How many times have you cooked something with commercial cooking sprays, only to notice the chemical taste when you’re done?  Have you ever wished that there was a way to get the convenience of a cooking spray, but without the artificial taste of most of the canned cooking sprays from the supermarket?

Luckily, the food industry has heard your cries for a new product.  You can now find olive oil cooking spray in just about any supermarket.  Olive oil cooking spray works in the same way as those other sprays, but it contains the health benefits and fantastic taste of olive oil.

Olive oil cooking spray may be a new product, but cooking with olive oil is no secret to people who want the best flavor for everything they cook.  Family cooks and professional chefs alike all swear by olive oil for its superior taste and ease of use.  Now, using olive oil to grease your pans or sauté your onions is even easier than before.

Also Available in a Reusable Container

Olive oil cooking spray ordinarily comes in the same pressurized aluminum spray container as other commercial cooking sprays.  However, you can also find special refillable spray containers at any good kitchen supply or gadget store.  These extremely handy gadgets let you make your own olive oil cooking spray at home for a fraction of the cost of the non-reusable containers from the supermarket.

To make your own olive oil cooking spray, you simply fill the chamber of the sprayer with a small amount of olive oil and then pressurize the oil by pumping a special lever on the top of the bottle.  You can then spray a fine mist of olive oil cooking spray onto your cooking surface.

This method of making olive oil cooking spray is much better for the environment than using disposable cans of spray from the supermarket.  In some cases, it may also be healthier: some commercial brands of olive oil cooking spray contain additives in addition to the olive oil.

Choosing to use olive oil cooking spray, whether it’s from a store-bought can or a special pump container, can make your cooking lighter, healthier, and tastier than ever before.  The health benefits of olive oil are often talked about, and every day we learn more about how great this oil can be for our health. 

Using olive oil cooking spray instead of shortening or lard for oiling your baking pans can cut out several hundred calories without losing any of the delicious food to pan stickiness.  And if you can cut some calories, you’ll have room for even more of your delicious healthy cooking!

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One ingredient that many people forget about is cooking oil. Even people who are on strict diets often do not put much thought into the type of cooking oil that they are using when this is actually quite important. Using healthy cooking oil is a good idea because it will make sure that each dish you prepare is as healthy and low fat as possible.

The Selection

Canola oil is one of the top choices for healthy cooking oil. It is not at all harmful to your health and can help you to achieve the low fat diet that you are striving for. Canola oil also has the best fatty acid ratio which means that it has the best fat ratios of all three types of fat in all cooking oil.

There is also the extra virgin olive oil, which is another type of healthy cooking oil. The beneficial health effects of this particular healthy cooking oil are largely due to both its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and its high content of antioxidants. This olive oil is also very well tolerated by the stomach and in fact its protective function has a significantly beneficial effect on ulcers and gastritis.

Tips

There are many great tips that can help you to make the most of your healthy cooking oil. Stir frying vegetables with a couple tablespoons of olive oil for instance is a great idea, and you may even want to add in a couple of minced garlic cloves and a sprinkling of fresh herbs. Reducing the saturated fat in butter sauces by substituting a stock that has been thickened with olive oil is another great idea, and then you just add additional stock as needed and simmer.

Adding a tablespoon of olive oil to water when boiling pasta will help to prevent the pasta from sticking to the pot and then you can even toss the cooked pasta with a bit of olive oil after draining which will not only keep the pasta from sticking together but also add a bit of flavor.

There are many other great tips and techniques that you can use when cooking with olive oil, which will be especially helpful if you are trying to lose weight or get in shape. By implementing olive oil into the proper recipes and substituting certain ingredients with it when you can, you will be drastically cutting back on the amount of fat that you are consuming.

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Cooking light is one of the biggest trends today especially when new years resolutions are still fresh or a wedding or special occasion is on the horizon. Unfortunately, the associations people have with cooking light are bland, tasteless and horrible food. However, this not need be true at all. You can try any of your family’s favorite recipes and make it a healthier alternative by just substituting a few things and having a more open mind.

