Cooking with less

history_grrrl

Now that I'm paying attention to calories, fat content, etc., I'm discovering that all sorts of things require a lot less than I used to put in. For example, if I was frying a couple of eggs, I'd melt at least a tablespoon of butter (and usually add more), but now I can see that I really only need a teaspoon. Same with butter on veggies or rice; I'd slather a boatload of butter on there, when just a little bit will do the trick. And tuna salad: I'd dump in tons of mayo, and now I notice that just two tablespoons (of half-fat mayo) works fine for two cans plus extra ingredients.

I'm curious: what are other people doing differently for meal prep, after realizing that a little bit of something now goes a long way?

clvdandj

definitely oil and butter.

kittyloo123

eggs cooked with a lite spray of non-stick. lite mayo, or i have been using the fage 0% as a sub for sour cream, also mixed with green salsa for a "sauce" on grilled fish.
Actually the fage mixed with the green tomatillo salsa is good on LOTS of things.

agpatter2

I eat a lot of salads. Before I would pour on the dressing and there would always be dressing floating in the bottom of the bowl when I finished. Now I sprinkle on a few drops and can taste the vegetables more. I've even tried having dressing on the side and dip my fork in it and then salad with each bite...not bad but a little trouble. I've found that I don't require butter or marg. on corn on the cob. I had been using spray margarine but now I've stopped that too.

unmitigatedbadassery

as cliched as it might sound cooking with good ingredients makes a world of difference. I have found that less oil/butter, less salt and less sauces really allow the food to shine and you are able to taste each ingredient. Coming from a culinary background this is very important to me.

milaxx

I rarely use butter. I mostly use either olive oil, virgin coconut oil or water if I just need to soften onions, garlic for cooking. I eat lots of salads and make my own dressings. No added sodium and I know everything in it.

pcteck2

I have found that an olive oil spritzer and a good non-stick pan can cook a lot of things without any extra fat. If I need extra I add it a tiny bit at a time.
I have always pan grilled steaks and chops on a salted pan with no fat. Try it. The meats are delicious and beautifully browned.
I use hummus instead of mayo on sandwiches. Way more flavor. Roasted red pepper is my favorite.
Just started using Silk unsweeted almond milk for my tea and to drink. 40 calories per cup and it does taste really good. Different, but good.
I use a microwave corn popper and pop the corn without oil, then spritz with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning.
Salad dressing is measured before tossing and I use as little as I can to give some flavor, but still let the veggies shine.
I could go on and on and on...

lapamperedchef

Try cooking "fried eggs" with water no calories added. I add avocado to tuna and a 1/4 t of mayo. Nothing but health fats. You can tweek anything to make it health.

timanda2

when I'm baking and a recipe calls for oil I use applesauce instead. It has no calories and adds a serving of fruit to the mix!

lapamperedchef

You may want to try coconut milk. Taste amazing and it's full of health fats. Higher in calories though.

gimedatnow

I typically try to reduce the butter/oil I use when baking and found that using healthy baking substitutes goes a long way! I often use a cup of applesauce in place of a cup of butter or a cup of veggie oil. There are a bunch more baking substitutes here too: http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/common-ingredient-substitutions/Detail.aspx

zooflute

I've switched from/use less of
--skim milk to unsweetened almond milk
--margarine or butter to butter spray (works on popcorn too)
--much much less cheese!
--sour cream to fage yogurt
--white pastas/rices to whole wheat



For eggs, you can nuke them in a pyrex measuring cup on low power for about 2 minutes (stirring once in the middle). They come out very fluffy.

For brownies, you can substitute pureed black beans (with their juice) for the egg and oil. Use the family size brownie mix. They taste great, and each bite is WAY more filling than regular brownies.