Does anyone else???

[thyme4change]

Does anyone else find most "healthy" substitutes in recipes to be somewhat lame? I'm kind of a real food gal - if it calls for sugar, and butter, then gosh-darn-it, I'm using sugar and butter. If it is too much calories, then I eat sparingly.

I don't like nutrasweet (tastes like chemicals, and I think it screws up your taste buds)
I don't like fat-free sour cream (runny and horrible)
I don't like frozen yogurt (not creamy and rich, like real ice cream)

Now, I will say that my sister bought some of those bagel thins to make sandwiches on. They were yummy - even better than having a sandwich on a real bagel. I also like when you sub in some vegetables and go lighter on the meats in things like pasta dishes, etc.

What substitutions work and what just makes you sad?

[Abby Normal]

I sub greek yogurt for sour cream. There is a taste difference but I still like it.

subs that don't work- Carob- what is the point and WTH were they thinking?

[thyme4change]

I hate when they make "diet" chocolate anything. I mean - if you are going to be successful in changing your eating habits, you aren't going to get there by having a chocolate shake every morning for breakfast, no matter how sanctified by the diet marketing world it is. You must change your taste buds to get away from fake chemically overprocessed crap, not run to it.

[Abby Normal]

Not to mention- why waste you calories on something that tastes like crap.

[Tiny]

fat free cheese is just nasty no matter what kind it is.. american, cheddar, whatever.

I'm willing to eat the low fat cheeses - not my favorite but I'll go there. I find I use alot less cheese since I switched to the low fat kind.

Fat free mayo is unpleasant as well... I'm not a big mayo user so I didn't really notice a difference using low fat mayo in dips versus the full fat kind.

Fat Free sour cream or cottage cheese is Icky too. I'm ok with the low fat versions.

I have replaced 50% of the oil in many baked goods with applesauce and didn't mind the texture change. Still tasted pretty good. I don't do it all the time but if I've got applesauce open I'lll use it up in baked goods.

I'm not a big "bread" person so when I switched over to the low carb/low cal bread and buns it wasn't a big deal. I like the sandwich 'thins' better than regular bread too.

I switched over to brown rice and whole wheat pasta quite awhile ago and I actually like those better than the tasteless white rice and tasteless regular pasta.

[Apple]

I have replaced 50% of the oil in many baked goods with applesauce and didn't mind the texture change. Still tasted pretty good. I don't do it all the time but if I've got applesauce open I'lll use it up in baked goods.

I also bake fries instead of fry them. Not quite as good, but still yummy (don't know if that counts as a substitution or not...)

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I laugh when I see products like Sugar Free Peeps. Aren't Peeps just stale sugary marshmallows? What's left if you take out the sugar?

[Deleted]

I don't use the fake stuff in my cooking. I use real butter, real sugar, etc. I do not like fat free versions of stuff either. I can do the low fat, but absolutely refuse to use fat free stuff. I LOVE food and I am not going to make it taste like crap just to diet.
I just eat smaller portions. I always use a salad plate instead of a full size plate, and I only have 1 serving.

[Artemis Windsong]

I use fat free raspberry vinegarette salad dressing, which is pretty good. Fat free itallian is good on roasted veg. combo. From a lactose problem, I quit yogurt and cottage cheese but I do like the fat free kinds. I am out of the habit of eating those. The cheeses I buy are the regular ones not ff.

I use ff condensed milk in No Fail Fudge, which I failed at twice! But not because of the ff condensed milk. Zero carob for me.

I prefer butter and sugar for baking. DH cannot have aspartame or splenda because of allergy. The side effects of aspartame are bad, bad and it's and addictive substance. I started I Can't Believe It's Not Butter on oatmeal. Flax seed oil is too much for my system.

I will eat lite ice cream but DH won't. I quit diet soda years ago yet will drink diet iced teas but very seldom.

[Deleted]

I can't do the asparame or splenda, or any of the fake sugars. I get horrible migraines and stomach cramps. I honestly believe the stuff is like poison.

[The J]

For the most part I don't do substitutes, except for diet soda -- but since my dad was/is hypoglycemic, we grew up with diet soda, so I actually prefer the taste.

I do try to figure out healthier ways to make things, but I don't try to fool myself that it's the same thing.

[Genuine GA Peach]

I've used FF half & half in cooking...tastes great to me.

I prefer skim milk. Mayfield skim milk tastes wonderful...if we are in an area that doesn't carry Mayfield, I can still drink skim milk but it seems watery.

I prefer whole wheat pasta and breads. I love brown rice. Whole grain foods have so much more flavor & texture.

