Serves: 5

Whole eggs in cooked foods can usually be replaced with egg whites or a non-fat, low-cholesterol egg substitute found in grocery stores or with this homemade version.

Low-Cholesterol Egg Substitute:
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk granules
2 large egg whites
2 drops yellow food color

Combine and beat until smooth. Equivalent to 1 large egg.

CREAM CHEESE can often be replaced with YOGURT CHEESE, made by draining cups of low-fat yogurt in a colander lined with several layers of cheesecloth (found in the housewares section of the supermarket). Set over a bowl, cover, and place in the refrigerator overnight. There will be about 1 1/2 cups of yogurt cheese on the top. The whey in the bowl can be used in soups or baked goods such as whole-wheat bread.

SOUR CREAM can often be replaced (in dips and sauces) by low-fat yogurt. To keep yogurt from separating in foods that will be cooked, add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch per cup of yogurt.

The fresh fruits and vegetables called for in this book may seem quite costly, but actually are less expensive than many ingredients high in cholesterol, fat, sodium, and sugar.

BUTTER AND REGULAR MARGARINE have an equal number of calories, but REDUCED-CALORIE MARGARINE may have up to 50% less fat and calories. Choose a diet or lite brand for vegetables and most baking. For toast and hot bread, choose a standard margarine with a higher percentage of unsaturated fat than saturated fat.

Poly-and monounsaturated fats such as CORN, SAFFLOWER, SUNFLOWER, and CANOLA oils are recommended as all-purpose oils. Use others in small amounts for special purposes.

Coat baking and frying pans with NONSTICK VEGETABLE COOKING SPRAY. Use a light coat on cookie sheets, jelly roll pans, cake pans, muffin cups, bread pans, electric skillet, casseroles, omelet pans, custard cups, and containers for leftovers.

Most meats lose about 25 percent in weight in the cooking process. For example, 4 ounces of raw lean ground beef will be a 3-ounce portion of cooked meat.

Sauté in the MICROWAVE OVEN without fat. Usually there is enough moisture in or on the food to provide juices for cooking. Chop food as usual, spread in a covered casserole, and consult the recipe manual for your oven for time. Use the automatic cooking feature if you have one.

Team up the MICROWAVE OVEN with conventional methods and with the WOODSTOVE. Do the slow-cooked recipes when heat is needed in the house. Reheat individual portions by microwave.

Canned milk or nonfat milk can usually be used in place of fresh milk. In recipes calling for evaporated milk, substitute evaporated skim milk.

Save all the water that vegetables are cooked in by collecting it in covered containers and storing in the freezer until needed for soups and sauces. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or on the warming shelf over the woodstove.

Save the crumbs left from making party-mix cereal mixtures that are seasoned with margarine, spices, herbs, and Worcestershire. Collect crumbs in a freezer container and use for casserole toppings. Omit butter and seasonings called for in the topping.

LITE soy sauce refers to the reduced-sodium sauce, not to be confused with LIGHT, which refers to color.

Stock up on BAKING SODA, when it is on sale. Use it as a cleaning powder for counter tops refrigerator, inside and out coffee or tea stains on plastic burned-on food in a cooking kettle (1/4 cup baking soda and 1 cup water simmer 5 to 10 minutes) odor-eater in sneakers and emergency toothpaste.

When BANANAS are on special, freeze perfectly ripened ones for use in baked good later on. Separate them and place loose bananas in airtight bags. To use, thaw (preferably in refrigerator), and cut off one end and squeeze out like toothpaste. You have ready-to-use mashed banana.

Use KITCHEN SHEARS to snip parsley and chives, to slice small green onions and stems, to cut spinach and lettuce into strips, and to trim pastry.

Freeze your surplus TOMATOES (whole or cut up) on large baking pans. When hard, transfer to freezer-safe bags. To use, weigh out the amount called for in recipes.

Many recipes call for CHICKEN STOCK. Homemade tastes best and is least expensive. You can chill it and skim fat from the top to keep it low in fat. You can also control the sodium content better when you're cooking. But if you're in a hurry, here are some alternatives. Stores offer low-sodium canned chicken broth. Before opening, set the can in the refrigerator for an hour, then after opening, lift the fat off the top. Low-sodium chicken bouillon granules or cubes are also available. After preparing, cool and skim the fat before using.

Experts on good health agree that you should get, on average, less than 30 percent of your total daily CALORIES FROM FAT. A simple way to meet this goal would be to select only recipes that contain 30 percent or less of their calories from fat. Look for the percentage of calories from fat in parentheses at the bottom of each recipe. But oils, margarine, and dressings (100 percent of their calories are from fat) or some recipes may provide more than 30 percent of calories from fat. What do you do? For healthy eating, limit yourself to 1 tablespoon of a food that gets 100 percent of its calories from fat. And if the dish you want to prepare has more than 30 percent of calories from fat, complete that meal with low-fat foods. The number you are most concerned with is the amount of fat that you eat in one whole day, not in just one dish.

Recipes in the HEALTHY HOMESTYLE COOKBOOK that need to be balanced by including lower-fat foods in that meal or at other meals that day are marked with a symbol.

Don't skip over these recipes! Just use them as one part of a meal along with low-fat foods, such as fresh fruit salads, crusty sourdough rolls without margarine, and steamed fresh vegetables with herbs for seasoning.

Recipes for occasional use because of SODIUM content (those with more than 400 milligrams of sodium per serving) are marked with an asterisk*.

Recipes for occasional use due to SUGAR content are also marked with an asterisk*. These recipes yield foods that contain between 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon of sugar per serving. Limit yourself to one serving of these foods per day. Many sweeteners are available for use in your cooking, such as table sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup, or sugar alcohols (mannitol and sorbitol), but keep track of the amount of sweetener per serving. Recipes with less than 1 teaspoon of caloric sweetener PER SERVING can be used regularly. Remember not to use aspartame (Equal or NutraSweet) as a sugar substitute in foods that will be baked.

More Recipes from the The Healthy HomeStyle Cookbook Cookbook:
*Introductory Notes
Bread-Making Tips
Desserts
Guidelines For Microwaving Vegetables