Being middle aged and retired, so with time on my hands, I have been cookin from scratch more than I used to, trying to think up recipes that are tasty and that are not too detrimental for our wastelines. Some foot items (spreads like lime curd, marmalade, chocolate spread, peanut butter) though remain essentially shopbought and do not often have healthy alternatives: If these do exist they tend to be very expensive: we can of course use the healthier type of bread to spread them on, or replace bread with crackers, but it remains true that the spreads themselves are calorieladen and not always healthy:
One trick which I have been developing over time and which might also help other readers who try to limit their calorie-intake while still guaranteeing tasty food is the following. I have integrated these guiltlessly in my diet by creating ‘blends’ of whatever is the favourite flavour of the day (say marmalade) with raw grated veggies: for instance adding grated carrots will make the same spoonful of marmalade go much longer plus adds fibre and healthy components. Over the last year, I have tried kale with lots of salty or sweet spreads, finely shredded spinach goes well with chocolate spread or peanutbutter etc. Grated courgettes are also very useful in healthifying the guilty pleasures. You get more volume and after some calibrating of quantities you can ensure that you keep the taste of the spread while enjoying a health benefit from the added vegetable: