What are your cooking hacks to save calories ?
superpowers2016
Posts: 76 Member
I water sautée my food with spices, I use salsa as dressing for my salads, I blend a little bit of boiled carrots, potatoes, almond milk and nutritional yeast to make a creamy sauce, I cut my regular rice with cauliflower rice and my linguine with zucchini noodles for more nutrients and to lower my calories. These hacks are on occasion when I want to eat more but not necessarily workout more. What are your hacks ?
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I substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream.
Also I've stopped getting cheese on my subway subs, with all the veggies and mustard as my dressing I honestly wasn't tasting the cheese anyways.5 -
saritagetsfit wrote: »I substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream.
Also I've stopped getting cheese on my subway subs, with all the veggies and mustard as my dressing I honestly wasn't tasting the cheese anyways.
Cool ! I found that little things here and there add up.0 -
I substitute greek yogurt for a lot of things. I use it place of the oil in brownie mix, as a binder for chicken salad, in place of sour cream, etc.
I learned recently that tofu makes a nice silky texture for chocolate silk pie.
I tend to do more bulk ups than subbing...like bulking up a pasta dish or stir fries with steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.
Bulking up ice cream, oatmeal, or cereal by adding a banana or some strawberries
That sort of thing..4 -
Greek yogurt - replace mayo or sour cream
Pam Olive Oil spray.... It says zero calories right?????
Other than that I don't have many more1 -
When i use minced meat for a pasta dish or burgers, i put lot's of vegetables in the mixture to bulk it up and lower the calories per serving.
I use non stick pans so i don't have to oil them much.
Instead of using a lot of oil when cooking veggies in the oven, i add lemon juice or balsamic vinegar to dissolve the spices that i use.I also use a lot of baking paper.With pretty much everything that goes in the oven.2 -
Smaller portions.4
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Water instead of oil when sautéeing. I use alot of frozen vegetable that I heat up and add whatever kind of sauce I feel like. I don't cook rice or eat bread. I make millet or quinoa, much better then rice, don't think it's much lower in kcal then rice but it's good and healthier. I add chia seeds to things I eat, helps alittle.1
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Yeah, I've just reduced portion sizes. I actually traded up - started eating full fat instead of low fat, and losing and maintaining weight has become effortless. I eat a lot more vegetables, but in traditional ways, not to replace other foods.3
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I'm assuming that you are looking for tips to cook with less fat. I'm now convinced that fat isn't really my problem. If I just try to get enough protein and fibre, I feel full enough to comfortably stay within my calorie goals. I generally let the fat and carb levels fall where they may. So I don't generally alter recipes. In my humble opinion, that is complicating things unnecessarily.1
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Less oil when cooking or making a salad dressing. Feta cheese in smaller amounts when putting cheese on a salad or in an omelet, since it has a strong taste. Add it (or butter) only when it really affects the taste in a positive way and the calories are worth it. Greek yogurt in place of sour cream sometimes (but I rarely used sour cream). That's really it; I'm not a "hack" sort of person and don't consider these hacks.
I find that spicy food (which I love) is strong in flavor without being high cal, and I use lots of herbs and spices, but I did that before losing weight too.
I've more saved calories by increasing the portion size of the vegetables I eat (or eating more different types) and reducing the size of the starch side and sometimes the meat (lean meat is pretty low cal and I make sure I get enough protein, though). I will sometimes eat a topping or sauce I'd ordinarily use for pasta on spaghetti squash or cubed winter squash, but I don't consider that a hack or substitution -- those are also foods I love. I make stir fries without rice often, since I don't care about rice and it doesn't add that much for me.
Eating lots of and different sorts of vegetables is really consistently the thing that's made losing weight the easiest, but this is a function of what I enjoy, not a hack.1 -
The only thing I really changed in my cooking is using less oil...I used to use a ton of oil for just about anything and everything and figured out that a tsp or two for sauteing something is plenty and that I didn't need a 1/2 cup of olive oil for my sauces.1
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I don't like to de-fat things. Like lemurcat, I love spicy foods, flavors, but fat helps carry flavor too.
I don't deep fry anything.
