help me cook healthily!

be good

Tue, Jan 17 2012, 10:16 pm

please! I really want to!! I am just feeling ignorant. oh- and dh and I are both super thin, its not about that.

concern #1: sugar. I am really committed to trying this one for now.
what are healthy substitutes? splenda? brown sugar? maple syrup? something else? how do you convert it- is it equal amounts?
how about prepared products that say 'sugar free', does that mean its healthier, or do they put in unhealthy chemicals instead of sugar?

concern #2: mayo. is there a substitute? I use it for tuna, breading cutlets, and dressings. its so yummy...

concern #3: margarine. is there a substitute?

concern #4: raw eggs. what else can I use what will whip to a snow for a recipe? what if it calls for separating the eggs- how would that work?

thanks and tizku limitzvos, ladies!

de_goldy

Tue, Jan 17 2012, 10:38 pm

Sugar - honey, maple-syrup and brown rice syrup are probably your best alternatives. Splenda is chemicals. Most foods labelled sugar free either have artificial sweetners (worse than sugar), or are loaded up with extra fats. brown sugar is just regular sugar with some molasses. Agave has some potential side effects I wouldn't want to risk, such as miscarriage.

Mayo - I don't know of a substitute. I certainly wouldn't use it for breading. You can use eggs for that. Dressings - I try to skip the ones that are mayo-heavy. Tuna - use the least amount you need. Maybe try the reduced fat version.

Margarine - substitutions depend on what you would be using it for. Can you give an idea?

Raw eggs - again, what would you be using it for?

September June

Tue, Jan 17 2012, 10:40 pm

be good wrote:

1. Gradually decrease the amount of sugar you use, you will become accustomed to eating foods that are less sweet.
In cooking you can substitute honey/maple syrup instead of sugar. Baking is a little more tricky.
IMO artificial sweeteners are worse than real sugar. Stevia may be an exception, I haven't really looked into it.
Sugar free is never chemical free. Sugar free foods contain unhealthy chemicals that act as sweeteners in place of sugar.

2. I use eggs or olive oil to bread cutlets and tuna. There are also many yummy salad dressings that use olive oil as a base, try using it on your salads in place of your mayonaise dressing.

3. I use olive oil instead of margarine in cooking. In cakes, I substitute canola oil for the margarine. The only time I use margarine is when I make a margarine based cookie that I cannot make dairy (if it can be made dairy, I use butter). I have also found that you can substitute up to 1/3 of the oil in a cake recipe for apple sauce.

4. I avoid using raw eggs. There is an egg white powder that can be used as a substitute for egg white and I have also seen pasturized eggs in my local supermarket. You may want to give these products a try.

AZmom09

Mon, Feb 06 2012, 4:58 pm

Instead of sugar use Stevia or Truvia. Its good, but you need to play around with it, some are sweeter than others...

if you want to use mayo for a creamy salad dressing ive heard of using avocado to get the creaminess

for tuna I use olive oil.

if you are beating egg whites for ice cream then find a recipe that doesnt use eggs, there are plenty. One ive found is using coconut milk.