Not going to lie, I personally am not the world’s biggest Baked Beans fan. I think (or at least, used to think) that they were a little too heavy for summer picnic/BBQ fare and frankly, rather socially unacceptable. But, when Barbara and I cut the extra sugar and meat, added more spice and veg, and let them cook for a little extra time, I’ll call myself a Baked Beans Convert. Here’s what we used as a basis for baked beans: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Maple-Baked-Beans-350993

Baked Beans
Servings: About 20
Serving size: About 1 ladle full per person
Yield: 8 cups
6 cups navy beans (4 cans)
0.75 cup molasses
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 large yellow onion
2 cups tomato paste
2 T low sodium soy sauce
2 T garlic powder
2 T smoked paprika
1 T mustard powder

1.) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

2.) Stir together all ingredients

3.) Bake in a large casserole dish for an hour, then adjust time per taste (saucy-er beans are cooked for less time). 

Nutrition Facts per serving:

Original Recipe:

386 calories, 2.4g of fat, .8g saturated fat, 18.1g of protein, 18.6g of fiber.

Our Modified Recipe:

154 calories; .4g  fat; .1g saturated fat; 7.9g protein; 4.9g fiber

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As for potato salad- we went through a few stages with this guy. An original recipe for your regular ole’ potato salad straight from grandma’s pantry of mayo, you’ll get nutrition facts that look like this per serving:436 calories; 33.7g fat; 5.1g saturated fat; 6.2g protein; 2.8g fiber Horrified as we were, we found a healthier recipe we decided to modify further (for your enjoyment and ours):

Potato Salad
Servings: 16
Serving size: 1/2 cup 
Yield: 8 cups

4.5 pounds red potatoes with skin
0.25 cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion
0.5 cup scallions
0.5 cup lemon juice
6 T dijon
salt and pepper
1.) Boil potatoes until soft
2.) Whisk olive oil, dijon mustard, lemon juice, scallions, and diced onions until blended
3.)Chop potatoes into quarters; mix with dressing and serve
Nutrition Facts per serving:

Original Recipe (That we further modified):