Cooking Tips to Cut Fat and Cut Calories

This is something new that I am working on and I wanted to share a few details with my readers. If you're like me then you want to cut fat and cut calories from your diet, your best bet is to cook at home. By preparing your own foods, you control the type of ingredients in your food and the portion sizes of each meal. 

#1 Stock your kitchen with good cooking tools.

* Non-stick pans. One of the best weight-loss tips is to prepare recipes with non-stick pans. Much of the fat used in the preparation of meals serves to prevent sticking during the cooking process. By using non-stick pans, you can add a small amount of olive oil or other healthy fat to complement the taste of your food. Now I was raised by old-school parents meaning my mother used her black cast iron frying pans along with her can of grease she kept on the back of the stove. For me switching over to non-stick pans wasn't easy but I'm glad that I made the switch.

* Single-serving containers. One of the most important weight-loss tips is to control portion size. (see folks how portion sizes play a huge role in the way we eat!!!) Make your healthy-cooking efforts pay off throughout the week. Divide a large pt of food into reasonable portions neatly packaged in a single-serving containers. The mini-meals you create will be easy to access when you're hurry and are much healthier for you. They are also more likely to be lower in calories and lower in sodium than the single-serving meals that you purchase in the freezer section of the grocery store.

*** IKEA has some of the best single serving containers that are inexpensive however Walmart and Target have them as well. I will post some photos of the containers that I have to give you all an idea of what to look for. 


# Cut calories with basic substitutions.

* Chicken stock. I LOVE THIS!!!!! I use it all the time and trust me when I tell you it works wonders. Chicken stock is a great substitute for oil, cream or butter. Stock helps keep food moist and prevents food from sticking. For example, when preparing sauteed vegetables use chicken stock instead of olive oil or butter to add flavor. Using chicken stock will cut calories and fat.

* White beans. Another one of my favorites that I just started to use. Creamy soup recipes often call for cream or whole milk to achieve the thick texture. But pureed white beans can do the same thing without adding significant calories. Try this the next time you prepare your favorite cream soup at the end of the cooking process, when the cream is added, take one can of white beans and puree the beans using a food processor or blender. Add small amounts of the puree to your soup until it meets the consistency you desire. This healthy cooking tip will help cut fat and calories while adding protein to your soup.

It may seem like a lot of work to practice healthy cooking at home. But these weight loss tips will help you cut fat and calories from each of your meals. As you get used to these tips for cooking, you'll learn to save time, you'll feel better about the food you eat and you'll find greater success on your weight loss program.

~Wendy