Are you wondering how to make your favorite foods less calor

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  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    Hungry Girl does this, which I love for when I am craving something... I salute your efforts! I would love to see a really great low calorie cupcake recipe--my boyfriend's birthday is Nov 5th, mine is Nov 15th, and we love cupcakes! Right now my plan is an angel food cake type thing with no icing... thoughts?

    The 5th is coming up quickly... however, I think I could actually help you out. I know I add sour cream to alot of my "baking" recipes (to make them moist in lieu of butter) - So I will try this. I'm a chocolate person, angel food cake sounds delish - I know its "dense" so I will have to play with it a few times to get it right. I'm not as great of a baker as I am chef... but for my MFP peeps, I'll try anything!
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    Hot wings, french fries, yeungling

    Hot wings. Let see. Problem is 1. they are usually dark meat (fattier) and contain butter in the sauce. This can be easily replaced by making almost "hot breasts" because its leaner, and I will find a way to make that sauce more calorific. :) Fries, I can honestly say, all oil is going to SIGNIFICANTLY ADD CALORIES. You are much better off baking them. I suggest par-boiling (boiling but not quite cooked) then baking them with whatever you choose to season them with. Just be mindful of the sodium. Alot of premade seasonings have a ton of sodium, when you can look at the ingredients and make it yourself. The secret to crispy frenchy fries is that they are TWICE fried. In restaurants, most places fry them once, and when an order comes in.... fries them again to order so you get that crunchy outside and mushy inside everyone enjoys. If you par-boil them, you are essentially cooking them once, then baking for the second CRUNCH factor, which is what every fry needs. I will play around with that to see how long the cooking time and what temperature needs to be. But thank you for your input because I'm sure alot of people want to know!
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    I love grilled chicken alfredo - but dang is alfredo sauce a killer -- calorie-wise.

    Alfredo sauce, I'm working on. If you look at the comments, you'll see I responded to a girl asking the same question! :)
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    garlic bread! haha

    Lets see. The main ingreients are bread, some kind of oil or fat, and garlic. Most calories will actually come from the oil if you don't choose correctly. And the bread you can alternate for a whole grain bread to get more dietary fiber. Let me reseach and find an oil that is suitible for this type of prep. For example olive oil can run up to 100 calories PER TABLESPOON!!! So at restaurants, think of ordering even something healthy, sauteed.... veggies... whatever, but if they use olive oil or EVOO - it totally ruins the calorie count. I'll reseach :)
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    What a great idea. I just made a lighter version of mac and cheese and it was pretty good. Not the same as the full fat version but not bad at all :) I would love to see what ideas people have. Me, I really like sweets, so anything that can be done to make them less fattening but still flavorful would be great!

    Mac and Cheese is really not a toughie if you are open to new things like whole grain pastas. However, light versions of cheese, mixed with non-fat milk and some kind or roux, or thickener (I'm thinking cream of tartar - no calories but molecularly it helps thicken things) - could really make for a delicious low cal version. Sweets - still working on that one. But with each and every reciple, I will try like I promised to make everything low cal, and as low fat as I possibly can!
  • Healthy_Hannah483
    Healthy_Hannah483 Posts: 151 Member
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    Peach cobbler!
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    PB&J

    Black bean enchiladas

    Pumpkin Pie

    PB & J. Let me start out by saying that the peanut butter (high in calories though) is extremely healthy for you. It has good fats and good cholesterol, but it would have to be controlled by the AMOUNT you put on your sandwich. The bread. Pick a whole grain bread. There are many out there for 80 - 100 calories that are PACKED with a ton of dietary fiber. Right then and there you have good carbs, fats. and a little lower calories. Jam. This is where sugar comes into play. Pick a low sugar jelly or non sugar. Usually its replaced by aspartame (which is a little sweet for me) - or look at your local farmers market - they have non preservatives. Just be sure to read the label!!!!

