I’m always intrigued by the different thoughts people have
on lower calorie cooking. Some people feel that they need to deprive themselves
and pick ingredients and they don’t really care for because of the calorie
count, other people feel that they should be able to buy things package that
are both healthy for them and tasty. I find both of these to be a wrong way to
approach eating.
I believe you should be eating the foods that you love! You
should be eating the foods that you enjoy! Certainly moderation plays a factor,
but so does what you combine them with. For example I love scrambled eggs! I
love omelettes! I love poached eggs! Pretty much if it is an egg, I’m going to love
it! Eggs however are 70 cal each. So I started using Eggbeaters. And yet I hear
from people so often that they hate Eggbeaters and when I asked them why, they
generally tell me they are rubbery little discs, which in turn tells me they’re not making them right
because I make them for people and they generally ask where I get my wonderfully
farm fresh eggs.
Which is not to say that I don’t buy farm fresh eggs, I certainly do, but
I don’t use them just for basic scrambled egg. I'll make use of my farm fresh eggs
when I’m poaching or frying and probably in some baking as well. But generally
I’m using Eggbeaters and I’ve even migrated from using 50% Eggbeater whites and
the other 50% in the regular Eggbeaters I can cut my calories, 75% with that one
little change alone!
Eggbeaters to me are a top choice food to take on the road! I
can make so much with them, they are so warm and satisfying and it doesn’t feel
like ‘made in a hotel room’ food. Stopping off at the local salad bar and
picking up some mushrooms, peppers, olives...whatever else I am in the mood for...to
mix in with my eggs as a great way to amp up the Eggbeaters. I pour a third of a
cup into a microwavable container, add the vegetables, sometime some cheese, stir
with a fork and cook it for 45 seconds. Then I stir again and I cook it in
eight second increments. I find that just up one or two second overcooking will
result in an overcooked and yucky Eggbeater experience. By staying a little bit
on the wet side and allowing the heat that’s already present to continue
cooking the mixture once I removed from the microwave makes a huge difference.
Eggbeaters another great way to cut calories in a baked dish
as well! Now sure, there are some where an actual egg makes a difference, but mostly, Eggbeaters rock!
I’ve learned to take a sugar-free brownie or cake recipe use Eggbeaters instead of a regular egg use additional water or applesauce instead
of oil and can cut the calories dramatically from what stated on the package I
can add some calories but really amp up the protein by putting two scoops of
protein powder in the batter. Sometimes I choose a protein powder that will
enhance it such as a peanut butter or cookies and cream and other times I use
unflavored because I just want the pure taste of the item to be enjoyed. For
whatever reason I find that when I had a protein powder I really have to
overcompensate for the liquid so sometimes I’ll even have cookies that seem a
little goopy when I put them in and thus I moved to a bar shape cookie instead
of a scoop or drop cookie.
One interesting thing that has come from this practice, is a
very consistent serving size. When I put them into a pan, I cut them into 36 same
size cookies and I don’t have to worry that one cookie was a little larger
than or a little smaller than its counterpart. It gives me an extremely
consistent calorie count it also makes me very mindful that I can’t mentally
compensate for the easy thought of “Oh gosh that was a smaller cookie, I can
have another”.
Another nice thing about
bar cookies is I can make them all at once, rather have to put them in the oven
and take them out another dozen in the oven and take them out I can civilly pour
them all into one pan wait for them to cook let them cool just slightly mark
them off and then let them come to a full cool at that time it’s very easy to
separate them without having them pull or tear against each other. I have not
found a single cookie that I could not do this to which was formerly a drop or scoop
cookie. Certainly something like a Mexican wedding cookie or Spritz would need
to be handled differently but frankly I can get by without eating those types
of cookies, I’m talking chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, butterscotch or
gingerbread.
Even a plain “sugar cookie” can be adjusted made a little bit
healthier lower calorie and still 100% enjoyable. But all of this requires some
adventure in the kitchen. And I’m always interested when I talk to people how
unadventurous they are in the kitchen how afraid they are of the basic
ingredients that are in their own cupboards. I find so many people are so tied
down to recipes that they can’t re-imagine or think differently of how that
might have come to be in a smarter way. And I figure the worst thing is going
to happen is you’re going to throw away a batch of cookies (or feed them to your local teen boy) as I guarantee you are NOT going to have
your kitchen access revoked. You are not going to be made fun of and mocked openly in
the streets. So you made a bad batch of cookies. So what? Who cares?
You’re out there experimenting and trying and that’s more
quite frankly the most people seem to do. Go for it...all you have to lose is calories!
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