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On my previous post, I talked about condiments on sandwiches, and the fact that many times, you didn’t really need them and they just added extra calories and fat.  Specifically, things like Mayo and Butter just add a minor amount of flavour, but significant amounts of fat and calories.  I wanted to extend the idea to every day foods, not just fast food.  There are some very easy switches that save you calories and fat, but have a minor impact on flavour or the enjoyment of any dish.

For example, 1 or 2% milk is a no-brainer to most people.  Sure, whole milk is creamy, but 2% is too… switching to 1% isn’t that much of a change once you get used to 2%.  In addition, skim milk has enough milk taste that it is a great substitute.  Have cereal in the morning? use skim milk… there’s no reason to use regular or even 2%.  Most of the flavour comes from the cereal anyways! Soy milk is a good option too (but, do soybeans have nipples?), though it sometimes has as much fat as 2% milk.

Sometimes it is also easy to save many calories by just going for a different flavor.  BBQ sauces taste great, but why don’t you use Tabasco instead? it will still taste great and the amount of fat goes down significantly.  And BTW, skip the blue cheese, or just use a small dab.  Salads are a great example of this… always ask for dressing on the side and add the minimum amount to get a flavor.  Aim to use 1/3 to 1/2 of whatever dressing they give you.  You will feel better and save some extraneous fat and calories that you won’t miss.

Another potential for disaster is peanut butter.  I *LOVE* peanut butter… really.  I could eat a jar with a spoon if I didn’t think it would kill me .  If you are going to use some in a sandwich, use the smallest amount possible, those are extra calories and fat that are really hard to control. If you really want to have peanut butter, my recommendation is that you really measure the serving size… take a spoon and weigh it out before you put the peanut butter in it and then weigh it afterwards.  You will be surprised at what the serving size is really like.  In the past, I would make a peanut butter, banana and cheese sandwich that is to die for, but unfortunately, that’s probably the end result.  There were probably over 1000 calories in a sandwich that I could devour in less than one minute… what a waste!

Other easy things that can be replaced:

• “Butter” -> “I can’t believe it’s not butter”
• Peanut butter -> Soynut butter (this is a great switch!)
• American Singles -> fat free singles (works great on sandwiches, not that great by itself)
• Potatoes -> Sweet potatoes (more fiber, better taste)
• Chicken -> Turkey (usually a good choice and it tastes very similar)
• Bacon -> No Bacon (sure, it’s tasty, but do you really need it?)

Finally, back to butter… do you really need to put any butter/oil in rice or pasta? try it without next time.  The consistency may change a little, but it will be an enjoyable dish nonetheless.  Also, do you really need butter in mash potatoes? use milk, or use nothing!

A great place to look at substitutions is the “Eat This, Not That” set of books and website… you’ll be amazed at what you could accomplish by doing some minor changes in your food choices!

Do you have any other suggestions? I’d love to hear about other extraneous ingredients!