Mince
When using mince, brown it first in a dry pan and drain off the excess fat before adding the other ingredients.
Butter
Add low fat yoghurt or cottage or ricotta cheese to vegetables.
Cream
Substitute cream with evaporated skin milk or blend skim milk with ricotta cheese.
Sauces
Creamy sauces can be made with Skim milk powder in double strength that adds a creamy texture without the extra fat.
Mayonnaise
Try low fat natural yoghurt instead of mayonnaise in recipes.
Salad Dressing
Make a mixture of lemon juice, herbs, mustard and vinegar it makes a great and tasty dressing.
Avocados
Avocados have a rich and creamy texture, they taste delicious and what's more they are good for you. Packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, avocados make a great addition to a hearty diet. Make avocados part of your daily diet.
- Replacement for butter or margarine on toast or crackers
- Slice and serve with fresh seafood
- Use as a topping to Mexican dishes such as tacos
- Mashed and served as a dip on vegetable platters
- Mash and serve on jacket potatoes
- Add to salads for a creamy taste and texture
- Add to tomato based pasta sauce
Recipe Solutions
Buttermilk: Plain yoghurt mixed with low fat milk.
Buttermilk Alternative: If you need buttermilk for a recipe, and need to make your own: - Pour together 1 tablespoon of each white vinegar and milk into a measuring cup, and then fill up the rest with milk. Let stand for 15 minutes until it thickens
Cakes
- Cake layers are often brushed with liqueur. The best substitute is syrup or sweetened juice.
- Next time you bake a cake dust the tin with dried coconut instead of flour
- Throw in a couple of tablespoon of your favourite jam over the top. Whilst cooking the jam soaks through giving the cake a delicious flavour.
- Every time you open the oven door the temperature of baking drops by 50% and cakes can drop I the centre and others will take longer to cook
- Adding grated carrot, fruit, or chocolate, mashed banana or a can of mixed fruit salad will enhance the flavour of a plain packet cake mix
- Adding a drop of oil to a packet of cake mix will keep it moist and light.
- Mix 100s & 1000s through a vanilla cake mix. They will melt during the cooking process releasing a great rainbow colours effect. Kids love it.
- Decorating made easy: - Place a piece of chocolate in the corner of the microwave-roasting bag and melt it, snip off the tip at the corner of the bag and drizzle a pattern over the cake.
Cabbage
- When cooking cabbage avid the smell around the house put in a couple of slices of lemon in a small bucket of water and place it in the kitchen.
- Cabbage & Brussels sprouts smell when cooking, place a slice of stale bread crusts over the cabbage, it will absorb the odours.
Casserole
Next time you cook a casserole, try slicing small French stick into 12mm slices, spread one side with mustard and press gently into the top of the cooked casserole leaving the top exposed. Place under the griller until golden brown.
Chicken
- Next time you season a chicken; add 2 teaspoons of grated orange rind to the mix delicious.
- For a fat free roast chicken, sprinkle with paprika and place chicken in oven with no oil, but a little water to the bottom of the pan will keep it moist
- When you cook apricot chicken, add a packet of chicken noodle soup. The flavour is superb
- Marinate chicken wings for 1 hour. Half cook in microwave oven on high. They are now ready to go on the barbeque saves time barbequing, and taste delicious and don't burn.
- Add ½ Cup of crushed cornflakes to the crumb mix for a golden crunchy taste
- For a nice stuffing, peel and finally chop a granny smith apple, add a good handful of sultanas and a teaspoon of cinnamon
Chips
- Low-fat chips can be make by peeling and slicing potatoes thickly, place them on a greased pan (Canola spray is best), and cook in a moderate oven for 40 minutes.
- Kids at times could not finish the packet. Resealing the packet and store in the freezer can save it. Oil doesn't freeze so this keeps them crunchie for weeks.
- Cut an unpeeled potato into thick wedges; dip into seasoned egg white and place skin side up on a baking tray. Bake on 180c for ½ hour or until tender and crisp
- Chips made from freshly cut potatoes soak up less fat than frozen chips. Oven chips are the healthiest of all.
- Chips browns more quickly if a pinch of salt is added to the fat.
Coffee
Roasting the beans reduces their moisture content and releases the flavour and aroma. The fruit, a pulpy berries, turn red when ripe. Each contains 2 beans. Coffee beans turn various shades of brown when roasting
- To make a perfect cup of coffee always put them in order of coffee, sugar, milk before adding boiling water.
- Coffee is getting more expensive. So if you place some change in a jar every time you have a cuppa. The money comes in handy when you run out.
Coconut
- Coconut ice: Pour coconut ice mixture into ice cubes trays for perfect bite size servings
- Coconut milk: use coconut milk instead of dairy milk in your cakes makes great flavor.
- Toasted coconut and lemon juice sprinkled over the curry helps bring out the flavor.
Croutons
- Make your own using stale bread. Take away the crusts, butter the bread, cut in cubes and place in oven 200c for 4 minutes, turn over and toast the other side.
- In the microwave heat 2 tablespoons butter on high for 1 minute. Using white bread cut the slice in cubes, shake well to coat and then cook on high for 2 minutes, stirring once while cooking.
Bread Crumbs
Make your own and save. Don't trow away stale bread. Remove crusts and bake in slow oven 120c until dry and then crush with rolling pin
Dressing Low Joule
Mix together, plain yoghurt, a squeeze of lemon juice, a little grated cucumber, a little chopped mint and seasoning.
Dried Fruit
Stop them from sinking to the bottom of your fruitcake. Toss them in cornflour before adding them into the cake
Fruit
At times, fruit salad or fruits are soaked in wine or liqueur. For a substitute replace this quantity with Syrup, Orange and /or lemon juice and rind.