Low Fat Alternatives

Thankfully, many staples are now easily available in low fat versions. From reduced fat Oreo cookies and cheddar cheese to milk and bread, you really do have many cooking light choices in several food groups. You can make your kids’ favorite mac n cheese and use skim milk instead of whole Vitamin D milk and use vegetable spread which has no trans fat as opposed to regular butter and you have already saved you and your family a lot of calories.

Opt for low fat mayonnaise or even zero fat alternatives like fat free ranch dressing and Miracle Whip as condiments for your dips and sandwiches. Use tuna packed in water instead of oil and you can see that by making small changes, you are saving calories left, right and center. And remember, just as calories add up, they also count when you are saving them in different ways.

Whole Grains

Whenever you have a choice, opt for 100% whole grain as the first ingredient in the bread, muffins, rolls, and other such goods like pasta and rice you choose. Do not be fooled for bread that just looks brown; if t has enriched bleach flour as one of the main ingredients, then it is definitely not whole grain. Whole grain breads will not just be higher in fiber and lower in fat, they are also healthier for your heart and are proven to help protect against some diseases too. How’s that for cooking light?

Oil

Switch the oil you use when you begin to cook light. Even if olive oil is more expensive, try using a little of it and use no-fat cooking spray instead. If you must use more oil and olive oil is burning a hole in your pocket, try canola instead. It is very price competitive and has lots of health benefits as opposed to corn or vegetable oils.

Baking

If you are into baking, try using Splenda, a no calorie sweetener instead of sugar and try unsweetened apple sauce instead of vegetable oil. Line your baking pans with no fat cooking spray instead of butter and use semi sweet or preferably dark chocolate where

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While many of us are trying to figure out how to switch to healthy cooking these days, to a lot of people this is a foreign concept.  “Healthy cooking” still inspires visions of chewy, flavorless tofu and boring lettuce leaves to many skeptics, making it very difficult to get those people to make healthy eating choices.

Luckily, the healthy cooking movement has progressed such a long way in just the last few years.  As Americans are starting to realize that their health is in danger from the way they eat, more and more people are turning to healthy cooking to help them live longer and healthier lives.

So how do you start a program of healthy cooking in your house without being met with cries of protest and demands for fast food hamburgers?  The best way is to ease into it.  Start replacing some of the meat in your meals with more vegetables.  Add one new food a week to keep your meals interesting and fun.

Cooking for Picky Eaters of All Ages

If you are trying to switch to healthy cooking for kids, adding new foods can actually be distressing for them.  Never force them to eat new foods; rather, just keep quietly offering the new foods at mealtime.  Eventually, the new foods will be familiar and your kids won’t reject them just because they are unknown.

Healthy cooking for adults can be just as challenging.  It’s difficult to break a lifelong habit of eating high-fat, high-calorie and low-nutrition food.  The best way to start is by adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet.  Not only will this add interest and some new tastes and textures, but it will also help to fill you up with less food. 

Healthy cooking is all about using the flavors and textures and even the appearance of food to please the eater.  It’s not about depriving yourself and telling yourself that you must eat nothing but lettuce and tofu.  Healthy cooking involves learning how to cook foods in a way that is more beneficial to your body while still pleasing your taste buds.

The most important healthy cooking tip to remember is this: food is nourishment, but it is also a great source of joy.  Not many people eat solely for the purpose of fueling their bodies.  This is our primary reason for eating, but we also long for a pleasant eating experience.  The smells, the tastes, and the feel of the food all contribute to the experience.  Healthy cooking just involves adding another dimension to that experience: knowing that you are doing something positive for your body.

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Crock pots (or slow cookers, depending on where you’re from) are an absolute blessing for the busy cook.  When you can just throw some ingredients into your crock pot in the morning and come home from work to a hot, delicious, nutritious dinner, you know that you’re utilizing one of the most beneficial kitchen gadgets ever.

