Healthy Ingredient Swaps

Today's post is all about little tips and tactics for reducing fat and calories in baking and cooking.  Keep in mind some "swaps" are more worth it than others.  If you LOVE a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs because of the pasta component...then swapping pasta with spaghetti squash may not interest you...but...if you use neufchatel instead of cream cheese in a cheesecake...that would be a bit more seamless :).  Balance your decisions based on what is worth it to you.

General Healthy Swaps

www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek

Choose Whole Grain Instead of Enriched White Grain Products  
Whole grains provide more fiber and nutrients due to containing the grains bran and wheat germ components.  During the refining process of grains the bran and germ are often removed leaving the starch behind which is then turned into bleached white flour.  Refining sheds the grain of most of its natural nutritional benefits while "enriching" returns many B vitamins and iron but through chemical alterations.  The chart to the right was created by Harvard Health and shows the percent of nutrients left in whole grains after they have been refined.  Almost ALL of these nutrients lose 50% of their value!

Get Creative with Seasonings and Spices vs. Salt
The USDA recommends Americans consume 1500mg - 2300mg of salt per day.  To put this into perspective...A Mcdonalds BigMac has 1040mg + 1 medium fry 270mg   +  Medium Dr. Pepper 75mg= 1385mg in ONE meal. (just for kicks...this is also...1130 calories and 48g fat)
For Meat and Vegetable seasoning ideas check out
http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/SpiceHerbChart.pdf (side note...University of Nebraska - Lincoln Extension puts out a lot of great nutrition information)
Beans: cumin, cayenne, chili, sage, thyme

Beef: curry, cumin, garlic, oregano, pepper

Chicken: Allspice, ginger, basil, fennel, dill, lemongrass, mustard, oregano, rosemary, saffron, sage, thyme, lemon/orange peel zest

Fish: celery seed, chives, curry, dill, fennel, garlic, ginger, lemon, mustard, tarragon, lemon peel zest
Lamb: basil, bay, mint, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, curry, garlic, mustard, rosemary, thyme
Fruit: allspice, cinnamon, anise, cardamom, cloves, coriander, ginger, lemon/orange peel zest

Choose Lean (lower in fat/less marbling) Cuts of Meat

Try 93/7 turkey, chicken breasts, flank steak, tenderloins.  Keep in mind red meat is a great source of iron and that there are great lean red meat options to choose from as well.  Try consuming lean meats most days of the week to decrease fat intake.  The image on the left is from kahuaranch.com and an excellent representation of meat marbling.  Lean meat appears like the meat on the bottom right, very red, little amount of white streak.  The white streaking is actually fatty marbling.

Cooking/Baking Swaps

 Try Neufchatel Instead of Cream Cheese

Neufchatel has about 23% fat while cream cheese can vary from about 33-55%. Neufchatel is also lower in calories and higher in protein and amazingly BOTH items are found sitting right next to each other at the grocery store. Scouts honor...I can not tell the difference in taste, texture, quality between the two cheeses. Neufchatel is also often a smidge cheaper.  This swap is worth it on many levels!

Try Beans Instead of Flour in a Baked Good Recipes

Be sure to drain, rinse, and mash the beans for a smooth consistency and easy mixing.  This swap tastes great, increases your protein intake, and makes a gluten free product.  Example: 1C of black beans (whole) provides 15.2g protein while 1C of cake flour provides about 8-10g protein.  Use black beans in darker recipes such as brownies or double chocolate cookies. Try a lighter color great northern bean in foods like muffins.

Unsweetened Applesauce or Mashed Bananas for Oil/Butter

This will decrease your fat intake but can alter the texture and flavor slightly. Not in a bad way, just different.  I recommend splitting the recipes oil amounts. For example if the recipe calls for 1/2C oil try 1/4C oil + 1/4C unsweetened applesauce. 1/2C applesauce = 50 calories, 0 g fat, 1.5g fiber  vs. 1/2C canola oil = 963 calories, 109g fat, 0g fiber. WOWZA!

Marshmallow Fluff Instead of Butter and Sugar in Frosting

I personally have not tried this swap before...but when I saw it I thought it seemed interesting.  2 tbs of fluff is equal to 40-60 calories, 0g fat, and 6g sugar while 2tbs frosting can have up to 140 calories, 5g fat, and 19g sugar.

