Delicious Ways to Cook Light for Your Family
If fried chicken and deep dish pizza are staples for your family, cooking light may sound very hard to do. However, the key to cooking light is not to make a big deal about it. Do not tell your family that they will never have fast food again or that they can only snack on carrots while watching television; such drastic announcements will not help you in any way. The plan to start cooking light will backfire with grumbles and groans all around.
However, if you make subtle changes slowly and gradually, your family may actually enjoy the light cooking you prepare without even noticing it.
Whole Grains
If you are a big pasta fan, start mixing 100 per cent whole grain pasta such as spaghetti or other shapes into your regular meals. A few strands of browner colored spaghetti here and there will not throw your family off. Gradually increase the ratio of brown to white and mix it with a lot of veggies and they will not be able to tell the difference. If they do notice, ask them if they feel there is a drastic difference in taste. When they answer in the negative, you will have won your first battle.
Sneak in Veggies
There are lots of recipes to be found on the internet and in books on how you can make zucchini muffins and carrot pancakes and no one is the wiser. Many popular fruit juices have started including healthy servings of veggies in their fruit juices so that your children get their daily recommended amounts without it having to be a big issue.
Switch to Low Fat
In any recipe you make, whether it is for brownies, Alfredo sauce or meatloaf, you will come across the need for milk, cheese and other such products. Thankfully today, cooking light is made easier with reduced fat and fat-free versions of many of the staples. When mixing milk, cheese and butter for macaroni and cheese, use skim milk, reduced fat cheddar and vegetable spread instead of the regular ingredients and your children will barely notice the difference.
Simple Substitutes
Use no calorie sweeteners for your cookies, unsweetened apple sauce instead of butter or oil when baking and switch to canola or olive oil and cooking light will neither be a chore for you nor a big problem for your family.
