Changing the way we cook our food can have a dramatic effect on our health. If we make wiser choices with our food and the way we cook it, we can significantly reduce our risk of contracting cancer and heart disease.

Here are some top tips for healthy cooking:-

1. Invest in non stick pans - With quality non-stick pans you can get away with not using oil at all or by using a low fat cooking spray. You can also ‘fry’ some foods in a little water to prevent them sticking. If you have to use oil, use olive oil and pat food with kitchen roll after cooking to remove excess oil.

2. Look through your recipes collection for diet recipes and low fat recipes. Cook them in batches and freeze so that you always have a healthy meal option available.

3. Steam or stir-fry vegetables - Cooking them using these methods will help the vegetables to retain their nutrients, colour and taste. Look for healthy recipes like Chinese stir-fries and invest in a wok and steamer. You can buy Chinese bamboo steamers, which just sit on top of a pan of boiling water, or you can buy electric steamers. You can get a good electric steamer for less than the cost of one meal out and the ease of use is a real time saver.

4. Use olive oil - Replace other oils or fats with olive oil which is a mono-unsaturated oil and actually helps to reduce cholesterol. Make your own salad dressings from olive oil and balsamic vinegar to give your salad a Mediterranean taste and this will be lower in fat than commercial salad dressings. Search online for free recipes using olive oil. Some muffin recipes use olive oil or corn oil instead of solid fats.

5. Use fat free milk in cooking and baking to cut the fat content of your healthy recipes.

6. Replace fat in baking - Look for low fat recipes for cakes and biscuits or replace half the fat in recipes with pureed prunes, yogurt or mashed banana. Search for diet recipes for sweet treats.

7. Use fat-free yogurt or creme fraiche instead of using cream for pouring on dessert recipes or fruit.

8. Add more vegetables to casseroles and soups and use fresh or frozen vegetables rather than canned.

9. Don’t add salt to food - Season food with herbs, spices, garlic and lemon juice instead of salt.

10. Trim visible fat off meat and use lean meat in your low fat recipes. Cut down on how much red meat you consume and replace with fish and chicken or turkey.

Remember, cooking and eating healthy food is not hard work and definitely not expensive. If you play your cards right you can change you whole family’s diet and they won’t suspect a thing. That isn’t to say that they won’t notice anything though, because they will - they may well notice that they are losing weight, feeling better and getting fewer minor illnesses.

If that isn’t reason enough to try out a few these tips, I don’t know what is!

Just because you are diabetic, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy cheesecake!  Following are a couple of cheesecake recipes designed for diabetics but they are tasty enough for anyone. 

This is a recipe I got from an Equal ad in a magazine several years ago.  It is exactly as printed there without any changes or adjustments on my part.

COOL LIME CHEESECAKE

CRUST:

1 cup low-fat graham cracker crumbs

3 tbsp stick butter, melted

3 tbsp Equal Spoonful

FILLING:

2 pkgs (8 oz each) low-fat cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup Equal Spoonful

2 egg whites

1egg

1/2 tsp grated lime peel

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

To make crust:  Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, Equal; press evenly over bottom and up side of an 8-inch springform pan.  Bake for 8 minutes.

To make filling:  In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and Equal until fluffy.  Beat in egg, egg whites, lime juice and peel until well blended.  Pour mixture into prepared crust.  Bake at 325 degrees 30 to 35 minutes or until center is almost set.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.  Refrigerate at least 3 to 4 hours before serving.

The following recipe calls for Splenda.  However, Equal may be substituted if you prefer.  This cheesecake is not only tasty but makes quite a presentation if you want to impress your family and guests!

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

1 3/4 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 lb fresh strawberries

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

2 pkgs (8 oz each) fat-free cream cheese, cubed

1 cup fat-free cottage cheese

3/4 cup Splenda

8 oz carton frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed

13 medium fresh strawberries

sugar-free chocolate dip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs with butter.  Press onto the bottom and 1-inch up sides of a 9-inch springform pan coated with non-stick cooking spray.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until set.  Cool on a wire rack.

Wash and hull strawberries.  Puree in a food processor; remove and set aside.  In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over cold water and let stand for 1 minute.  Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved.  Transfer to the food processor; add cream cheese, cottage cheese and Splenda.  Cover and process until smooth.  Add strawberry puree, cover and process until blended.  Transfer to a large bowl and fold in two cups of the whipped topping.  Pour into crust.  Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours until set.

To garnish:  Wash the 13 strawberries and pat dry with paper towels.  Dry completely.  Cut tops off berries.  Dip each berry in chocolate dip until about half the berry is coated.  Allow excess to drip off.  Place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet with the tips pointing up.  Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour. 

Very carefully run a knife around the sides of pan to loosen cake.  Remove sides of pan.  Arrange berries with the chocolate tips up around top edges of cake saving one for the center.  Place a fancy mound of remaining whipped topping between berries.  Place one large dollop of whipped topping in center of cake and place remaining berry there.  It is pretty to leave green on the last berry and lay it on its side in the whipped topping.  Refrigerate any leftovers!

 

 

I believe this recipe came from a 1989 edition of Woman’s Day magazine but I can’t be sure.  It was listed in the “Eating Healthy” section  because it has 1 1/2 tablespoons of oat bran in every square.  Each square also has 188 calories, 4 grams protein, 26 grams carbs, 9 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, and 130 mg sodium.  That is pretty good numbers for a dessert!  This is great for family meals, co-workers, holiday gift giving, bake sales, church potluck, etc.  Who doesn’t love the idea of chocolate and healthy all in one?  Give these French Chocolate Silk Squares a try today and see just how well healthy and chocolate can be together!

FRENCH CHOCOLATE SILK SQUARES

This recipe is a clipping from a 1989 Woman’s Day magazine according to the notes I found with it.

Crust:

1/2 cup margarine, at room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 1/2 cups uncooked oat bran

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan with foil. Spray foil with no-stick cooking spray. TO MAKE CRUST: Mix margarine and sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl until blended and smooth. Add oat bran, flour and salt; stir just until blended. (Mixture will be moist and slightly crumbly.) Turn into prepared pan and press firmly and evenly over bottom. Bake 20 to 25 minutes just until edges start to brown.

Topping:

Whites from 3 large eggs

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

While crust bakes, put all topping ingredients into a medium-size bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour over the partially baked crust. Bake 20 tl 25 minutes longer until top looks dry and slightly puffed. Cool completely in the pan on rack. Lift foil by ends onto a cutting board. Peel off foil. Cut into 16 squares, dipping knife into hot water before making each cut.

Note: These keep well up to 1 week in tightly covered container in cool place with waxed paper between layers. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Enjoy!