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  1. #1
    SASM is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Default Favorite cooking tricks and substitutes?

    I feel so sorry for my DH and kids! I am always trying to tweak a recipe to make it healthier, especially for Ian (it is a miracle if he eats more than 5 bites of food per meal). Here are some of my favorite tricks:

    *Pureed great northern beans in muffins and cookies instead of oil/butter. Applesauce works as well but the beans are more fun! :)

    *Powdered milk in oatmeal or cream sauces.

    *White whole wheat flour instead of regular flour.

    *Grain-sweetened chocolate chips or carob in cookies and desserts.

    *Sucanat instead of sugar or brown sugar.

    I am trying to find ways to hide more veggies other than in meatloaf...any ideas?

    This will hopefully be an interesting post...TIA!!!
    Mom to:
    1 BLUE (03) and 2 PINK (05 & 07)
    ^i^ 10.01 & 12.03

    Pardon my typos...blasted Auto-correct!!

  2. #2
    brigmaman is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Default RE: Favorite cooking tricks and substitutes?

    Anna sent me "The Mom's Guide to Meal Makeovers: Improving the way your family eats, one meal at a time." last year and it had lots of great info on healthy family cooking w/out sacrificing taste.
    Here's a link to it at Amazon.
    http://tinyurl.com/8heus
    Brig eats abour 4 things consistently, so I have to try to prepare those 4 as healthy as possible without grossing him out. :)

  3. #3
    trumansmom is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Default RE: Favorite cooking tricks and substitutes?

    Zucchini is an easy veggie to sneak into things. Peel it, grate it and then steam it in the microwave. You can sneak it in mashed potatoes, spaghetti sauce, scrambled eggs or just about anything!

    And I'm going to have to try the great northern beans trick! I've used applesauce, but this is MUCH sneakier! }(


    Jeanne
    Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04
    Independent Consultant, Do-Re-Me & You!

  4. #4
    abigailsmom Guest

    Default RE: Favorite cooking tricks and substitutes?

    I recently made spaghetti sauce/lasagne with red bell peppers, carrots, squash, asparagus, spinach, and the regular tomato products. It was quite a bit of work to chop everything so tiny and then cook it til it was soft, but it worked like a charm. She likes her "special" lasagne better than mine because it is (naturally) sweeter sauce. (not gross sweet, but maybe something akin to having made it out of grape tomatoes instead of regular taomatoes.)

    I am sure that I got that idea from this board so I want to give credit here!!! You could also use if for pizza sauce maybe or any other red sauce type dishes.

    HTH,
    Robyn
    Mama to my Precious Pooper, Abigail

  5. #5
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    Default RE: Favorite cooking tricks and substitutes?

    here is a link to the Jamie Oliver interview on the Today Show from a few weeks ago, with recipes to get kids to eat better...

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9478996/

    I made the sauce, and yes, it was labor intensive, but well received by dh and kids!

  6. #6
    kelly ann is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Default RE: Favorite cooking tricks and substitutes?

    I second zucchini. I make zucchini patties and DS likes to dip them in ketchup. Just make sure you peel the 'green' off before sneaking it into recipes. :)

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Default RE: Can you tell me about sucanat?

    I've seen it at the stores, but how is it healthier? I currently use Organic Raw sugar... is sucanat better? Do you use it 1 to 1 replacement in all foods?

    Sorry to ask another question, too, but what about using honey? Can that be used to replace sugar?

    Okay, my tricks (not very many):
    *Spinach in fruit smoothies (learned from another BBB post)
    *I use whole wheat flour and also mix in a few tablespoons of soy flour (for protein in our high carb foods)
    *I add flax seed oil to many foods, usually veggies (sometimes by using less oil when cooking and then adding the flax oil in after I've finished cooking)
    *I used brown rice cereal (bulk bin at whole foods) to make rice crispie treats (not a healthy item) which DH did not notice the first time. The next time, I made it following Alton Brown's recipe and also used flax seed oil to replace butter when making rice crispie treats (DH was not happy with this, but I thought the flavor change was SO little. But perhaps half butter - for flavor - and half flax oil will work better next time). I did not add all those other items in his recipe (almonds, fruit, etc - to look more like regular rice crispies)http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/reci..._31334,00.html

    That's all I can think of for now. :)
    Caroline
    Kaylin 6/5/04

    http://b2.lilypie.com/9KMlm7/.png[/img][/url]

  8. #8
    jbowman is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Default RE: Favorite cooking tricks and substitutes?

    ITA--zucchini, zucchini, zucchini! DH and I put it in any recipe that calls for ground meat (we use ground turkey), like spaghetti sauce, Mexican dishes, etc. Zucchini absorbs the flavor of whatever you cook with it, so it's barely detectable and healthy! Plus it "extends" the meat and you can use less, hence saving money! It is a staple in our house.

  9. #9
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    Default RE: Favorite cooking tricks and substitutes?

    I have been throwing in steamed and pureed cauliflower into our pasta sauce!

    I also put wheat germ in a topping for fish that I make and it gives a wonderul nutty crunch. I really try to add wheat germ into anything baked too. I add flax oil to yogurt everytime Ryan eats it and he will remind me if I forget since he thinks that is how everyone eats yogurt...hee hee.

    I swear, I sneak the healthy stuff in for DH more than Ryan these days.

    I'll have to try the beans in muffins trick though since I have never heard that before. I use applesauce or the pureed prunes (instead of oil)if I remember to get some at the store!

    Thanks for an interesting post Sharyn. Hope you are doing great. :)
    Mom to R and R

  10. #10
    cmdunn1972 Guest

    Default RE: Favorite cooking tricks and substitutes?

    Here are some of mine:

    Steel-cut (old fashioned) oatmeal instead of instant oatmeal or breading in meat or ham loaf

    Finely crushed almonds (chopped in a mini-chopper) instead of cracker crumb topping

    For chili: ground turkey instead of ground beef. Or you could crush a package or Morningstar Farms "Fajita" veggie burgers if you prefer.

    Splenda or xylosweet instead of sugar

    Pureed roma tomatoes from the produce department instead of canned tomatoes when making tomato sauce

    For stuffing: I use "light" whole wheat bread (which has no high fructose corn syrup), and only 1-2 slices. Most of the stuffing is actually a wild mushroom mix.

    For cheesecake: Chopped pecans instead of graham crackers for the crust, splenda instead of sugar, light cream cheese instead of full-fat version, and light sour cream instead of full-fat version. I use the water bath method so that it doesn't collapse. I also make a pumpkin cheesecake instead of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving.

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