by: Danielle Davis

“You don’t have to give up the foods you love when trying to eat better. All it takes is a few simple swaps,” Danielle Davis.

It’s no secret that I love to eat. I try not to be restrictive with what I eat, however, I always find myself searching for healthier versions of the recipes I love. The Healthy Swaps Cookbook offers so many scrumptious recipes that it’s hard not to make all of them at once. Throughout the book the photograph is beautiful and makes you crave something new for dinner with each page you turn.

I loved both of the recipes I made and can’t wait to try more.

Philly Cheesesteak-Stuffed Peppers

I have made a few different types of Philly cheesesteak recipes and have always enjoyed them. This recipe offered the best of two worlds for me by combining two dishes I love: stuffed peppers and Philly cheesesteaks.

They were really simple to make and most of the ingredients are things you already have in your pantry. I love meals like this where you only have to buy a few fresh things as it simplifies your shopping.

It took about forty-five minutes total, including the oven heating up, to make this delicious meal. Plus once you put the peppers with the meat mixture in the oven you can clean up the kitchen so there is less to do after dinner. Cleaning as you go makes life so much easier!

The Philly Cheesesteak-stuffed peppers were crunchy from the peppers with the gooey cheese on top – each bite offered the best of both worlds. I loved these and will definitely make them again soon.

For my sister and I since it is just the two of us we had so much filling left that we used it for lunches. She took some bread and had the filling with bread while I heated up some extra brown rice and put my filling on it. Even as a leftover it was delicious and I am not a big leftover person.

Cobb Salad with Avocado Ranch

I saw an Instagram reel the other day by Sara Levine that said, “I can only eat salads when they are made by someone else and cost $16.” It made me laugh so much because as sad as it is this is me with my love of Sweetgreen salads.

When I first looked through The Healthy Swaps Cookbook the picture of this salad immediately drew me in, it had so many things I loved and looked better than a Sweetgreen salad. I knew I had to make it, so I bought all the ingredients and every time I had it on the menu for dinner I didn’t feel like making it. Eventually I forced myself to make it and man I am so glad I did.

The directions seemed really easy to do, but I wanted to save a little more time so I bought hardboiled eggs and cooked bacon at the store. On my salad I left off the pickled red onions and sliced almonds as I am not a fan of either of them. Plus I swapped out feta cheese for the goat or bleu cheese as I can’t stomach either of those.

The resulting salad was so worth the effort and it wasn’t much effort at all. I loved how everything went together perfectly just like an expensive premade salad, but this was much fresher plus we had some leftovers.

Since we eat with our eyes first this salad draws you in and you can’t wait to dig in. My stomach was growling as I was taking the photos of the salad. I finished my entire salad which I don’t normally do!

I love a cookbook that allows me to indulge in my favorites while providing ways to make them a little healthier. The Healthy Swaps Cookbook is one the best I have found for offering delicious recipes that are made to be a bit healthier for us.

All of the recipes are easy to follow and with simple ingredients. I had no problem finding any ingredient in my normal grocery store and loved being able to use a lot of my normal pantry ingredients. The Healthy Swaps Cookbook will be one I use a lot in my everyday life.

What recipe do you want to make first?