    Black bean enchiladas. Let me start with the tortilla. That is the problem. Now a days, they offer at grocery stores "low calorie wraps" which are MUCH less calories than a general tortilla. Corn or not. Doesn't matter. Replace the tortilla with a wrap that can be as low as 30 calories as opposed to just one normal tortilla (160 calories) and some form of light cheese. Shredded is good. Consider portion control as well. I know cheeses that are not light and are in slice form are around 90 calories. If you add that up, Without the beans, two slices of cheese and a normal tortilla could be 310 calories. Thats alot, and you haven't even added the beans. El Rosorito has a brand of fat free black beans and I suggest getting them whole and not refried. Refried adds more oil and fat, which isnt needed. You will have a decent Bean and Cheese burrito if you just simply follow those directions. If you want the beans mushy.... well then buddy, take a fork to it! Add a tablespoon of water and mash it up. It IS possible to make it low calorific!!!

    Now as I said before, I really am not much of a baker, so pumpkin pie is a perfect recipe for me to come up with especially with the coming holidays. I will work on that for you. :)
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    Chocolate cake:bigsmile:

    Man theres a ton of sweet tooths here!!! I am not a huge baker, so I will try. I do have a great recipe for chocolate zuchinni rum cake (trust me you cant taste the zucchini, its for moisture purposes only) - I should post it!
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    oh yes... Pumpkin Pie!! ... oh, and cornbread stuffing. =):bigsmile:

    As I replied to another post, I need to work on the pumpkin pie recipe. Cornbread stuffing. Man that is such a hard one. You almost have me stumped on that. I will definitely try my absolute best to create a recipe for that. However for now, all I can say is portion control! I know that sucks, but until I can make a decent recipe, just make sure you realize how many calories are in it, and try and balance it with appropriater protiens and other veggies (which do have carbs too.)
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    I found this elsewhere and I haven't tried it yet but here's an Alfredo that's sipposed to be really good:

    1/2 head cauliflower (30 cal)
    3 tbsp parmesan cheese (60 cal)
    1 tbsp garlic
    salt & pepper to taste

    Cook cauliflower till its mushy. Throw everything into a blender and blend until smooth. Add water till its at the right consistency. Heat and serve over whole wheat pasta for a satisfying low cal dinner!

    WOW! Thank you so much for posting this recipe, I am sure to try it and see if I can tweak it in anyway. Cauliflower is one of the best most low calorie veggies that I can think of and works on so many levels! Check out my post on cauliflower pizza! Again, Thank you!
  • tegla
    tegla Posts: 132
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    I use greek yogurt in place of sour cream. Even in baking.. it's so yummy and moist!
    .. sorry I had to toss that out there

    Thank you for the topic.
  • chikachic817
    chikachic817 Posts: 55 Member
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    Hot wings, french fries, yeungling

    Hot wings. Let see. Problem is 1. they are usually dark meat (fattier) and contain butter in the sauce. This can be easily replaced by making almost "hot breasts" because its leaner, and I will find a way to make that sauce more calorific. :) Fries, I can honestly say, all oil is going to SIGNIFICANTLY ADD CALORIES. You are much better off baking them. I suggest par-boiling (boiling but not quite cooked) then baking them with whatever you choose to season them with. Just be mindful of the sodium. Alot of premade seasonings have a ton of sodium, when you can look at the ingredients and make it yourself. The secret to crispy frenchy fries is that they are TWICE fried. In restaurants, most places fry them once, and when an order comes in.... fries them again to order so you get that crunchy outside and mushy inside everyone enjoys. If you par-boil them, you are essentially cooking them once, then baking for the second CRUNCH factor, which is what every fry needs. I will play around with that to see how long the cooking time and what temperature needs to be. But thank you for your input because I'm sure alot of people want to know!

