10 Weight-Busting Ingredients and Easy Substitutions

Instantly turn up the health factor of your favorite recipes with these flavorful ingredients.

If you like to cook and experiment with recipes, you’re lucky because you will be able to have a lot more control over what you are eating. You can make substitutions in recipes that make the foods more healthful without sacrificing flavor. Here are some substitution tricks:

When a recipe calls for fat (butter, margarine, or oil), you can substitute applesauce in a one-to-one ratio. Or you can add a fat (preferably olive or canola oil) but cut the amount in half; you will save 100 calories for every tablespoon of fat you eliminate.

For sour cream, use nonfat sour cream or nonfat yogurt (or a mixture of the two).

For mayonnaise, use light or nonfat mayonnaise.

If cream is called for, use low-fat or nonfat milk or evaporated skim milk. You may need to decrease the amount of milk slightly, depending on the recipe.

If you are watching the number of eggs you’re eating, you can substitute two egg whites for every one egg that is called for. Or you can cut down on the number of whole eggs you would otherwise use by alternating every whole egg with two egg whites.

When you sauté, you can use a nonstick cooking spray. If you are stir-frying, try putting just a little oil in the pan and then adding other liquids such as water, broth, tomato juice, fruit juice, or wine for added moisture.

If cheese is in the recipe, use low-fat or nonfat cheese or select a cheese with 5 or fewer grams of fat per ounce. If you want the flavor of the real thing but not all the extra fat and calories, use only half the amount of cheese called for.

If ground beef is in the recipe, use lean ground turkey (it should contain approximately 3 grams of fat and 55 calories or less per ounce). If you choose lean ground beef, reduce the amount by half and increase other items such as vegetables, pasta, or rice to bulk up the meal.

If a recipe calls for baking chocolate, use 3 tablespoons of cocoa and 1 tablespoon of water or oil for every ounce of chocolate in the original recipe.

Finally, have fun when you’re cooking and don’t limit yourself to just these ideas. I bet you’ll find lots of people happy to sample your work and let you know how you did!
From The Program by Dr. Kelly Traver and Betty Kelly Sargent