How to Make Easy & Low-Fat Healthy Recipes
It is well understood that healthy eating is one of the main keys to healthy living. However, there is often a common misconception that to cook and eat healthy, one must put more effort into preparing each meal. This is not necessarily the case. You can still prepare low-fat meals without a little effort as many of your favorite standbys. The key is to learn to substitute healthy ingredients and prepare regular recipes in a healthy way. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Trim the fat from any meat before you prepare it. If you are using ground hamburger, pick one that has a high meat to low fat ratio. If you would still like to use a hamburger with a higher fat percentage, to make patties for instance, make sure you thoroughly skim the grease off to reduce your caloric intake.
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Eliminate pasta used made with white flour and substitute it with a whole grain or other high fiber variety. Studies have proven that a fiber rich diet helps prevent heart disease, colon cancer and diabetes. Fiber is also an effective cholesterol reducer.
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Substitute olive oil for any other kind of cooking oil called for in a recipe. Olive oil has a high level of monosaturated fatty acids as well as antioxidative substances, both of which help to control cholesterol levels. Olive oil helps reduce the risk of heart disease, some kinds of cancers and restricts gallstone formation.
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Lessen your consumption of red meat. Chicken or fish is a much better option for healthy eating because they are lean proteins. Chicken and fish both contain fewer saturated fats. The most healthy options for cooking these meats are poaching, grilling or roasting as these methods call for less oil in the preparation.
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Add or substitute vegetables to as many dishes as possible. According to nutritionists, vegetables should make up half of the food on your plate. Steaming your vegetables will help you retain their nutrients better than any other cooking method. Beware counteracting your vegetables good effects by dousing them with a high fat dressing or butter sauce though. Do your research regarding calorie, fat and carbohydrate content before you prepare or eat any vegetable accompaniment.
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Eliminate simple carbohydrates (sugars, fructose, white flour) from your diet as much a possible. Instead, substitute with complex carbohydrates which are found in fiber rich foods such as whole grains, beans, vegetables and brown rice. If you are in doubt about the kind of carbohydrate you are faced with, remember that most white foods such as rice, pasta and bread, have simple carbohydrates.
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Choose low fat options when shopping for ingredients for your meals. For instance, select fat free sour cream instead of the full fat version, or use reduced fat cheese in place of regular cheese. Skim milk can take the place of 1% or 2% milk and margarine can generally replace butter. All of the substitutions can reduce your calorie consumption by up to one third and in most cases, the difference in taste and texture is minor at most.
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Experiment with different herbs to take the place of salt to cut down on your sodium intake. A diet high in salt can result in high blood pressure and using herbs will reduce sodium without eliminating taste from your meals.
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Consider using egg substitute instead of real eggs. The taste comes out very much the same, but with much less cholesterol. You can always use egg substitute in place of real eggs particularly when you are baking.
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Utilize the internet in your search for low fat recipes. There are multiple websites that offered recipes with all the dietary information, cooking time and expertise level along with it. Some sites will even let you put together a weekly meal plan, which is very helpful if you are specifically managing calories or carbohydrates.
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Tips & Warnings
Look up a list of regular food substitutions that you can use in cooking to make your dish healthier. For instance, when making bread, cake or cookies, you can exchange oil for the same measurement of applesauce. In most cases, the only difference you might notice is that the dish will be less greasy or oily.
