Calorie saver swaps
sjgold123
Posts: 133 Member
So i'm interested to know how people are changing habits and making swaps fo the way forward. Easy ways that cut calories without feeling hard done by?
Forgive me if some seem simple but it's an inlightening new way of thinking for me.
So Cauliflower - instead of potato or rice flavoured with spices, and chopped swede and carrot in sometimes great with fish.
Lo dough - a dough/wrap bread susitute that can be used to wrap for sandwich fillers, parcelled around burgers, topped for a pizza or quiche base, a sweet treat with peanut butter or banana, a kebab style pitta.
Rice cakes - instead of biscuits topped with peanut butter and a banana for a sweet treat.
Large mushrooms instead of a bun baked in water in the oven used to top a lean burger.
Soup mix spiced with cumin/curry powder as a curry sauce swap.
Creamy sauces using minimal flour skimmed milk and wholegrain mustard over pasta/chicken/ veg bakes.
Like i say maybe not mind blowing but new ways of thinking that saves calories for me.
Forgive me if some seem simple but it's an inlightening new way of thinking for me.
So Cauliflower - instead of potato or rice flavoured with spices, and chopped swede and carrot in sometimes great with fish.
Lo dough - a dough/wrap bread susitute that can be used to wrap for sandwich fillers, parcelled around burgers, topped for a pizza or quiche base, a sweet treat with peanut butter or banana, a kebab style pitta.
Rice cakes - instead of biscuits topped with peanut butter and a banana for a sweet treat.
Large mushrooms instead of a bun baked in water in the oven used to top a lean burger.
Soup mix spiced with cumin/curry powder as a curry sauce swap.
Creamy sauces using minimal flour skimmed milk and wholegrain mustard over pasta/chicken/ veg bakes.
Like i say maybe not mind blowing but new ways of thinking that saves calories for me.
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@sjgold123 - Deleted your dupe post. I think you need to be an admin to do it.
Love this question. I thought of swapping almond milk for cow's milk for a significant savings at 40 cals per cup for almond milk.
I would also be interested in foods people eat that are filling and nutritious yet low in calories.0 -
Great question
The calcium fortified almond milk swapped for regular milk is a wonderful one I do. I like the unsweetened vanilla flavor almond milk that has 30 cals for 8 oz.
Water chestnuts in place of potatoes in my light day soups.
When I’m in a mood for a peanut butter sandwich I have a bowl of oatmeal (less cals than two pieces of bread) with 1/2 tablespoon peanut butter (far less peanut butter than would satisfy me on bread). It is like a whole bowlful of yummy peanut butter. Even better if you use almond milk instead of water when making the oatmeal!
Low fat fetta cheese on salads instead of cheddar.
Fresh squeezed lemon juice on steamed spinach instead of cooking spinach in a skillet with some form of fat.
Homemade marinara sauce over steamed veggies (an Asian mix of snow snap peas, water chestnuts, carrots and broccoli) instead of over pasta.
Homemade roasted potatoes (home fries) instead of French fries.
A virgin Bloody Mary ( made with a splash of: liquid smoke, Worcester sauce, lemon juice, and Tabasco in tomato juice) along with rice cakes instead of BBQ potato chips. (Wierd, I know, but the flavor is really similar. I’m working on the crunch - rice cakes not quite there yet.)
Syracuse Salt Potatoes (http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2014/03/syracuse-salt-potatoes-lots-wife-would.html?m=1) which taste so buttery even though I don’t use any butter at all instead of baked potatoes (which would need LOTS of butter to taste as good).
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Jknight thanks for that. I've tried Almond milk and like it it's creamy without the calories great in cooking.
Wow Ryenday peanut oatmeal sounds lush. I'm a sucker for peanut butter!0 -
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My thing is using olive oil spray in place of real olive oil when sauteing veggies for recipes and stuff. Olive oil comes in at around 120 calories for a tbsp or so (off the top off my head, don't quote me) but if you use the spray it has zero calories! Give or take!
I also add a lot of healthy low calorie filler veggies to my soups: carrotts, onion, zuchinni, etc. Makes them more filling and does not increase calories too much.
Geek yogurt is a nice stand in for sour cream and in some places where mayonaisse is called for.
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I topped lo dough with apple and cinnamon and sweetner for a apple tartlet for a quarter slice that's under 35 calories!!!1
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I also thought of another angle - making low calorie foods (aka vegetables) taste better.
Different vinegars sprinkled on mixed veggies can make them more appealing.
One other treat I love is cooking sliced mushrooms in water or broth for a no-fat, delicious side dish.1 -
So many great things in this thread!
I also sautee veggies in plain old water if they start to dry out. This way they sort of steam and still cook. Works well with onions in particular. I am a big soup person, so one of the things I do when prepping!
