The key word is moderation. These foods are not totally calorie free. Free foods have a high water content. When they are cooked they loose the water and become more concentrated. Therefore, cooked free vegetables have smaller portion sizes.
Water loss occurs as heat breaks down the membranes of the cells that compose the food product.
I think you skipped over the part of my question that mentioned that for some meals in the month of meals five, some exchanges might have been substituted for others. It's right in the beginning of the book. How can I work with these meals given that a choice of exchanges are given, but not all lunch menus have the same exchanges. For example, there's a dinner with humus. I like the humus, but I know there must be grains to provide a complete protein .