Evaporated/Reduced Skim Milk Instead of Heavy Cream

Reduce the skim milk in a pan on medium heat.  As the milk thickens it resembles a heavier cream.  I have used this technique when making cream sauces such as alfredo or chicken pot pie filling.  It is not a disappointing swap.  If you want a thicker mixture either continue to reduce the product with heat or add a little cornstarch.  1C skim milk = 80 calories, 0g fat,  (reduce to about 3/4C) 1/2C heavy cream = 410 calories, 44g fat.  

Powdered Peanut Butter Instead of Peanut Butter
 Powdered peanut butter contains 85% less fat (...also a bit less protein) and only has 45 calories, 3g fat, 5g protein per 2 tbs versus regular peanut butter with 180-200 calories, 8g protein, and 16g fat.  Without a doubt...this is not as oily and rich, however, you can add a little oil with your water to assist with the creamy texture.  I personally just add water.  Amazingly you can get this smooth and similar to regular peanut butter.  It is great spread on fruit and you can even thin it out as a sauce. MMmmm healthy peanut butter sauce. **comes in chocolate and regular peanut butter flavors...the regular seemed a bit salty for me...but the chocolate was delish!**

2 Egg Whites or 1/4C Egg Substitute = 1 Whole Egg

Egg whites provide most of the protein in an egg and almost 0 fat.  Keep in mind an occasional yolk is still a good thing.  The yolk provides most of the nutrients including niacin, vitamin B12, folate, iron, zinc, etc but also contains all the cholesterol.  egg white = 3.6g protein, 17 calories, 0 cholesterol  egg yolk = 55 calories, 2.6g protein, 186mg cholesterol.

Greek Yogurt as Sour Cream and/or Mayo

Plain greek yogurt has almost triple the protein and 25% less calories with the same creamy texture.  Nonfat plain greek yogurt contains about 130 calories per cup, 0 fat, 23g protein, 9g sugar while 1 C nonfat sour cream contains 175 calories, 7g protein, 0g fat, and 1g sugar.  This is a swap made for the slightly lower calories and protein boost.  Try this on baked potatoes, mexican dishes, in baking recipes for oil...the options go on and on!

Romaine/Spinach/Kale Instead of Only Iceberg Lettuce

Don't get me wrong there is a delicious satisfaction from the crisp crunch of iceburg lettuce but all of your amazing nutrients are in your darker leafy greens.  Try slowly adding darker green to your iceberg blend to get acclimated to the taste change.  Dark green leafys have a big nutritional punch with many B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, vitamin K, and vitamin A.

Steam Vegetables vs. Boiling Vegetables

The longer a vegetable boils in water, the more nutrients are leached out into the water.  Steaming provides a  relatively fast cook method that maintains more nutritional value.  This may be even more shocking...but...one of the BEST methods for cooking vegetables while preserving nutrients is actually steaming in the microwave.  The overall goal is to cook the vegetables quickly so they have less contact with water and the opportunity for leaching, the microwave works best!  

The vegetables on the right were boiled and as you can see they started to lose color. The water may appear discolored after cooking due to vegetable chemical and nutrient release.  The image on the left is a "steam in bag" product.  You can always steam items on your own but these are nice convenient products.  **If you do like boiling your vegetables try using that water to cook noodles or in a stock for that same meal**

Spaghetti Squash vs. Pasta

precisionnutrition.com + recipe :)

 Spaghetti Squash is a low calorie and high nutrient value vegetable that is naturally "stringy," similar to spaghetti noodles.  You can either cut a spaghetti squash in half and cook it in the microwave around 7-9 minutes or roast it in the oven on 400F about 35-40 minutes. 1C of Spaghetti Squash contains about 45 calories, 1g protein, 2g fiber while 1C of spaghetti pasta contains about 220 calories, 2.5g fiber, 8g protein.  As you can see, pasta will give you potentially more protein but with 80% more calories.  Pasta can be a delicious and energy filled carbohydrate but a large american sized plate of it can pack a large calorie punch. As for now try a nice bowl of spaghetti squash with a light italian tomato sauce and ground turkey.  You may be pleasantly surprised :).