    French fries are my favorite food, so I am really looking forward to what you find out for this. Loving the info on how to make them healthier, thanks!
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    french fries, caramel, noodles

    Caramel. Thats a toughy. Its essentially sugar and fat. Which all contribute to calories. I honestly don't believe there is a way to make it low calorific, except for portion control. But this is a great challenge for me. I'd love to find a way to make it low calorie.

    French fries, I posted above as a reply to someone else. However when I perfect the recipe, I will let you ALLLLL know.

    Noodles. Aren't they great? I know I can make noodles low cal, but I need to know what kind of noodles are you referring to? Theres grain noodles like spaghetti, capellini, angel hair, - theres ways I can make noodles out of vegetables, and theres also Asian noodles like glass noodles or rice noodles. So I'm not sure which you are referring to. If you want, shoot me a message and I will try my best to make the BEST noodles for you that are calorie friendly :)
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    Yorkshire Pudding

    Honestly, I have never made Yorkshire Pudding, so I will google it. I'll instantly know what makes it high in calories and see what I can do for you :)
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    Any thing with chocolate. I love Alfredo sauce. rolls or biscuits. mac and cheese. I love so many bad, high calorie things

    Again, check out my replies to some of the people who posted before you :) I am going to work on chocolate recipes especially, because I myself am a total choco-holic. Alfredo sauce I think was adressed in one of the first posts. Rolls and biscuits, that is something I really can do, because recently I've been making many kinds of bread. So this I'd love to play around with. As for mac & cheese, I gave kind of a basic outline of what I would do but not a hard and fast recipe. So please give me some time to reseach, cook, experiment, and I shall come up with something that will satisfy your cravings, without the guilt!
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    poutine! frys, sauce and cheese YUMO!

    You got it. Sauces, and cheeses are really big in America's repitoir of food. This is something I've tried to work on, so let me try my best and get back to you!
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    Creamy pastas...

    Sauces, Sauces... Oh sauces. Really, Low cal versions are actually easy to make. Most creamy sauces involve a dairy (I'd use non fat milk) and some kind of thickener (a roux is what we cuilinary folks call it) But there are other things you can replace to make a sauce thicker such as CREAM OF TARTAR. You can find this in the spices section. Its a powder. It is great because it can thicken so many things without adding the butter and flour. The ratio of how much if it you need is something I can figure out. But thats kinda what I'm thinking along with an alfredo sauce, or a vodka sauce, something that usually involves dairy, and can thicken on its own. I don't want to get all into molecular gastronomy as thats really not gonna help us on MFP. We need stuff we can use everyday. Something practical. But I am going to take that upon myself to make that my job because I really want to help people. :)
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    Peach cobbler!

    Again, not totally awesome at baking, but peaches are already awesome for you. Peach cobbler.... I've never made. So forgive me as it may take me some time to figure out. Great suggestion though!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Aligot. i'd rather eat the full cal version, but curious as to what you'd sub to make aligot. chicken stock would negatively effect the texture and flavor imo
  • jsteinberg87
    jsteinberg87 Posts: 146 Member
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    I use greek yogurt in place of sour cream. Even in baking.. it's so yummy and moist!
    .. sorry I had to toss that out there

    Thank you for the topic.

    YES! I believe I referred to yogurt in place of something else in some of the replies I posted. GREEK YOGURT is what I would use. Not only is it totally healthy, low cal, but has TONS of probiotics which is totally awesome for our bodies. I know I can get it plain, which would help with things that don't need a hint of sourness like baking. I should have mentioned that I would use that as a replacement for a lot of things, but as recipes come, I will post that. Thank you for bringing it to everyone's attention.

    YOU GUYS - GREEK YOGURT IS A GODSEND.YOU CAN MAKE IT SWEET OR SAVORY, MAKE THINKS MOIST, AND EVEN MARINATE PROTIEN IN IT (the yogurt and enzymes help to break down protien making it more tender!) SO REALLY CONSIDER THIS OPTION WHEN YOU GO GROCERY SHOPPING!

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