Crock pot cooking is a simple way to cook healthy foods that can help keep your family away from the siren song of fast food on busy days.  Who has time to come home from work, help the kids with homework, tidy the house, wash the breakfast dishes, and make and eat dinner before rushing off to band practice or whatever other activity is happening that night?

When you use crock pot cooking to balance out your weekly meals, you can save valuable evening time that you would have normally spent cooking dinner.  If you decide to have pot roast for dinner that night, you simply throw the roast and some raw vegetables into the crock pot, add some spices, and cover with water.  Put on the lid, start the crock pot cooking on the low setting, and come home nine hours later to a fully cooked and nutritious meal.  Cooking doesn’t get any easier than that.

Not Just for Dinner Anymore

Crock pot cooking isn’t just about dinner, though.  Breakfast can join in the fun with an unconventional contribution from the crock pot.  Have you ever thought of using the crock pot cooking method for scrambled eggs?  Simply throw a few ingredients into the crock pot and then relax on the sofa reading the Sunday paper for a few hours.  By the time you’re ready for brunch, you’ll have a crock pot full of hot scrambled eggs waiting for you.

How about using the crock pot cooking method for a delicious dessert?  Apple desserts do especially well with crock pot cooking because their flavor increases as they’re allowed to steep in their own juices.  However, there are hundreds of other dessert recipes that take to crock pot cooking extremely well.

Even side dishes can get in on the crock pot cooking fun.  Making refried beans is so simple in a crock pot that you’ll wonder why you ever bothered to buy them in a can.  They taste so much better when fresh that you’ll never want to eat those canned beans again, anyway.

Easy and Healthy

Crock pot cooking not only saves you time – it can actually make you healthier.  By having a hot meal waiting for you at home, there’s no need to order a greasy pizza at the end of an exhausting day.  Crock pot cooking also lets you cook without added fat for most meals, so you save on calories and fat grams while making a filling and delicious meal.  There’s no kitchen appliance that benefits your family more than a crock pot while delivering such a great return on your initial investment.

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Grandma’s Well Loved Method

One of the classic methods of cooking ham involves boiling the ham in water prior to baking it.  This method for cooking ham is healthy for a couple of reasons: first, if you change the water halfway through the boiling part of the process you can remove much of the salt and nitrates present in the meat.  Secondly, this method lets you cook the meat without the addition of any fats or sweeteners, and the longer cooking time makes the ham more flavorful and moist.

If you would like to try cooking ham by boiling and then baking, start off with a large pot.  It should be of a size that will allow the ham to fit snugly but not be too crowded.  Cover it with liquid of your choice: usually its plain water with some herbs and seasonings, but you can experiment with wine, cola, or fruit juice added to the water for some interesting taste combinations.

You’ll then bring the liquid to a boil gradually, and when it begins to boil reduce the heat to simmering.  Cover the pot and continue cooking ham for 20-25 minutes per pound.  Test the ham for doneness with a meat thermometer.  It should register 155 degrees Fahrenheit when it’s ready for the heat to be turned off.

After it’s done cooking, ham will continue to develop its flavor for a while, so leave it in the cooking liquid for an hour or two.  Then, remove the ham and score the surface of the meat with a sharp knife.  You can either cover the ham with a glaze or just poke whole cloves into the surface to add flavor.  You may also want to add pineapple rings, but this is a matter of personal taste.  Then bake in a roasting pan at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes or until it’s nicely brown.

This method of cooking ham has been used for many generations.  It’s a simple, yet delicious way of cooking ham that your entire family is sure to love.

