Cooking your own food is great way to limit the fat and calories in your meals! Here are some tips to help you achieve your goals.  There are two basic ways to modify a recipe. 

• Change the Cooking Technique
  • Broiling, baking, poaching, steaming, grilling, microwaving.
  • Use of nonstick pans
  • Cooking foods the day before, refrigerate and remove the fat.

• Change the Ingredients
  • Reduce, eliminate, and substitute!
  • Reduce the calories from sugar
  • Reduce sodium
  • Increase fiber
  • Eliminate allergens
  • Reduce fat

Ask yourself these simple questions:

Do I need all the high-fat ingredients?

Are lower fat options available?

Can any other ingredients such as salt or sugar be eliminated or reduced?

Can I add something to make this food more nutritious?

Simple Ways to Reduce Ingredients in a Recipe:

Chop nuts finer and use less.

Fat can be reduced by one-third, but may reduce tenderness in baked goods.

Sugar can be reduced by one-fourth to one-third, except in yeast breads; browning may be affected. You may also replace the missing sugar with dry milk.

Simple Ways to Substitute Ingredients in a Recipe:

• Use cooking spray, wine, broth for oil when sauteing.
• Use applesauce or fruit puree for half of the fat in quick breads.
• Substitute half of the mayonnaise in a recipe with nonfat yogurt.
• Substitute Canadian bacon for bacon, or use smoke flavoring if bacon is only being used for flavor.
• Use whole wheat flour for half of the flour in a recipe.
• In place of one egg grind 1 tablespoon of flax seed (in a coffee grinder) and add 3 tablespoons of water.

Making these simple changes in your recipes can slash calories and decrease saturated fats.  A few small adjustments can have a big impact!

For more information on healthy weight loss programs in Lincoln and Omaha, NE. Please visit our website at WeightLossNebraska.com.