Cooking Light

Cooking light is all about healthier cooking. Cooking light need not mean bland and tasteless food. It can simply mean taking an existing favorite recipe and substituting some ingredients for their lighter alternatives.

To start cooking lighter substitute your regular high calorie or overly fatty ingredients with their lighter alternatives. There are many alternatives to the staple food ingredients we are used to using. Choose those ingredients that are low in trans fats and lower in calories.

Opt for low fat mayonnaise or even zero fat alternatives like fat free ranch dressing and Miracle Whip as condiments for your dips and sandwiches. Use tuna packed in water instead of oil and you can see that by making small changes, you are saving calories left, right and center. And remember, just as calories add up, they also count when you are saving them in different ways.

Bread can be a very unhealthy food, especially if you eat a lot of it. Go for a 100% whole grain bread because it is high in fiber and low in fat. Choose whole grain also when buying muffins, rolls and other foods such as pasta and rice. Whole grain foods help to protect against some diseases and can make you feel less lethargic. A great start to cooking light.

Switch the oil you use when you begin to cook light. Even if olive oil is more expensive, try using a little of it and use no-fat cooking spray instead. If you must use more oil and olive oil is burning a hole in your pocket, try canola instead. It is very price competitive and has lots of health benefits as opposed to corn or vegetable oils.

When baking use a low calorie sweetener in place of sugar. Line your baking tins with a no fat cooking spray and use dark chocolate instead of milk. All of these are good alternatives for cooking light.