Cooking and preparing meals for yourself and your family is a valuable
skill to help your ongoing weight management. If you cook, you have
control of the fat and other high calorie components that go into the
meal. It's also good to learn some techniques for enhancing flavour
without adding fat. That way, you're more likely to continue in your
healthy ways.
Tools for low fat cooking
- Non-stick baking sheets to use instead of oil or fat.
- Non-stick baking tins, pans and pots.
- A steamer rack: a useful and inexpensive device that looks like a
metal flower which opens up to hold your vegetables for steaming in any
pan that fits.
- A large skillet or wok for stir frying
- Freezable and microwaveable containers: this helps save time and
turns healthy nutritious food into 'fast' and 'convenient' food.
- Herbs and spices: This is the secret to adding flavour without adding fat.
- A fat-separating measuring cup which has a spout at the bottom allowing you to pour off the healthy liquid and leave the fat.
Low fat cuts of meat and poultry tend to be less tender and drier than
fatty cuts. There are a couple of ways to help tenderize the meat if
that is the case. 'Mechanical' tenderizing, whereby you pound the meat
more thinly with a special mallet, or simply pierce the meat repeatedly
both help to make the meat or poultry more tender. Another way is to
cut the meat into small strips against the grain of the meat. This is
especially effective when using the meat or chicken in a stir-fry.
Marinating meat also tenderizes it. Marinade made with citrus juices,
vinegar, ginger, soy etc are ideal because they not only tenderize,
they also add flavour. From a cooking point of view, there are many
ways to cook without fat:
Baking: Cover with a lid or foil to prevent drying food out.
Braising: Used primarily to cook lean meats, but can also be
used to cook vegetables. A small amount of liquid, such as broth, wine,
or vegetable juice, is added to the food item in a covered container
and baked in the oven or heated on a stovetop. The liquid used in
cooking can be used to baste food as it cooks and maybe served as sauce
once any fat has been removed (e,g., pot roast).
Grilling/barbecuing: Grilling and barbecuing are a great low-fat
method of cooking because fat drips away from meats, fish, and poultry.
Vegetables can also be grilled. Barbecuing also adds flavour.
Roasting: Often used to slow-cook large cuts of meat, whole
turkeys, or chicken. For low-fat roasting, place food on a rack to
prevent food from sitting in drippings, Avoid using the drippings for
basting~ instead, use vegetable or fruit juices, broths, or wine.
Sautéing: Low-fat sautéing means using a non-stick skillet,
vegetable cooking spray, and/or minute amount of oil. Broth or wine can
be used instead of oil. Steaming: A wonderful way of quickly cooking
foods(especially vegetables) to retain maximum flavour and nutrients.
Add herbs or spices to water to enhance flavour.
Stir-frying: Similar to sautéing, but done at very high
temperatures with minimal oil. Food must be constantly stirred to
prevent burning, hence the name.
Microwaving: Microwave ovens are especially useful in low-fat
cooking because you usually do not have to add fat to keep food moist.
Microwave cooking also helps you control eating cues by cooking food
quickly, without much aroma and with few opportunities to sample the
food.
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enjoying fresh and healthy food. Take a trip to a fresh produce market
on weekends and buy your 'allowed foods' there instead of the
supermarket. |
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