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Johnson's Catering & Ice Sculpting Gournet Meal
   
 



>> Healthy Tips

Cutting Calories, Tips

Add 1/4 tsp. baking soda to cranberries while cooking them and they will not require as much sugar.

Cutting Fat with Applesauce

When cooking a dish with both vegetables and meat (i.e. in stir frys and stews), reduce the amount of meat by 1/3 and increase the amount of vegetables by 1/3. You will hardly notice!

Cutting The Fat, Cookware

Use non-stick cookware so that you don't have to use as much, if any, fat.

Cutting The Fat, Oil

Get into the habit of measuring the oil you use while you cook, rather than just pouring it out of the bottle. It will be much easier to moderate the amount you use.

Cutting The Fat, Substitutes for oil

When sauteing, use a small amount of chicken broth or wine instead of butter or oil.

Dieting

Keep in mind the 21-day rule. If you stick with something for 21 days, it will become a habit. Keep a journal for the 21 days or mark it off on a calendar. Before you know it, your healthy habits will be your lifestyle.

Gravy, Salt Alternative

Instead of salting gravy, enrich both the gravy's color and flavor by using a little soy sauce.

Grilling - Healthy Flavor Substitutes

For low-fat grilling, use herbs and salt instead of oil. For low-salt grilling, try a combination of lime juice and chile as a salt substitute.

Lettuce, Vitamins

Romaine lettuce is loaded with vitamins compared to iceberg. It has three times as much Vitamin C and six times as much Vitamin A.

Lower Fat Meatloaf

Use a knife to poke small holes in the bottom of a disposable aluminum foil loaf pan . Fill it with meat loaf mixture, place on rack set in roasting pan and bake as usual. Unwanted grease will drip into the pan below.

Lowering the Fat

If a recipe must have fat to work, try using half the fat called for. You will have to experiment, but in the majority of recipes you can reduce the fat content to some degree.

Lowering the Fat, Cornbread

Use cream style corn instead of oil in your cornbread recipes.

Lowering the Fat, Cream cheese

In most recipes you can use fat-free cream cheese or blended fat-free cottage cheese instead of regular cream cheese. For recipes where fat content is necessary, try using half regular cream cheese, and half reduced or fat-free cream cheese.

Lowering the Fat, Eggs

Use 2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute instead of one whole egg.

Lowering the Fat, Milk

Use evaporated "skim" milk when recipes call for evaporated or canned milk.

Lowering the Fat, Oil in Baking

When baking, use fruit purees, applesauce, or plain non-fat yogurt instead of oil.

Lowering the Fat, Replacing Meat

Replace the meat in your chili or other casseroles with extra beans, tofu, or tempeh. Experiment with different varieties of beans.

Lowering the Fat, Sauce

Make your own white sauce using 2 tablespoon reduced-fat margarine, 2 tablespoon flour, and 1 cup skim milk. Add fat-free cheese slices for a great cheese sauce.

Lowering the Fat, Sauteing without Oil

Use de-fatted broth, fruit juice, wine, water, or cider to saute meats and vegetables instead of oil or butter.

Make Your Own Low-Fat Coffee

To save money, combine a bit of nonfat dry milk with low-fat liquid milk. Keep in the refrigerator and shake just before using.

Nutrients, Leaving Skin On

Many vegetables and fruits, including potatoes and apples, retain many of their nutrients in their skin. So when possible, leave the skin on your fruits and vegetables and cook them whole.

Reducing Fat In Cooking

To reduce your fat intake, saute foods in wine, fruit
juice, non-fat cooking spray , or broth rather than in oil.

Removing Fat From Broth

To make fat-free broth, chill your meat or chicken broth. The fat will rise to the top, and you can remove it before using the broth.

Removing Fat From Soups and Stews

Ice cubes will eliminate the fat from soup and stew. Just drop a few into the pot and stir; the fat will cling to the cubes; discard the cubes before they melt. Or, wrap ice cubes in paper towel or cheesecloth and skim over the top.


Thickening liquids without fat

Thicken gravies with milk or broth blended in the blender with flour. Be sure to cook long enough to remove the raw flour taste. You'll never notice the lack of fat.

Vegetables, Keeping Vitamins

Vitamin C is destroyed quickly in cooking - so cook your Vitamin-rich vegetables in the smallest amount of water possible and for a short amount of time.

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Johnson's Catering provides cooking classes, catering, and ice sculpting (ice carving) in Birmingham, AL and surrounding
areas. Chef Donnell can also come to you which means that if you are close to Alabama, he can come to your town and
create the ice scuptures in your area to minimize problems with delivery and transportation.