Healthy Cooking for a Healthy Diet

   - Use two egg whites for one whole egg or three egg whites for two whole eggs.

   - Use skim milk instead of whole milk or two per cent milk.

   - Use a variety of spices and herbs. Try them in different dishes, meat, vegetable and fruit.

   - When you're baking muffins and breads, add fiber like oatmeal, wheat germ or raisin bran.

   - Use low sodium or non-sodium ingredients.

   - Replace or use less sugar with cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla or caramel when you bake.

   - Use nonfat sour cream, yogurt, or cottage cheese in place of sour cream. A little dill added is excellent for flavoring.

   - Mix whole grains into your ingredients when using wheat flour or cornmeal.

   - Use applesauce in place of oil when you're baking.

Steam or grill veggies, they retain more flavor and nutrients.

Trim fat from meats before you cook them.

Remove fat from your stews, soups and stock before using them again.

When your recipe calls for oil, use olive, sunflower or canola oil.

Use cooking spray in place of oil and butter.

Poaching
Poaching is gently simmering foods in broth, water or juices.

Stir-fry
Stir frying veggies, seafood and poultry requires very little moisture, use veggie stock, a small amount of olive oil or wine.

Baking
Baking doesn't require added fats to cook. If you don't use a cover, certain meats may need basted so they don't dry out.

Braising
To braise you brown your ingredients in a pan on top of the stove, and then add a small amount of water or broth to finish cooking.

Grilling or Broiling
Grilling outdoors or broiling meat on a rack will eliminate the drippings from the meat.

Microwave
This is a good alternative because it's fast and doesn't add fat or calories.

Sauté.
Use nonstick cookware to eliminate heavy fried foods. Wine, broth or vegetable sprays work well.