Saucy foods

Tiddlypeeps

I like my food saucy and moist. This is a problem because most low calorie food is dry and boring.

Chilli con carnie is probably the only healthy thing I cook that is nice and moist, and I'm getting pretty bored of it. I can cook a nice spicy stir fry but I usually use a lot of sesame oil in it so that kicks the calories right up.

Anybody have any recipes for nice saucy foods that are low in calories?

Even suggestions on ingredients that are low fat and or calorie and I can work with that. Mayo is something I'm trying to avoid like the plague but is something I would have normally used a lot. The low fat stuff just tastes rank so I just stay away from it. Butter and oil are obviously out because they are 100% fat.

Is natural yogurt heavy in fat and calories? I could play around with that in some recipes of it's not.

Also I tried wholegrain pita bread for the first time the other day, they seem to be fairly low calorie and are pretty filling. Any suggestions on different fillings I can play around with?

majope

Get a Crock Pot, if you don't already have one. All the liquid stays inside the pot while the food is cooking, so everything keeps moist. Throw in some meat with any of these: broth, salsa, enchilada sauce, pasta sauce, marinade, barbecue sauce, salad dressing (chicken cooked in honey mustard dressing is awesome, and there are plenty of low fat versions out there), wine--look around your fridge and cupboards for other ideas. Just make sure you check labels before you cook so the end result fits in with your goals.

There are tons of recipes out there to get you started, including a number of threads in the Recipe section here.

Tiddlypeeps

Is there much of a difference between a crock pot and a casserole dish? Other than the obvious, the crock pot heats itself. I mean if you put a casserole dish in the oven with the same ingredients are the results much different?

palmerar

Try measuring your oils, and just using less, it's ok to use full fat olive oil and butter, just not in huge portions. You can totally find and make delicious, spicy, saucy food in a healthy way that meets your calorie goals. In place of cream use milk and flour, use reduced fat cream cheese, use less of the fattening additives. I've noticed that if you cut those ingredients in half it usually makes no difference taste wise. Go to cookinglight.com they have a lot of lightened up comfort food recipes that may be a good jumping off point.