Healthy recipes = healthy food : Rooftop Views

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Healthy recipes = healthy food

We all have our favorite recipes, but many of these are loaded with fats and contain little nutrition. Use these tips to adjust your recipes to make them healthier:

· Reduce the amount of oil, butter or shortening called for in a recipe. Experiment; often you can reduce the amount by ½ by replacing the fat with applesauce or other pureed fruits.

· Use evaporated skim milk instead of heavy cream or half and half in baking, sauces or soups.

· Use nonfat or low fat yogurt and nonfat or low fat cottage cheese in place of regular yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese or mayonnaise in recipes, dips and sauces.

· Use part-skim cheeses instead of whole milk cheeses in any recipe.

· Use reduced fat or nonfat products of any food such as salad dressings and mayonnaise.

· Use a nonstick pan and water, chicken broth, wine or oil sprays for sautéing and wok cooking.

· Use chicken and turkey breast, veal, ham, ground round and flank steak in casseroles and meat loaf.

· Replace one whole egg with two egg whites, or replace two eggs with one whole egg and one egg white.

· Reduce the amount of salt by at least ½ and up the use of herbs and spices.

· Reduce the amount of sugar by at least 1/2. Try reducing the sugar by a little each time you make the recipe.

· Use whole-wheat flour instead of enriched white flour, or use half whole wheat and half white flour or add ¼ cup wheat germ in place of white flour.

· Use brown rice or wild rice instead of white rice.

· Replace canned fruits and vegetables with their fresh or frozen counterparts.

· Experiment with low fat and healthy cookbooks. There are many available in bookstores or libraries that have recipes already revised for you.

· Use ice milk, sorbet or low fat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream.

· Use tuna packed in water instead of tuna in oil.

· Enjoy whole grain breads, muffins, bagels or crackers instead of doughnuts, croissants and large bakery muffins.

· Eat a baked potato instead of an order of french fries. Or make baked fries by coating cut potatoes with oil and baking in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes turning every 15 minutes.

· Snack on plain popcorn and pretzels instead of peanuts or chips.

· Try using ground turkey instead of ground beef in recipes.

· Use pureed cooked vegetables or beans to thicken soups and sauces instead of cream, egg yolks or butter.

· Use soft tofu to replace some or all of whipped or sour cream in recipes.

· Toast nuts to enhance flavor-you won't need to use as many.

· Trim all visible fat from meat before cooking and remove skin from poultry.

· In baking recipes, try substituting applesauce, fat free pudding or minced canned pineapple in place of a quarter to a third of the oil.

· Substitute fat free plain yogurt in place of sour cream.

· Try soy meat substitutes for ground beef, chicken and even sausages.

· Experiment with whole grain pastas or alternatives to wheat pasta, like rice, spelt or quinoa pasta. Really surprise your family and use spaghetti squash in place of wheat spaghetti.

· A full class of wine can have over 100 calories. Lighten it up by making a homemade wine cooler by mixing half wine and half sparkling water. Add a lemon or lime and you have a refreshing wine spritzer!

12:59 PM - Feb. 23, 2009 - comments {1} - post comment

RE: Healthy recipes = healthy food

This is very practical and easy to do tips. Substitutes can easily be found in the counter. I will try this!

kim-free ads - 10:24 PM - Feb. 26, 2009