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Are All Ingredients Essential?
Is the heavy coating of flaked coconut (high in saturated fat) on top of the fluffy frosting necessary to the cake’s flavor, or is that just the way your mother always served special-occasion cake?
Do Any Of The Ingredients Come in Lower-Calorie/ Fat Versions?
Use white meat chicken or turkey instead of dark, fresh/ canned fruit packed in juice or light syrup instead of heavy syrup, light evaporated milk can be whipped and used in place of heavy whipping cream, replace the cream or milk in a sauce with broth or skim milk, substitute plain low-fat/ non-fat yogurt or cottage cheese for half the mayo or sour cream in a salad dressing/ dip or use light or non-fat mayo.
Will The Recipe Work If Certain Ingredients Are Reduced?
Some old recipes call for lots of bacon and salt pork, yet a few slices of Canadian bacon can be just as flavorful! Prepare pies with a single crust and save more than 100 calories per serving. Use oil or margarine in place of shortening, even applesauce will work. Will cookies taste that different if you cut the raisins from 2 cups to 1 cup (a savings of 475 calories for each batch!)?
Can This Dish Be Prepared Another Way?
Oven-bake rather than fry, pan-broil (without fat) rather than pan-fry. Coat foods with bread or cracker crumbs instead of oil-soaking batter before oven baking. Roast meat and poultry (remove the skin after cooking) on a rack so fat can drain off. Sauté onion and other vegetables in nonstick spray rather than fat. Instead of thickening gravy with fat and flour, use just the flour. Cook rice in a herb flavored broth rather than adding butter or frying it.
Is The Topping Changeable?
Traditional toppings, such as croutons, are high in extra calories and fat. Many times they can be eliminated, changed, or modified. On baked potatoes, try plain low-fat/ non-fat yogurt mixed with minced green onions instead of sour cream or butter. Try seasoning fish, vegetables, poultry, and meats with lemon juice and fresh or dried herbs instead of butter or margarine. On a cake, replace fudge frosting with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar.
Can This Menu Be Rescued From Fat City?
Explore new ways to plan meals. Reduce meat portions and increase vegetables in a meal. Use more plain vegetables instead of those with cream, butter, or cheese sauces. If you prepare meals using basic ingredients, you can control what goes into a dish and avoid hidden calories often found in prepackaged meals. Split the pleasures - if your family loves steak with French fries, cauliflower with cheese sauce, and ice cream for dessert, serve just one such item at a time as part of an otherwise low-fat, low calorie meal.
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