Healthy Food Alternatives

Many would be slimmers feel that the foods to make them slim are the more expensive items on the shopper list. However, this need not be true.

You can prepare inexpensive, low-calorie meals using let-overs if you wish, and still stay slim. Nor is there any need to prepare and cook an extra meal for one, You can join the family confident that you can make the same meal with just a little extra calorie watching on your part. There is no need for a slimming diet to be different from or more expensive than, that of your family. Eat the same meals but do avoid the high-carbohydrate and fatty foods. If you incorporate the diet into your daily pattern of living, your weight is easier to maintain.

Putting Healthy Eating Guidelines into Practice

Meats: -

Choose lean cuts of meat, such as topside, blade, rump, fillet, gravy beef, veal steaks, pork fillet and trip lamb varieties, such as lean lamb chump. Choose the leanest mince

Ø Drain the fat from mince during or after cooking.

Ø Trim visible fat from meat before you cook it

Ø Keep meat proteins small (100g) and bulk up meals with vegetables and legumes, bread, rice or pasta. Cook vegetables light or steam them when possible to retain their nutrients.

Ø When roasting meats, trim the visible fat from the meat and place meat on a rack in a baking dish with 1-2 centimetres of water. For additional flavour add herbs and wine to the water. Alcohol is harmless when used with heat in cooking.

Cheese: - Select low fat cheeses varieties, cottage cheese or ricotta, reduced fat or low fat milk. Do not just try these once, as it may take a while tor your taste bud to adjust. Try low-fat yoghurt you can hardly tell the difference in taste.

Oil: - Olive oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, canola oil and grape-seed oil are good vegetable oils to choose.

Grains: - Choose wholemeal bread, pasta, flour and rise instead or white

Breakfast Cereal: - Should be high in fibre.

Salt: - Choose low salt (sodium) or no added salt products by comparing food labels and selecting products that have no added salt.

Dressings: - Make your own dressing and mayonnaise using low-fat yoghurts, buttermilk, tomato paste, vinegar, lemon juice, ricotta cheese, mustard and fruit pulp. Buy dressings labelled No-Oil or Low Fat

Margarine or Butter: - Use avocado, chutney, cottage cheese, and low-fat mayonnaise

Cream: - Use evaporated skin milk with gelatine and chill before whipping.

Sour Cream: - Low-fat yoghurt, buttermilk, evaporated skim milk or lemon juice.

Frying: - Use a non-stick fry pan and cooking spray or brush the base of the pan with oil instead of pouring oil into the pan.

Tips to help reduce your fat intake

Grilling instead of frying

Use a rack filled with a little water when grilling, roasting or baking meat. Marinate very lean meat in a mixture of soy sauce, wine, herbs, garlic or spices. These will prevent the meat from drying out while grilling.

Steaming

Is an ideal way of cooking most vegetables? The food is quickly cook y the steam and does not need any fat.

Microwave

Microwaving is a great way to cook. The microwave allows foods to keep their flavour and moisture while they cook.

Stir Fry

Use a wok or non-stick pan. Use a spray-on oil, water, wine or stock to fry your vegetables and then quickly mix in your lean cooked meat.

Casserole

Casserole cooking is a slow, gentle moist way of cooking that can also be low fat. Before cooing, trim the fat off the meat or skin off the chicken. Do not add any extra fat to the casserole. Allow the casserole to cool and skin any extra fat off the surface. Casseroles divided into serving sizes and frozen are ready prepared meals for people in a hurry.

Baked Vegetables

First par boil vegetables, spray with vegetable oil, place in a dry pan and cook in an oven on high until crisp.

Gravy

If you use the meat pan juices to make gravy, pour the juice into a cup and place in the freezer, when it is cool but not frozen remove the solid fat layer that forms on top. The remaining juice can be use to flavour your gravy.

Mince

When using mince, brown it first in a dry pan and drain off the excess fat before adding the other ingredients.

Butter

Add low fat yoghurt or cottage or ricotta cheese to vegetables.

Cream

Substitute cream with evaporated skin milk or blend skim milk with ricotta cheese.

Sauces

Creamy sauces can be made with Skim milk powder in double strength that adds a creamy texture without the extra fat.

Mayonnaise

Try low fat natural yoghurt instead of mayonnaise in recipes.

Salad Dressing

Make a mixture of lemon juice, herbs, mustard and vinegar it makes a great and tasty dressing.