What are your cooking hacks to save calories ?

mgobluetx12 · August 2016

I'm a zoodle lover as well. I don't even miss the pasta!

anl90 · August 2016

I am huge on carbs (pasta, to be more specific), so right now my big one is substituting noodles for zucchini "noodles". So good!

andrea1kay · August 2016

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

gothchiq · August 2016

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."

Shadowmf023 · August 2016

I don't really change any recipes. I'd rather just have a smaller portion of the real thing,

bioklutz · August 2016

Balsamic vinegar, hot sauce, mustard, green chili sauce, chipolte pepper are some of my favorites to add flavor without adding a lot of calories.

dcshima · August 2016

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.

sunnybeaches105 · August 2016

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.

Alluminati · August 2016

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.

goldthistime · August 2016

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.

What are your cooking hacks to save calories ?

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