If I need to reduce calories in a day, taking them out of sugar works better for me, so drinking only water and diet coke, not putting sugar in coffee if I do have it, not eating anything sweet for breakfast (so omelette instead of oatmeal or kashi bar); using olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper on salads; cheese as a snack if anything, stuff like that. Fewer calories "saved" than omitting oil but I feel like they are empty calories so can be left out without harm.
I do, however, go Very Light on nuts if needing to eat less, they are such calorie bombs that even though they are healthy it's hard to fit them in when cutting calories down.0 -
goldthistime wrote: »I'm assuming that you are looking for tips to cook with less fat. I'm now convinced that fat isn't really my problem. If I just try to get enough protein and fibre, I feel full enough to comfortably stay within my calorie goals. I generally let the fat and carb levels fall where they may. So I don't generally alter recipes. In my humble opinion, that is complicating things unnecessarily.
I am not low fat as a matter of fact I go over my fats most days. I just eat nutrient dense foods and when I'm really ravenous I eat closers to maintenance or I use cooking hacks to eat more but stay within my allotted calories for the day. Not complicated at all !
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I save the high carb things I like for the days when I really crave them. So I'll replace bread with a low carb wrap or a salad if I'm not really craving a sandwich, for example (and yeah, I'll have spaghetti squash instead of pasta if I don't crave pasta that much).
I use oil spray instead of oil and butter in cooking. I don't use oil in my salad dressing anymore - just mustard and vinegar.1 -
When eating low fat chips I make my own onion dip using fat free sour cream and onion soup mix, it's pretty good!1
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I'll make my own taco bowls without the tortilla and I'll sauté/steam a lot of onions and peppers in low fat low sodium chicken broth rather than oil. I load up the bowl with mostly these veggies and then add the chicken and a tiny bit of cheese! It makes the meal seem much bigger with extra fajita veggies
I also do a meal replacement shake in the morning since it is lower calorie so I have more calories for a bigger dinner or lunch!0 -
There is definitely the smaller portions thing, but we also use Greek yogurt extensively, make our own salad dressings, use a brand of high fiber tortillas, and are careful where we choose to use our calories and where we choose to cut. We also eat plenty of chicken breast, pork loin, and sirloin, along with egg whites to mix with whole eggs. I even drink light beer and like it, but usually will start with 1 good craft. After a few years of doing this, I think most food substitutions suggested in dieting recipes are sadness incarnate, but the Greek yogurt thing works in many. The cauliflower thing not so much.0
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Using (Sugar free) French Vanilla creamer in my coffee or to sweeten oatmeal...2tbs goes a long way. Eating cottage cheese in place of cheese on things. Subbing sour cream with Greek yogurt. Bulking up all my meals with lots of veggies. Learning to be happy with mustard on sandwiches instead of the mounds of mayo. Putting all sorts of things on popcorn like bacon bits and Tabasco to cinnamon sugar. PB 2 on everything.0
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One of my favorite hacks is chia chips they are 98 calories but 48 of them is insoluble fiber so no much in the was of calories and man they fill me up and I love crunchy things.0
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sunnybeaches105 wrote: »There is definitely the smaller portions thing, but we also use Greek yogurt extensively, make our own salad dressings, use a brand of high fiber tortillas, and are careful where we choose to use our calories and where we choose to cut. We also eat plenty of chicken breast, pork loin, and sirloin, along with egg whites to mix with whole eggs. I even drink light beer and like it, but usually will start with 1 good craft. After a few years of doing this, I think most food substitutions suggested in dieting recipes are sadness incarnate, but the Greek yogurt thing works in many. The cauliflower thing not so much.
I fell in love with cauliflower based "potato" salad back in my Atkins days. We still make it. I don't think of it as a "hack", just a vegetable dish my family likes.
