RE: recipe substitutions

[Guest guest]

Join WW online. They have a recipe builder that works quite well.

recipe substitutions

Where can I look for some guidance on how to take some of my favorite

recipes and try to reduce their point value without sacrificing on

taste?

Thanks.

Pam

[Guest guest]

Is there specific substitutions you are looking for?

Maureen

recipe substitutions

Where can I look for some guidance on how to take some of my favorite

recipes and try to reduce their point value without sacrificing on

taste?

Thanks.

Pam

[Guest guest]

Just some quick substitutions I use:

In baking, instead of oil, crisco, butter, I use mashed bananas. You can also

use applesauce, but I don't care for apple flavor in my baked goods unless I'm

making something with apple, that is. I make bran muffins and chocolate muffins

with mashed banana. I don't taste any banana, and they come out the same. I use

the same amount of mashed banana as I would use oil or butter. What's really

nice is if I have bananas go black before we can eat them up, I throw them in

the freezer. Then I have access to bananas whenever I need to bake.

For cooking, I usually omit oil altogether or use much less *olive* oil instead.

(Olive oil is the healthiest.) For instance, we make Tuna Helper sometimes. I

just don't put butter in it at all, and I can't taste a difference. Same with

instant potatoes, I don't put anything in. Now my DH will spray his mashed

potatoes with butter flavored Pam before he eats them for the buttery taste, but

I don't.

I am really surprised to find the recipes I have that call for oil really don't

need oil, or the amount called for, or the substitutions work great. And

that's a big points saver.

For baking, you can also try baby food ... is it prunes? I haven't tried it,

but I've read about it.

I substitute Splenda for sugar. Splenda bakes up beautifully.

I try to use low fat/no fat versions of regular fat items such as cottage

cheese, cheese, etc. I took time tweaking things, knowing the least-fat version

that we could tolerate without losing taste. For instance, the 2% Kraft grated

Cheddar Cheese melts and tastes better than the Fat Free.

What specifically are you trying to modify? Throw some recipes out and we can

help you out!

Listmom Lyn

recipe substitutions

Where can I look for some guidance on how to take some of my favorite

recipes and try to reduce their point value without sacrificing on

taste?

Thanks.

Pam

[Guest guest]

I'll add a couple of ideas to Lyn's excellent ones.

> Just some quick substitutions I use:

>

> In baking, instead of oil, crisco, butter, I use mashed

> bananas. You can also use applesauce, but I don't care for

> apple flavor in my baked goods unless I'm making something

> with apple, that is. I make bran muffins and chocolate

> muffins with mashed banana. I don't taste any banana, and

> they come out the same. I use the same amount of mashed

> banana as I would use oil or butter. What's really nice is

> if I have bananas go black before we can eat them up, I throw

> them in the freezer. Then I have access to bananas whenever

> I need to bake.

Two other options are zuchinni (ground) and pumpkin (not pie filling, just

canned pumpkin) or really any squash. So say a friend comes over and gives

you a gift of 700 zuchinni...just grind them up and put it into the freezer,

then use in almost any baked good. Bonus is that both zuchs and

pumpkin/squash add lots of FIBER.

> For cooking, I usually omit oil altogether or use much less

> *olive* oil instead. (Olive oil is the healthiest.) For

> instance, we make Tuna Helper sometimes. I just don't put

> butter in it at all, and I can't taste a difference. Same

> with instant potatoes, I don't put anything in. Now my DH

> will spray his mashed potatoes with butter flavored Pam

> before he eats them for the buttery taste, but I don't.

Other options for cooking:

Saute onions, garlic, and spices in water then saute the meat in that.

Saute in boullion instead of oil

" fry " hamburger in the microwave in a microwave safe colander over something

to catch the grease

Substitute 98% lean ground turkey for hamburger in almost any recipe

4% fat hamburger is way more expensive, but you don't lose hardly any of the

volume when you cook it. Dry burgers with lowfat burger? I chop up onions

and mushrooms and form the burger patty around the onion/mushroom mixture

and you get delicious and MOIST burgers.

> I am really surprised to find the recipes I have that call

> for oil really don't need oil, or the amount called for, or

> the substitutions work great. And that's a big points saver.

Amen to that! I mean really...why brown something in oil and then put it

into a stew? You can simply " brown " it in water or broth, or don't brown it

at all.

> For baking, you can also try baby food ... is it prunes? I

> haven't tried it, but I've read about it.

Prunes work great, although they'll add some sweetness.

> I substitute Splenda for sugar. Splenda bakes up beautifully.

>

> I try to use low fat/no fat versions of regular fat items

> such as cottage cheese, cheese, etc. I took time tweaking

> things, knowing the least-fat version that we could tolerate

> without losing taste. For instance, the 2% Kraft grated

> Cheddar Cheese melts and tastes better than the Fat Free.

I also find that the sharper the cheese, the lower fat you can go because

you have more flavor in the sharper cheese. Also if something calls for

cheese to be added to it, try instead sprinkling it on top. Using a little

cheese on top packs more of a flavor punch than that same cheese dispersed

throughout the casserole.

And learn to love your spices! When you take away the fat you also reduce

some of the flavor enhancing qualities that fat brings. I add more garlic

and onions and other spices to make up for that.

Plus you just learn to get used to less fat in foods. At first some lowfat

or nonfat stuff tastes kind of " thin " . After awhile, though, you learn to

enjoy that taste and the full fat versions taste WAY too rich. I was

thinking this this morning when I took a spoonfull of my fat free/no sugar

added yogurt. I thought " Oh that tastes so creamy and good " and realized

that the first time I ate it I thought it was so " blah " . OF course I do add

fiber one and fresh fruit to it to punch it up and make it go further.

Some other ideas:

Adding fiber can lower the point value and increase the satisfaction value.

I find, for example, that a high fiber whole wheat pasta and marinara tastes

the same, but satisfies a LOT more than regular pasta. You can play with

different whole wheat pastas to see which one works for you. Some don't

taste as good as others.

Since veggies are free and full of wonderful vitamins and minerals,

experiment with adding them to recipes and cutting down on meat. For example

I might buy a plain lowfat or nonfat marinara and add big chunks of

zuchinni, onion, green pepper, and mushrooms. Or if making meatballs I might

mix in with the hamburger a little oatmeal (plain...maple and brown sugar

flavor just does NOT work for this), ground zuchinni, or ground carrots, and

spices. You can use 2/3 to 1/2 the meet.

Also be full and fancy free with your salads! Generally for my lunch and

dinner half my plate is a big green salad, which is 0 points. I add

cucumber, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, red pepper, pepperocini, bean sprouts,

etc. to my salad. It's filling, good for me, and if I had a fat free italian

dressing, extends my meal without adding points. (Unless my meal is a salad

where I'm eating an entire plateful, I don't count points for salad.)