healthier lifestyle with organic produce.

We’ve put together a list of 10 ingredient substitutions to help you eat a little cleaner, because when you eat better you feel better. If you have any other great tips or tricks for reducing calories, fat, or chemicals in your diet we would love to hear them on our Facebook or Twitter!

1. Calls For: Vegetables and fruits

Substitute: Organic vegetables and fruits

2. Calls For: Bacon

Substitute: Canadian bacon, turkey bacon, smoked turkey or lean prosciutto (Italian ham)

3. Calls For: Bread crumbs, dry

Substitute: Rolled oats or crushed bran cereal

4. Calls For: Butter, margarine, shortening or oil in baked goods

Substitute: Applesauce or prune puree for half of the called-for butter, shortening or oil; butter spreads or shortenings specially formulated for baking that don’t have trans fats

5. Calls For: Flour, all-purpose (plain)

Substitute: Whole-wheat flour for half of the called-for all-purpose flour in baked goods

6. Calls For: Oil-based marinades

Substitute: Wine, balsamic vinegar, fruit juice or fat-free broth

7. Calls For: Salad dressing

Substitute: Fat-free or reduced-calorie dressing or flavored vinegars

8. Calls For: Lettuce, iceberg

Substitute: Arugula, chicory, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach or watercress

9. Calls For: Seasoning salt, such as garlic salt, celery salt or onion salt

Substitute: Herb-only seasonings, such as garlic powder, celery seed or onion flakes, or use finely chopped herbs or garlic, celery or onions

10. Calls For: Table salt

Substitute: Herbs, spices, citrus juices (lemon, lime, orange), rice vinegar, salt-free seasoning mixes or herb blends

Choosing Organic Fruits & Veggies

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Eating organic has certainly become a trend over the past 10 years. If you look hard enough you can find organic veggies at nearly any grocery store or neighborhood market in the US.  Millions of adults are choosing to change their ways after decades of fast food, take out and over processed treats. Let’s face it, we’re all trying to take better care of ourselves now that we know better. Perhaps one of the greatest responsibilities of this new community of organic eating, recyclable grocery bag toting, health conscious parents is the necessity to pass along these habits to generations to come.

Don’t just serve organic foods to your children; explain why you’re serving them.  Do a little science project with your family and look at the difference between organic and non-organic fruits and vegetables. You’ll be amazed at what you find!

You may have seen this video circulating on the web, but we thought there was a lot to learn from this simple experiment and wanted to share. Tell us how you explain organic foods to your children, we’d love to hear your stories!

Count on Passanante’s Home Food Service to deliver delicious, pesticide-free, organic fruits and veggies right to your door! If you haven’t yet made the switch to organic and would like to learn more about the benefits of this healthier lifestyle give us a call at 1-800-772-7786 to chat with a member of our team.

Why Eat Hormone-Free Meats?

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Hormone-Free Meat Delivery

An estimated 32.5 million cattle provide beef to Americans each year. 21.67 million of which have been injected with hormones to make them grow much larger

than average cattle. Although this industry is highly regulated by the USDA and FDA, a reasonable concern for the safety of these meats for human consumption has become a hot topic over the last years.

Much of the beef that fills the markets of America has been injected with unnaturally high levels of artificial hormones including Oestradoil, Progesterone, Testosterone, Zeranol, Trenbolone, and Melengestrol. The impact of ingesting this level of hormones is still largely unknown, but what many scientists do agree on is that these hormones may be responsible for a long list of incredibly dangerous side effects. Hormone residue in beef has been blamed for early on-set of puberty in young girls, which could lead to greater risk of breast and other cancers.

Similarly to the way pesticides are regulated in produce, the FDA regulates hormones in meats by setting levels of “tolerance.” The rapid demand for meats, particularly beef, in America has outpaced scientific research and the ability to gauge possible implications. As a result, scientists are still working to develop more effective ways to measure the steroid hormone levels in the “edible” meats from treated animals.

The meat industry will be ever changing as supply and demand impact the level of regulation from the US government. The fact of the matter is, the results of ingesting treated meats are largely unknown and are certainly a gray area.

Passanante’s Home Food Service provides our community of customers safe, all natural, hormone-free meats, and we do so with 100% confidence in their safety and wholesomeness. Give us a call today at 1-800-772-7786 and start feeding your family the foods they deserve!  

Healthy Meal Planning Made Easy!

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Enjoy delicious guilt-free food options from Passanante’s Home Food Services

As “Healthy January” comes to a close we know the will power to eat better that seemed so strong on New Year’s Eve may be beginning to fade. It’s no secret eating at home helps you not only save money but also save on calories, but unfortunately the art of healthy meal planning doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Lucky for us websites like MealsMatter.org exist to help us learn to make healthy decisions for ourselves and our families!

MealsMatter.org has a ton of great resources including “My Meal Planner”, “My Grocery List”, and even ”Substitutions”, which we think is particularly useful  for converting your favorite recipes into healthier versions that you still love.  Browse their website and find inspiration for great meals, as well as information about the positive influence family meal time can have on your children.

At Passanante’s Home Food Service we believe in the value of a delicious, healthy, home-made meal and are dedicated to helping you stick to your New Year’s Resolutions to treat you and your family to a healthier life style.

Leave a comment in the section below or on our Facebook Page and let us know what kind of recipes you would like us to publish on our blog. With all of the delicious hormone-free meats and organic vegetables available for delivery from Passanante’s we can find a way to make any of your favorite recipes guilt-free … or at least less guilt-filled! J

Here’s to a healthy February and a healthy life!

Your Friends At Passanante’s Home Food Service