Just because you are trying to cook healthy foods doesn’t mean you have to give up your favorite dishes. On the contrary you can adjust your best recipes and make them into healthier versions.
The following are some healthy cooking tips that you can start doing today! You will reduce your calories and lower your fat intake effortlessly.
1. Use low fat cooking methods such as steaming, poaching, stir frying, grilling, baking and roasting.
2. Purchase a good set of quality cookware which is no stick. This allows you to cook with virtually fat free.
3. Replace cooking oil with chicken, beef or vegetable broth. You can also use water, lemon or orange juice or wine instead.
4. Trim all signs of fat from your meat before cooking.
5. Remove chicken and turkey skin before cooking. If you find your chicken dries out, keep the skin on but do not serve it!
6. Skim off fat from soups, stews, gravies and sauces.
7. To thicken sauces use pureed potatoes or carrots instead of cream or eggs.
8. Replace your regular fats and oils you use in cooking with healthier ones such as canola, olive oil, safflower, sunflower and corn oil. Any oil that is low in saturates is a better health choice.
9. When cooking with chocolate, nuts and coconut reduce the quantity by at least 25%. Instead of 1 cup of nuts use only ½ a cup. You will still keep the flavour and text but save big time on the amount of fat you are eating.
10. Toasting nuts before adding to baked goods enhances their flavour.
11. For muffins you can reduce fat by using two egg whites in place of each egg. For a softer texture beat your egg whites before adding them to your mixing bowl and then fold in lightly.
12. Stop adding frosting to your cakes automatically. Instead sprinkle the top with a light dusting of powdered sugar.
13. Increase the fibre content in dishes by adding a few tablespoons of wheat germ, bran or oatmeal. This works really well in baked goods and for items such as a meatloaf and meatballs. No one will notice the difference and you will have increased your family’s fibre intake.
14. When you are baking cakes and muffins replace half the amount of white flour with whole wheat flour. Use whole wheat pastry flour for cakes that have a finer texture.
15. You can still use low fat cheeses when baking. To get them to bake try grating the cheese finely first. If making a cheese sauce coat the grated cheese with a little flour as this will help it melt into a smooth consistency.
When trying to cook healthier you often need to experiment with different things. Just make a note of what you did and then you can adjust this the next time. Sometimes adding more spice and herbs to a recipe can make up for taking out some of the fat. Fat of course does add flavour and who doesn’t love that?
Try some of these helpful healthy cooking tips next time you cook and see if anyone notices a difference.