4 delicious ways vegetables can substitute carbs

A couple years ago my doctor told me I was pre-diabetic. Huh? What? Yes! As skinny as I was that was my diagnosis. She said given my family history, it was not if I would get diabetes but when. I immediately changed my diet. Carbs had to go!

I eliminated sodas from my diet, most juices too, limited my carbohydrate intake and began reading food content labels diligently. I know, I went drastic at the time especially with my carbs but those turn to sugar once digested. Since then I’ve loosened up my diet some, but I still substitute healthier options for my carbohydrates. Especially now that my husband is also on board with the low carbs plan.

Veggies trump carbs

I’m sharing some of the ways I’ve substituted vegetables for carbs in my diet. You can follow us on Instagram as I often share my healthy recipes. Check our recipe highlight!

Cauliflower Shepherd’s Pie: 

Cauliflower is the perfect carbs substitute for potatoes or rice since it takes on flavors easily. You can use if for fried rice or mashed potatoes! When making shepherds pie I substitute the potatoes with cauliflower.  Boil cauliflower for 15 minutes then crush it or puree it and treat it the same way you would your potatoes. I love seasoning it to taste and adding fresh garlic, cheese and some heavy cream to mine.  I then spread my cauliflower over my meat – I always use 93% ground turkey. Pop it in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes and voila! Here’s a recipe for cauliflower mashed potatoes.

Broccoli Tots:  

I stumbled on this recipe, tried it and loved it. Instead of using potatoes in your tater tots, broccoli makes a great substitute and tastes sooooo yummy!  It gives you the sme great taste with less carbohydrates. I typically chop up 2 heads of blanched broccoli and combine it with cheese, onions, fresh parsley and breadcrumbs and garlic salt to taste. I add an egg as a binder, then shape my tots and bake them. Here’s the recipe for the broccoli tots

Spaghetti Squash Pasta: 

Spaghetti squash is really easy to cook and is a healthy substitute for pasta. I typically pop in the oven for an hour, then I cut it open, scoop out the seeds then sauté the spaghetti squash with olive oil, fresh garlic and onions and whatever herbs you have on hand.  Here’s a Spaghetti squash recipe

Scallopped Zucchini:

Zuchhini might be my favorite vegetable as its so versatile and tasty. For a hearty salad I add zucchini noodles. For several months I made zucchini bread almost weekly. I used almond flour and less sugar than the recipe called for to keep it as healthy as possible. Zucchini fries are also quite delicious. My favorite zucchini dish however, is scalloped zucchinis.