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I'm a zoodle lover as well. I don't even miss the pasta!0
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I am huge on carbs (pasta, to be more specific), so right now my big one is substituting noodles for zucchini "noodles". So good!0
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Use applesauce instead of oil when baking. When a recipe calls for cheese, instead of mixing it in, just put a little bit on top so you get the flavor without the calories. Use feta in ground turkey recipes to ramp up the flavor. I use a food scale to measure proper portions. Oil and vinegar for salad dressings instead of the calorie laden processed shelf stable store bought bottles. Make your own soups and try to include a small cup before lunch and/or dinner. You don't need to sacrifice calories for flavor. And sometimes smaller portions of higher calorie foods are what we need and want. I try to think about it in terms of sustainability. I'd rather have one cookie a week than no cookies ever 0
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cooking spray rather than oil when feasible. Measuring oil when I must use it. Cutting the fats by 1/2 or at least 1/3 on all the recipes. Half portions of carbs, double portions of nonstarchy veg. Making my own salad dressings that are very low in fat. Removing skin from chicken and trimming fat from all meats. putting roasts on a rack in the pan so the fat drips off and can be discarded. Using eggs for my protein when I have too few calories left in the day to eat meat. half cup portions of lowfat cottage cheese and raw veg for workday snacks. Cantaloupe. More spices and herbs for flavor so lowfat foods aren't bland and blah. Protein shakes that have sweetener rather than sugar. And we bought a spiral cutter for zucchini so that we replace pasta with vegetable "noodles."1
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I don't really change any recipes. I'd rather just have a smaller portion of the real thing,
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Balsamic vinegar, hot sauce, mustard, green chili sauce, chipolte pepper are some of my favorites to add flavor without adding a lot of calories.1
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1 - 16 oz bottle of favorite ranch (Kens) + 1 - 32 oz of non-fat plain greek yogurt (Costco) + 1 pkt dry ranch seasoning = yogurt ranch dip / dressing. I use a plastic sandwich bag with the corner cut to refill the dressing bottle and put the remainder back in the yogurt container.0
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goldthistime wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »There is definitely the smaller portions thing, but we also use Greek yogurt extensively, make our own salad dressings, use a brand of high fiber tortillas, and are careful where we choose to use our calories and where we choose to cut. We also eat plenty of chicken breast, pork loin, and sirloin, along with egg whites to mix with whole eggs. I even drink light beer and like it, but usually will start with 1 good craft. After a few years of doing this, I think most food substitutions suggested in dieting recipes are sadness incarnate, but the Greek yogurt thing works in many. The cauliflower thing not so much.
I fell in love with cauliflower based "potato" salad back in my Atkins days. We still make it. I don't think of it as a "hack", just a vegetable dish my family likes.
Now, that one sounds interesting. Do you have a recipe? If the point is making a vegetable dish and it's not trying to taste like something else (cauliflower "donuts" for example or "pizza crust") then I'm game.0 -
goldthistime wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »There is definitely the smaller portions thing, but we also use Greek yogurt extensively, make our own salad dressings, use a brand of high fiber tortillas, and are careful where we choose to use our calories and where we choose to cut. We also eat plenty of chicken breast, pork loin, and sirloin, along with egg whites to mix with whole eggs. I even drink light beer and like it, but usually will start with 1 good craft. After a few years of doing this, I think most food substitutions suggested in dieting recipes are sadness incarnate, but the Greek yogurt thing works in many. The cauliflower thing not so much.
I fell in love with cauliflower based "potato" salad back in my Atkins days. We still make it. I don't think of it as a "hack", just a vegetable dish my family likes.
Agree. I am not using it as a pizza crust or that nonsense but roasted cauliflower florets with some parm and Romano are heavenly.1 -
sunnybeaches105 wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »sunnybeaches105 wrote: »There is definitely the smaller portions thing, but we also use Greek yogurt extensively, make our own salad dressings, use a brand of high fiber tortillas, and are careful where we choose to use our calories and where we choose to cut. We also eat plenty of chicken breast, pork loin, and sirloin, along with egg whites to mix with whole eggs. I even drink light beer and like it, but usually will start with 1 good craft. After a few years of doing this, I think most food substitutions suggested in dieting recipes are sadness incarnate, but the Greek yogurt thing works in many. The cauliflower thing not so much.
I fell in love with cauliflower based "potato" salad back in my Atkins days. We still make it. I don't think of it as a "hack", just a vegetable dish my family likes.
Now, that one sounds interesting. Do you have a recipe? If the point is making a vegetable dish and it's not trying to taste like something else (cauliflower "donuts" for example or "pizza crust") then I'm game.
Cauliflower, chopped boiled eggs, chopped pickle, chopped tomato, crumbled bacon, pickle juice, vinegar, mayonnaise, salt and pepper.
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