FMC Catering on 7 Tips on Choosing Healthy Cooking Ingredients

From FMC Catering for our regular customers and readers:

Cooking is a part of everyone’s daily life; food is very important and no one can live without it. Cooking ingredients are important not just for delicious but nutritious foods as well. What ingredients are healthy and what varieties are available to substitute unhealthy ones? Here are some tips for healthy cooking ingredients:

1. Lessen the amount of salt in your recipes. Unnoticeable taste will be produced when you cut back your salt application in your meals. You can replace salt with spices, peels or citrus, flavored vinegar or herbs. Onion or garlic powder works well in soups, meats and sauces.

2. Prioritize vegetable for your cooking ingredients as often as possible to make sure that you have healthy food intake. Try out different vegetable salads and vegetable mixes; you can also add veggies to your stews and soups. Try chopped yellow or red peppers to improve the flavors of your meals. Experiment on fruit chutneys and vegetable salsas as an accompaniment to poultry and meat. This can replace heavy sauces and gravies.

3. Lessen the fat in your cookies and other home baked goodies by replacing the pureed prunes, yogurt, mashed bananas and applesauce with up to half shortening. Prune puree works well for brownies and chocolate cakes; however, it will discolor yellow cakes.

4. Use lower fat content substitutes like low fat salad dressing, evaporated or soy milk and low fat cheese. Replace fatty creamer with yogurt and sour cream. You can also use healthy vegetable oils like the canola or olive oil.

5. Use whole grain products instead of all purpose flour when cooking. You can also try flax or oatmeal in muffins and bread, whole wheat flour and some wheat germ or bran in meatloaves. Try to use some soy flour in breads and biscuits

6. Fruit sauces can be used instead of whipped creams and frosting. Use more cobblers, stewed and fresh fruit desserts to replace cookies and cakes. Choose sorbet, frozen yogurt and sherbet instead of ice cream.

7. Avoid unhealthy ingredients like monosodium glutamate (MSG), aspartame, hydrogenated animal oils, refined margarines and shortenings, white processed sugar and artificial sweeteners. These ingredients can cause medical problems like memory loss, headaches, seizure disorders and hyperactivity among children.

Ingredients are vital for food to be tasty and delicious but the nutritional aspects shouldn’t be disregarded. Using healthy ingredients and substituting the unhealthy ones are very good for the body. Keep in mind that the cooking ingredients we use shouldn’t only add taste to the food recipes but add nourishment to the body as well.