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Stay Fit By Cooking Light Recipes

Recent studies have shown that vitamins and minerals are more significant than they were previously thought to be, and that some foods and nutrients help fight illness and diseases.  Fruit, vegetables, grain and seeds are not only in rich in vitamins and minerals but consist of a compound called phytochemicals which build up our immunity system to fight diseases.  This does not mean we become complete vegetarians to stay healthy, but turn to cooking light recipes when cooking non-vegetarian dishes.

Going Green and Light

Cooking light recipes are nourishing and easy on the digestive system. The less we cook our green vegetables the better it is for our health. Soups, plenty of green salad, juices and whole bread sandwiches are nutritious. Soups stimulate appetite and simultaneously nourish and fill you up.  Mouth watering soups are turned out by choosing the right kind of vegetable and spice. Tomato, spinach soups are rich in minerals and vitamins.

Most spices have medicinal properties.  A pinch of spices in our cooking adds flavor and taste to the food.  Cooking light recipes which include spices and ginger and very minimal amount of cooking oil do immense good to the body. 

Fresh salads combined with a spoon of honey and a dash of salt and pepper is heavenly. A little further experiment with slices of orange and pieces of mango and garnished with nuts added to the above makes a healthy salad in a couple of minutes. 

For a filling meal, use pasta mixed with sliced and shredded vegetables which are partially boiled.  Add herbs, and toss with olive oil.  If it is a sandwich you are looking for, go in for whole wheat bread with plenty of fresh partially boiled vegetables stuffed in it.

For the sweet tooth, fresh fruits with fresh juice, honey and yogurt is a better alternative to ice creams or candy.  Use carrots to sweeten sauces.  Grate carrot, cabbage, cucumber and raw mango, top it with yogurt with a pinch of salt, and there you have the lightest of recipes.  Use seasonal fruits to make dessert.  Slice up apples, bananas, plums, pears into a bowl.  Boil for a few minutes, custard powder added to cold milk.  When this mixture thickens, pour into the bowl of fruits, and allow to cool.  There you have a healthy and a light dessert.

Next time you head for the kitchen, keep in mind that basic and simple foods are hassle free.  There is no mess in the kitchen and no long waiting time for the food to cook.  Cooking light recipes is not at all difficult.  The trick is to have a little imagination and creativity.  Cooking light recipes makes you focus on one type of dish and it is up to you to find variations.

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If fried chicken and deep dish pizza are staples for your family, cooking light may sound very hard to do. However, the key to cooking light is not to make a big deal about it. Do not tell your family that they will never have fast food again or that they can only snack on carrots while watching television; such drastic announcements will not help you in any way. The plan to start cooking light will backfire with grumbles and groans all around.

However, if you make subtle changes slowly and gradually, your family may actually enjoy the light cooking you prepare without even noticing it.

Whole Grains

If you are a big pasta fan, start mixing 100 per cent whole grain pasta such as spaghetti or other shapes into your regular meals. A few strands of browner colored spaghetti here and there will not throw your family off. Gradually increase the ratio of brown to white and mix it with a lot of veggies and they will not be able to tell the difference. If they do notice, ask them if they feel there is a drastic difference in taste. When they answer in the negative, you will have won your first battle.

Sneak in Veggies

There are lots of recipes to be found on the internet and in books on how you can make zucchini muffins and carrot pancakes and no one is the wiser. Many popular fruit juices have started including healthy servings of veggies in their fruit juices so that your children get their daily recommended amounts without it having to be a big issue.

Switch to Low Fat

In any recipe you make, whether it is for brownies, Alfredo sauce or meatloaf, you will come across the need for milk, cheese and other such products. Thankfully today, cooking light is made easier with reduced fat and fat-free versions of many of the staples. When mixing milk, cheese and butter for macaroni and cheese, use skim milk, reduced fat cheddar and vegetable spread instead of the regular ingredients and your children will barely notice the difference.

Simple Substitutes

Use no calorie sweeteners for your cookies, unsweetened apple sauce instead of butter or oil when baking and switch to canola or olive oil and cooking light will neither be a chore for you nor a big problem for your family.

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