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Cooking
Healthier Meals (That Don't Taste Terrible!)
by Shari Gerson
If you're like me, you love food. Steaks, breads, pastas, salads...I love them all. I know, I know. We're supposed to cut back on red meats, add more fiber and healthy foods to our diets, etc. Even though I know the right things to do, I have a hard time doing them, like many friends and family members I know.
There are ways, though, to still eat the foods you love, but cut back on the huge amounts of fat you're adding to your cooking. Here's some things to do that will help:
Use Egg Beaters or substitutes instead of whole eggs in your cooking and baking. You'll never tell the difference. I haven't cut out eggs from my diet completely (I still love a good omelet or scrambled eggs made from the real stuff), but have begun to use substitutes in cooking.
Cut back on the butter/margarine/oils. Use PAM or the other sprays for your pans instead. Sautee up those onions, veggies, or anything else you want, but cut back on the artery-clogging fats. Olive oil is still the healthiest oil you can use in your foods (I haven't yet because it's always so expensive. But I have started using PAM instead of butters and other fats for sauteeing.)
Use non-flavored yogurt instead of sour cream for potatoes and other foods. It's also great to mix it with nuts and real fruit for a morning or afternoon snack. I hate the taste of plain yogurt by itself, but adding stuff to it can really pep it up.
Substitute cheeses in baking with cottage cheese. I started slipping it into my lasagna's, and my guy hasn't noticed the difference. How can you when you still have all that meat, sauce, and noodles? And don't forget the mushrooms and other goodies thrown in. If you really want to eat healthy, switch to ground turkey (I can't stand it, but many people seem to like it in their cooking and it's worth a try. You may just like it!).
Switch to skim milk. After years of drinking I tried whole milk again and it tasted terrible. It was too rich and creamy for my tastebuds. Use skim instead in your coffee, cereal, cooking, and other places where it won't make much difference.
You get the idea. Try doing little things to make changes in your fat intake. Bake or broil those chops and chicken instead of frying them up. Barbecuing is also great, with all the fat dripping away (and mmmmmm, barbecuing anything tastes good). Use oil and vinegar on salads instead of creamy dressings, switch to low-fat products if you can't stand the non-fat varieties (some of them taste terrible!). Making any change is better than none and it'll go a long way toward helping you stay healthy!
Shari Gerson
Copyright 2003
by Shari Gerson.
Reproduction without permission prohibited.
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