Yogurt vs. Mayo

Substitute half plain yogurt for mayonnaise in dishes like tuna, chicken or egg salad.

A Tangy Way to Cut Fat

To lower the fat in your favorite full-fat mayonnaise, combine it with an equal amount of fat-free plain yogurt for a reduced-fat “mayo� that adds tang to tuna, potato, and chicken salad, not to mention coleslaw.

Alternatives to Cooking with Butter

Butter can be eliminated from some recipes. When browning onions, hamburger, etc., you can spray your skillet with non-stick spray or use chicken or beef broth instead of butter. When baking, you can use reduced-calorie margarine instead of butter, but the texture will not always come out right. You've got to experiment a little. Non-fat margarines currently on the market do not bake well at all. Just remember...with baked goods, it's not always the calorie content per cookie or piece of cake, it's how many you eat! Remembering that has helped me maintain my weight better than any reduced calorie diet.

Low-Fat ground beef

When you cook ground beef or ground sausage, after you have cooked the meat, place it in a colander, and rinse under warm water. It doesn't effect the taste, and removes the excess fat.

Lower Fat Cereal

Healthy eating tips: Another way to keep pounds off is to use skim milk and omit the sugar in your cereal. Its hard at first not but if you read the ingredients on the box, most cereals are made with sugar, and we don't need the extra pounds.

Grapes

Twenty grapes equals about 100 calories.

Tips to cut the fat from your cooking

Need more healthy eating tips? Cut back on the amount of Cheddar cheese a recipe calls for, and add a bit of lower-fat Parmesan cheese for flavor. Remove the skin from chicken, it reduces the fat substantially. When possible, substitute beans for red meat in a recipe. Prepare mashed potatoes with low-fat chicken broth instead of cream and butter. Choose Canadian Bacon instead of regular strip bacon.

Olive Oil Uses

Use olive oil to fry scrambled eggs, omelets or fried eggs. Use instead of margarine or butter for healthier eggs!

Evaporated Skim Milk

Evaporated skim milk is very low in fat, yet rich in taste and texture. Use it in place of whole milk or cream in cooking.

Vegetable Dips

Use plain yogurt instead of sour cream for vegetable dips. Great taste, less calories and fat.

Grease vs. Parchment Paper

Instead of greasing or oiling pans for baking, use parchment paper. Your food won't stick and there's no mess and unwanted fat or calories.

Low Fat Sauteing

Instead of using fats and oils to saute, use defatted or low sodium chicken broth.

Recipes with Milk

A quick change to a recipe to make it lower in fat is to use skim milk instead of whole milk.

Saute in Wine

Save calories and fat by sautéing in wine instead of butter or oil.

Low Fat Stir Frys

Stir frying in chicken stock rather than oil. This also adds more flavor.

Butter

About 1 tablespoon of butter equals 100 calories.

Better Peanut Butter

More healthy eating tips: Peanut butter is high in fat. To reduce the fat and still retain the peanutty taste, mix a little peanut butter with carrots. 1/2 C peanut butter to 1 cup carrots, sliced and cooked. Raisins can be added as an option.

Saute in Stock

Sauté in a small amount of stock instead of butter or oil to save fat and calories.

Raisins

1/4 cup equals about 100 calories.

Low Fat Baking

Healthy eating tips: Place a rack in the bottom of your pan so the meat or poultry doesn't sit in its own fat drippings. For basting, use fat-free liquids like wine, lemon juice, or soy sauce.