Southern girl problems- Fried food

I've heard of grounding down Fiber One Original Bran cereal and using that to coat chicken or something and "faux-fry" it by baking it in the oven. I've never actually tried it but some friends have and they say it's pretty good.

Ok I'm not Southern (well I am, but Southern England... lol) but you could try home-cooking as much as you can. You could look for a Southern cuisine cookery course and ask the teacher for healthy substitutes they recommend.

I bought a low fat/ low calorie American cookbook recently, and alot of the stuff in it is really filling, spicy, but wholesome stews and one-pot meals that are supposed to be Southern-inspired. It's actually a vegan cookbook called Appetite for Reduction - I'm not vegan but was recommended it and love it.

Or remember most things that are fried can also usually be grilled or roasted at home will much less fat.

Bump,would love to hear responses!

I've heard of grounding down Fiber One Original Bran cereal and using that to coat chicken or something and "faux-fry" it by baking it in the oven. I've never actually tried it but some friends have and they say it's pretty good.

I have done this with fish. I used plain corn flakes and baked it in the oven. It was pretty good

I'm from near you! I just have to find other foods I am happy with and plan for my favorites occasionally. Personally, I don't keep any unhealthy foods or fry anything at home and I save my splurges for the things I REALLY love. For me, it's not quite so much fried foods, but other butter and/or cheese laden foods. I like to wait for when I can get something really good and homemade to go over my calorie goal. A fast food restaurant's food or a grocery store convenience food item isn't worth it to me, I've decided.

Grew up in NC! Never ate anything green growing up. No veggies unless you consider corn a vegetable. We ate fried everything and mashed potatoes(powder from a box) and mac n cheese and grits! Daily! Very hard for me not to fall into the comfort foods!

I love my fried food, and I pretty much hate giving it up, so I won't. Here are my tricks for frying and still eating pretty healthy:

Use garbanzo flour instead of wheat flour. It has a faintly nutty taste that goes really, really well with meat and fish, but it doesn't have the grittiness of whole wheat flour. It is similar in calories to wheat flour, but it has less digestible carbs and more protein. Even if you don't season your breading, you won't miss white flour.

Fry at a HOT temperature. The hotter the oil you cook in, the less the oil will be absorbed by your food. If your food won't cook all the way through without burning, that's okay, because you can . . .

Fry your food briefly, then bake it to finish cooking. This gives the crust on your food that nice fried flavor, but you don't spend a long time just soaking up more oil while the insides cook. For both fried and baked meats, the inside essentially cooks by steaming. This meas that once you fry the outside of the food at a hot temperature, the flavor is not changed if you finish it in the oven.

If you give these a try, let me know how they work out for you. This is what I do in my kitchen, and it's been great for me.

I am from North Carolina and I love all that southern food. It's tough but I just eat in moderation and not too often. Smaller portions help also.

I have whatever I want to eat every ten pounds I lose, I mean that very day!! I dream about what that will be while I'm working out and I have a week to balance the calories over:) In addition I find being good for breakfast and lunch (while at work it's crazy busy so this is easier for me) allows me more flexibilty for dinner. Coming up to Thanksgiving I made sure I got a workout in every day no matter how tired I was and didn't use those calories, I also saved a few extra food calories each day and for the first time did not gain weight and ate (small portions) of everything that I really wanted:)

You could try the Hellman's oven "fried" chicken in between:
1/2 cup 1/3 less fat mayo
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Pinch of pepper and cayenne if you like a kick
Coat skinless chicken with this mixture (if can be messy but worth it!)
Roll the chicken in seasoned bread crumbs abd bake at 425° for 20 minutes or until cooked through.


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods

I live in my sorority house so I can't really cook (which makes sticking to an eating plan kind of difficult), so I have to rely on what our cook makes or go out. And our cook is an old southern lady that loves to make comfort food, and it's really delicious but the girls and I would love some healthier options. We plan on talking to her at the beginning of next semester and making a "resolutions menu". I plan on saving a bunch of recipes that she could test next semester! I've already got about 6!

Look up the magazine "Southern Comfort Diet Foods" They have some amazing recipes in there that would make you feel guilty for eating, but is totally healthy!!

Try This!

Balsamic-Marinated Pork Chops & Grilled Peaches
.
Serves: 4
Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (includes 1 hour for marinating)

Gluten Free
•1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
•1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
•3 tbsp honey
•1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
•4 5-oz lean boneless pork chops, trimmed of visible fat
•Olive oil cooking spray (optional)
•Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
•4 peaches, halved and pitted
•Fresh thyme leaves for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:
1.In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, honey and rosemary. Reserve 2 tbsp and add the rest to a 1-gallon zip-top bag. Add pork to bag and refrigerate for 1 hour, turning occasionally.
2.Preheat broiler to high or coat a grill pan with cooking spray and heat to medium-high over stove. Remove pork from fridge, discard marinating liquid and season pork with salt and pepper. Broil pork or cook in grill pan until pork is opaque throughout and feels firm to the touch, or until internal temperature reaches 160°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 to 6 minutes per side.
3.Meanwhile, cook peaches under broiler or in a grill pan over medium heat until tender and juicy, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate, season with pepper and brush with reserved 2 tbsp marinade. To serve, place a pork chop on each of 4 plates and top with 2 peach halves. Garnish with thyme leaves.

Nutrients per serving (5 oz pork chop, 1 peach, 2 tbsp marinade): Calories: 310, Total Fat: 10 g, Sat. Fat: 3 g, Carbs: 23 g, Fiber: 1 g, Sugars: 21 g, Protein: 31 g, Sodium: 125 mg, Cholesterol: 95 mg

I've heard of grounding down Fiber One Original Bran cereal and using that to coat chicken or something and "faux-fry" it by baking it in the oven. I've never actually tried it but some friends have and they say it's pretty good.

I did the same thing with Pork Rinds when I was doing the low carb thing. Panko bread crumbs are a fat free option. My grocery store sells them in the International Foods aisle with the Japanese products. Panko breading is crunchy even when you bake it. I think I've seen them use it on Down Home With the Neely's a few times.

I am from Texas. We love fried food and mexican food! To loose weight I started eating oatmeal every morning to start the day right (no more breakfast tacos). Then I still indulge in my favorite dishes occassionally, but I just eat a lot less of it. For example when I bring fried chicken home, I'll eat one piece of chicken and steam fresh vegetables for the side. To steam vegetables, you only need a microwave. I always plan my meal for the day and make sure that I am under my calorie goal.

When done properly, frying is actually a very healthy way to cook. The extra fat and calories from fried food generally don't come from the cooking oil, it's the breading that's added to the food (eggs, butter milk, bread crumbs, etc.) if you change up the breading, and keep your oil at a consistent temperature, than you should be able to have fried food without too much issue.

Here's how it works. Food has water in it. When you drop food in hot oil the water inside turns to steam and pushes out. As long as the steam is pushing out, oil can't get in. It's only when the oil is not hot enough to convert the water to steam, or when the food is overcooked to the point that all the water is cooked out of the food, that oil can be absorbed.

Fry properly, pay attention to portion sizes, and like anything else, it's nothing to be afraid of. I shallow and deep fry all the time.