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.

Dressings are particularly high in all the wrong things so try a low fat mayonnaise or fat free ranch dressing in your sandwiches. Avoid using foods coated in oil, many types of tinned fish are now packed in water rather than oils, this significantly reduces your calorie intake.

Whenever you have a choice, opt for 100% whole grain as the first ingredient in the bread, muffins, rolls, and other such goods like pasta and rice you choose. Do not be fooled for bread that just looks brown; if it has enriched bleach flour as one of the main ingredients, then it is definitely not whole grain. Whole grain breads will not just be higher in fiber and lower in fat, they are also healthier for your heart and are proven to help protect against some diseases too. How's that for cooking light?

The oil you use for cooking is also an important part of your lighter cooking style. Extra virgin olive oil is ideal but can be expensive a cheaper alternative is Canola, which has lots of health benefits when compared to vegetable oils.

For baking there are several substitutions you can make. For example avoid sugar and use, instead, a low calorie sweetener. Your baking pans should be lined with a no fat cooking spray.