What do you use?

[3momchaos]

As I move forward with my phases, I’m curious as to what kinds of substitutions y’all make in your cooking. Butter, margarine, neither? Oils? Sugar substitutes? I’d just love to know what you’ve found that makes for the best recipes.

 

[JudyNY]

First of all I just want to say I love your new picture, we can see you better! I'm not the one to answer you question because it's just my husband and me and my husband is soooooo picky! For the most part I don't dare make changes! And wouldn't you know he doesn't need to lose weight. We just got back home from grocery shopping and I asked him to get thin spaghetti, he comes home with 25% less calorie spaghetti and didn't realize it. Well it said thin spaghetti!! So I will try it and not tell him when I'm using it. But I did buy Kodiak Cakes protein pancakes made with whole grains. My sister said her hubby likes it better so I will test it on mine. But that's about how daring I get. Lots of times I am eating different food than he does. But once in a while we have the same stuff, While it might not be a low cal dish, the portion is so small.

 

[3momchaos]

First of all I just want to say I love your new picture, we can see you better! I'm not the one to answer you question because it's just my husband and me and my husband is soooooo picky! For the most part I don't dare make changes! And wouldn't you know he doesn't need to lose weight. We just got back home from grocery shopping and I asked him to get thin spaghetti, he comes home with 25% less calorie spaghetti and didn't realize it. Well it said thin spaghetti!! So I will try it and not tell him when I'm using it. But I did buy Kodiak Cakes protein pancakes made with whole grains. My sister said her hubby likes it better so I will test it on mine. But that's about how daring I get. Lots of times I am eating different food than he does. But once in a while we have the same stuff, While it might not be a low cal dish, the portion is so small.

Yeah, my husband doesn’t need to lose weight either, but he’s always on board for whatever I cook. I’d do more recipe modifications for me than him and my kids. Like when they make steak sandwiches, I’m going to put my meat and peppers on a portobello mushroom. I’d even be happy doing that for a pizza.

 

[TraceyT]

As I move forward with my phases, I’m curious as to what kinds of substitutions y’all make in your cooking. Butter, margarine, neither? Oils? Sugar substitutes? I’d just love to know what you’ve found that makes for the best recipes.

I make all kinds of substitutions. I cook A LOT - I also alter recipes A LOT. I have severe food allergies - so I'm always looking for things to throw into food that won't kill me. Then there are some foods I won't change a thing in - like egg salad, chicken salad, stuffing, mac n cheese, deviled eggs.

It's a lot of trial and error. I use equal - honey - agave - and sometimes fruit nectar - it all depends on what I'm making.

I use farm made butter - I don't like margarine - it's like 2 molecules away from being paint - YUCK. I used to put either half n half or cream in my mashed potatoes and butter. Now I still use butter - but instead of half n half or cream - I use unflavored plain Greek yogurt. They taste like a baked potato. They're good.

Play with your food - figure out how you like it. Fix it and see what happens.

 

[missyinacage]

I see others have adopted some of my changes. I use greek yogurt in place of HALF of any recipe that calls for mayo, butter or sour cream. Although I use extra virgin olive oil in my mashed potatoes, instead of butter, along with high protein milk. I was also a half and half fan for mashed potatoes, and the EVOO gives it a silky texture I don't feel like I got with greek yogurt. I would highly recommend Torani Sugar Free Syrups or Jordan Skinny Syrup for sweetened flavoring. I haven't done a lot of baking yet (Christmas is my baking season) but it has worked to flavor oatmeal, no bake cheesecake and some muffins I tried. Its tricky for baking because it's liquid but the flavor is good. So, I guess we'll see. And ground turkey instead of ground beef makes a HUGE calorie difference with little to no flavor changes in most recipes.

 

[eladams2015]

I use subs based on what I am making. I tend toward Grapeseed or EVOO for regular cooking, but I also keep Avocado oil on hand. Coconut oil more for baking, but grapeseed works for baking as well. I use real butter - never ever margarine, for the same reason! For sugars, I tend do not use artificial sugars (Splenda, equal, etc.), not even Stevia, because the stevia we have available is NOT actually stevia - it is a compound that is created from stevia, and we are the only country in the world that allows for that crap to be labeled "natural". I use date sugar and coconut sugar to sub for brown sugar, and allulose to sub for cane sugar. I also found liquid apple sugar, which is a great in tea if you are over the taste of honey at times, and it is great in oatmeal.

For the most part, I am about eating as real and natural as possible.

 

[WazzuCoug]

I'd say the major changes I've made are:

• Elimination of artificial sweeteners (I do use some processed, but natural, sweeteners)
  • These are really bad for your gut microbiota
• Massive reduction in sugar
  • I will use Swerve and stevia for sweetening, which are not artificial, although processed of course.
  • I will also use balsamic vinegar to sweeten or balance things like homemade pasta sauces and other tomato/acid dishes
• I use real eggs, butter, olive oil (evoo and extra light), and avocado oil for cooking/baking.
  • I use extra light olive oil to make my own mayonnaise.
  • I sometimes cut back the amount of butter or oil I use, but sometimes I don't. For example, when I make omelets, I still use a lot of butter in the pan, but when using oil when sauteing veggies and such, I almost always use much less than what most recipies state.

Other changes I've made since entering the "regular" food diet:

• Massive reduction in meat and fish (but not total elimination), I do replace some with Beyond, Impossible, Boca or Quorn meatless options, but I do try to limit processed vegetarian food as well.
• Massive reduction in ultra processed foods (packaged foods with 10 ingredients or more).
• Massive increase in the amount and number of different plants I eat each week.
  • My goal is 30 different plants over the course of a week (it's not that difficult)
• Daily fermented foods (yogurt, sauerkraut, or kimchi)

I don't replace much in regular cooking of meals, but in baking will will use Swerve, or occasionally maple syrup or honey for sweetening, but I also have cut down on how sweet I make anything that I bake. Regularly sweetened treats just seem cloying to me now, and I really don't want to get back in the habit of liking that much sweetness.

 

[JudyNY]

I see a lot of people use Swerve, I haven't tried it yet but I think I will make a pumpkin pie with it and see how I like it.

 

[WazzuCoug]

I see a lot of people use Swerve, I haven't tried it yet but I think I will make a pumpkin pie with it and see how I like it.

It can be used measure for measure as sugar, but it isn't quite the same as far as taste goes, and it works with some applications better than others. It take some experimentation. I would think pumpkin pie might be a good one.

 

[Smalldog]

As I move forward with my phases, I’m curious as to what kinds of substitutions y’all make in your cooking. Butter, margarine, neither? Oils? Sugar substitutes? I’d just love to know what you’ve found that makes for the best recipes.

Myself I use 0 calorie olive oil spray, an low calorie butter spray. I don't do sweets at all. For a recipe, little olive oil or butter. Just got an air fryer and it is great. I recommend one.