Cutting Calories/ Modifying Favorite Recipes

[Kate]

Is there a way that you modify some of your favorite recipes... or like old family recipes, to make them more healthy for today's lifestyles?

This is something that I've been trying to do for a while now, but I could sure use more ideas. One thing that has worked great for me is cutting down the amount of meat used in recipes. If it takes a pound of ground meat, I'll use 1/2 or 3/4 pound. Same goes with chicken, beef cubes, etc. If one of my recipes says 2 pounds of chicken breast, or 2 pounds of beef cubes, I never use more than 1 pound. It makes it a little bit healthier and also cuts the calories down.

I also sometimes bring ground meat to a boil in a little water after cooking it. It cooks much more of the fat out than I thought possible. Of course some would say that it also cooks much of the flavor out, but it's a good feeling knowing there are ways to cut those calorie counts.

 

[firelily99]

I do cut things out or lessen like butter, vegetable oil, mayo, eggs, etc. They were a big part of recipes that my mother made and I want to still be able to eat them. Instead of ground beef I will use ground turkey, chicken, or even pork. I'm not into eating beef much anymore, it makes me feel logy. More veggies and less read meat have made a big difference in my life.

 

[Kate]

Good tips about using less butter, oil, eggs, and mayo, firelily99. Sometimes I see a recipe that says you can make it healthier by totally omitting one of the fat ingredients like the oil or butter... so I always end up wondering why they felt the need to add it in the first place if the recipe is going to work without it.

 

[OhioTom76]

You can almost always swap out that "1 Tbsp" of oil or butter a recipe calls for when sauteing some vegetables or other ingredients for a dish with a few sprays of cooking spray. That's a no-brainer. In most cases all the food does is soak it up like a sponge and it doesn't really help much with the cooking process or browning - technique is more important here, such as not crowding the pan and not stirring things around too much before they have a chance to develop some color. I actually prefer to use a silicone brush, and lightly brush the pan with a little oil.

Cutting meat is a good idea, but I wouldn't bother if the meat is particularly lean, like with chicken breast - unless you are also looking to cut some food costs as well.

Regarding your water method when cooking ground beef - you can also cut the fat in it by simply cooking the ground beef at a low temperature for a longer time to allow all the fat to render out slowly. The added benefit is the meat itself will develop more of a "fond" and have a lot more flavor to it, in addition to being lower in fat.

Fat isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can also help you feel full faster when eating some dishes, so you eat less overall. You more or less negate the benefits of cutting out fats, if you are eating larger portions of a meal since you feel that it is healthier - you wind up consuming more calories overall which is still bad.

Another technique I use when trying to make oven-fried stuff instead of deep frying, is to gently toast the breadcrumbs first in a frying pan, before breading the items. That way they are browned evenly and have that nuttier cooked flavor to them throughout.