Recipe Makeover tips for reducing fat and calories

I found a really tasty looking recipe over on the Food network (Calorie Commando, Episode: BBQ 365) for Louisiana Turkey Pull (306 calories a serving).   It looked so yummy I definitely want to try it. It also got me to thinking about other ways to cut fat and calories from recipes.

Here are a few useful websites I came across:

The Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers: Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time!, you can join their club for free, submit a favorite recipe for a makeover, newsletter, and discussion board
Food Fit, has a lot of recipes, info and tips.

Here are a few quick easy tips to reducing the fat in recipes:

First, identify the high-fat items, such as oil, margarine, nuts, cream, and whole eggs. Ask why each ingredient is there. Is it for appearance? Out of habit? For flavor or texture?

Can an ingredient be eliminated? For example, products can be made without nuts and high-fat toppings can be eliminated.

Can an ingredient be reduced? Often, fat can be reduced by one-third. For example, if a recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of oil, use 4 tablespoons. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of shortening, use 2/3 cup instead.

Can you use a substitute?

  • Skim milk can be substituted for whole milk.
  • Skim evaporated milk can take the place of cream.
  • Yogurt or no-fat sour cream are substitutes for sour cream.
  • Two egg whites can take the place of a whole egg.

Second, see what a difference a change in preparation can make (i.e. broil instead of fry, saute in broth instead of butter).

  • A 3.5-ounce portion of light meat chicken that has been fried with the skin on has 246 calories and 12 grams of fat.
  • Remove the skin and roast the same portion and it has only 173 calories and 4.5 grams of fat.
  • Oven-fried chicken has 185 calories and 5.3 grams of fat.

Baked goods and desserts:

  • Use diet margarine instead of regular margarine, shortening or butter. (Make sure your margarine is trans-fat free, avoiding products with any hydrogenated vegetable oil on the ingredient list.)
  • Instead of oil, try one-half applesauce/one-half nonfat milk, or one-half oil and one-half applesauce. If possible, replace oil completely with applesauce (this works best in cakes, brownies and zucchini bread).
  • Use a graham cracker crust instead of a traditional pie crust - traditional crusts are usually made from lard or shortening, with more than 50% of calories from fat.
  • Reduce nuts and coconut by 50% and chocolate chips by 25-50%.
  • Reduce sugar by 25% (or replace with splenda) - it won’t change the taste appreciably, especially if you use more of the sweet spices (vanilla, cinnamon, etc.)
  • Replace half of the white flour with whole-wheat flour to increase fiber and nutritional value.

Casseroles and main dishes:

  • Use nonfat plain yogurt instead of sour cream.
  • Use two egg whites in place of every whole egg - this will eliminate cholesterol and save fat calories.

For baked goods and quiches, beat egg whites until stiff to add volume.

  • Use evaporated skim milk instead of cream, and use nonfat or lowfat milk instead of whole milk.
  • Instead of cream cheese, substitute one of the following: light cream cheese; blenderized cottage cheese combined with 1 tablespoon lemon juice; one-half tofu and on-half ricotta cheese.
  • Saute in wine, chicken broth or vegetable oil spray instead of oil.
  • Use lowfat cheese instead of regular cheese.

FYI

  • You’ll save 240 fat calories by replacing 2 tbs. butter with 2 tbs. broth or wine.
  • You eliminate 100 to 120 calories for each tablespoon of fat you remove from a recipe.

********************

Technorati Tags

Rate:
2.5

Tags: , , , , , , , ,