I also love to steam - we have a big stock pot that that is from IKEA and on top of it you put the Steamer insert. See link below. Put some water in your pan around a quarter of the way up. It boils and then it steams your food. Zero calories other than what you put on it, i.e., butter, margarine, oils, etc.
Works awesome with kale and other leafy greens and when heating up certain types of left overs.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30152346/0 -
These are really good swaps!
I love butter lettuce or living lettuce, it's the best for tacos instead of using a traditional tortilla.
Also zucchini "noodles" instead of pasta and lentils instead of rice in a stir fry.
@Meghan509 I love my oil spray bottle! (best pampered chef splurge)2 -
Great points @melonpaul
I have had that oil spray bottle too! The brand name Misto rings a bell?! LOL
I think my old Misto either bit the dust or got misplaced, because I don't seem have it on hand anymore...
Lately I have been buying the Bertolli spray at my grocery store in Light and Extra Virgin. 0 -
Hi all, i do the mushrooms in water too pop in the oven with garlic. No point of adding any oil in a pan and you don't have to watch over it win win!
Zucchini do you mean Courgette? As long as they are drained they work well for me too.0 -
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@Meghan509 - Food diva.
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My goto on fast days was always Chicken Tikka Masala (curry). Under 800 calories for two and a half pounds of serious tasting food. I used lots of swaps in it including a pound of mushrooms to sub half the chicken (eggplant is good too). The last few times I made it I added some coconut extract to give it a little extra oomph.
What I'm about to print here is now blasphemous to my keto regimen so please don't judge me. It's quoted from and old post in our group's Dinner and Lunch Recipe thread.Things you're going to need to cook low-cal (in my opinion):- Pam Spray (I have both the olive-oil and butter), 7 to 9 cals for a 1 second spray
- I can't believe it's not butter Lite (less than half the cals of butter), but I use butter too
- No Fat Greek Yogurt
- Mushrooms/Eggplant/Lentils/Beans (anything you like that can partially substitute beef/chicken)
- Pure Stevia (this may be too radical for some, but I've made my peace with it)
Switches/swaps you'll need to make (just for cooking):- from Whole Milk to 2%/1% or Skim or Almond
- from Whole Cheeses to 2% or Skim Cheeses
- from Regular Sour Cream to Light Sour Cream
- from Regular Cream Cheese to Light and/or No Fat
- from White Bread to Lo-Carb Flat Breads/Wraps or Multi-Grain Breads
- from Chicken Broth to 99% Fat Free Chicken Broth
Other helpful hints:- If the recipe is low heat and calls for butter use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light instead.
- In place of heavy/whipping cream you may be able to use skim/almond milk & a tbsp(or 2) of light sour cream.
- For a graham cracker crust, cut the crackers down and use Multi-Grain Cheerios (to taste).
- If a recipe calls for lots of eggs, use half whole eggs and the other half in egg whites (x2).
- Need lots of melted cheddar? Get Cabot light sharp cheddar, melt it, and mix in light sour cream or non fat yogurt.
- For ground beef (not burgers) you need to cook it well, drain and rinse with hot water (gets a big calorie reduction).
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Great ideas here! I would like to add spaghetti squash as alternative for rice & pasta... Half it, bake it, and enjoy it plain with black pepper and a bit of olive oil, or top with any kind of sauce, I like a veggie prima Vera Alfredo sauce, plain tomato sauce or with a stir fry and even add a half tin of chunky soup on top!
You can do all the same things with cauliflower too. And I also like those olive oil sprayers!!3 -
@mamainthekitchen - been wondering about spaghetti squash and noodles. I have a hard time wrapping my head around them as a substitute for pasta. Do you enjoy spaghetti squash?0
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^^ yes jknight I really like that you can have quite a lot of it for around 60 cals! One thing I learned...for me... I didn’t care for my own meat sauce that I use on real pasta because I compared the dish to ‘the real thing’, and it’s not the same, but I found using Hunts tomato sauce from the tin that says “with onion, herbs & garlic” omitting meat totally and just heat up the sauce & pour on top of shredded spaghetti squash, add pepper & Parmesan and it tastes very much like a delicious Italian meal! My daughter likes an Alfredo sauce on spaghetti squash and I don’t, for me that becomes a bit mucky, but it you add a bunch of veggies to the Alfredo to make it chunky like a prima Vera sauce, I like that better. I also prefer to bake the squash rather than micro...cut in half length way, cut side down ( I spray a spritz if olive oil on each half and bake at 400 for about 30-40 mins. So, yup I like it!1
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@mamainthekitchen - thank you for your "review"of spaghetti squash. You inched me a bit closer to trying it. 1
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