I use a pizza stone for cooking lots of foods. Baking is better than frying, and the stone actually pulls much of the oils from the foods. I use it to bake French fries, breaded chicken tenders, breaded fish fillets, egg rolls, etc. If I'm jonesing for fried chicken or fish, that will satisfy the craving without totally destroying my diet. I don't eat that stuff very often because of the sodium content.

when I make a pizza, I'll pile on the vegetables (asparagus, mushrooms, squash, peppers, onions, artichoke hearts, etc). I also use a whole grain crust. Kashi pizzas are pretty good on their own, and great to add some filling extras. Spray the vegetables with some olive oil to keep them from drying out and bake longer than the package directions. Really good & filling.

I like turkey burgers (ground white meat ONLY) and Morningstar Farms burger patties. I still have to have a REAL beef burger a few times a year.

there are some really good low fat/no sugar added ice creams. Blue Bell vanilla is YUMMY. At Christmas, Eddy's had a peppermint ice cream that was lower calorie & very good. Usually I'm fine with a glass of skim milk & Hershey's no sugar added chocolate syrup.

In the summer, I'll make sugar free jello & stir in chopped walnuts. Great for a snack or when I want a taste of something sweet after my meal.

[Cookies Galore]

I don't do anything with the words "fat-free," "low fat," or diet, except for skim milk. For a while we were buying two kinds of milk, but BF is fine with skim now.
When I bake, I always decrease the amount of oil and make it up with apple sauce. I do sometimes replace eggs with either bananas, silken tofu, or flax seed meal.
I do have some things I bake with eggs, butter, and milk (like my chocolate cake/cupcakes), but I have a lot of vegan recipes that are sometimes better than the real thing.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I have allergies to Stevia and Agave, so that pretty much leaves me with aspartame or saccharine or sucralose for sweeteners since I'm a brittle diabetic and pretty much eschew sugar and eat very low/controlled carb. That being said, I can't imagine why non-diabetics would be eating fake sugar chemicals (like I do) .... since they have choices.

I also don't really do dairy or soy or rice, so I opt for unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze on my cereal.

[Genuine GA Peach]

I've always heard that...but the only diet soft drink I like is diet coke

[thyme4change]

Diet soda is poison. I think sugar substitues are worse for you than sitting down and eating a can of lard.

[Deleted]

I absolutely cannot drink diet soda. If I did drink one, I would be down for a few days with a horrible migraine.

I actually very rarely drink soda anymore. I think it has helped with my weight loss.

[Frappuccino]

I drink diet coke all day everyday. I quit for two months after a surgery, but the only difference I noticed was that I was more sluggish throughout the day. So, I am back on the diet coke bandwagon.

[vl]

The culprit may be the sugars in the other items you put sugar on and- routines without breaks.
When I commuted to Chicago a few years back, I start a "no whites" regimen and eliminated all things "white". No granulated sugar-- raw sugar, no white bread- multi-grain, no white potato, yellow and yams instead. Dairy was the challenge so I eliminated cream in my coffee and went with an olive oil margarine. I also increased my olive oil use in cooking and ate more olives with my meals. I also drank a glass of water about a half hour before main meals and added a new snack meal (peanut butter crackers) at 10 and 2, as well as a bottle of water.
Lost 35 pounds so quickly that I was shocked, and dropped 2 inches off my waist and then... nothing. I was exercising everyday too. I went to a sporting goods store and by chance talked to a wrestler (I was one in HS too). He told me to-- take a break. Simple enough... if you exercise everyday, your body adjusts to it like stress and holds you there. Exercising on for two-three weeks and not for one-two weeks, forces your body to attack fat to recover the fuel needed when you were exercising. When soft-- resume working out.
In all... I lost a consistent 45 pounds and went from a 43 waist to a 37/38 while establishing a BMI that allowed me to stop taking all maintenance meds.

Alternatives to consider... think- corn and corn fructose content, first. Don't add in more corn. I use cane and beet sugars, blue agave and fruits, as alternatives. My daughter likes hazelnut spread over peanut butter. Butter is better than polyunsaturated margarine (just don't use it like Paula Dean does).
It's all about balance and consistency. You want to get away from traditional items, that takes changing your perception of "corn" which is in way more things than it needs to be.

BTW... instead of a "diet" soda, try integrating a micro-brewed beer or wine in with your meal or a 100% red grape juice. The difference is especially significant for women. Diet soda will be the drink that sapped your bone integrity and overall ability to maintain after 60. Skinny now may sound good, but not being pickled with integrity-maintaining vitamins and minerals all life long makes it not worth it.

[thyme4change]

A friend of mine gave me some "Sneaky Chef" recipes where you sneak in pureed vegetables and fruits into foods.

I'm against this as a concept of increasing your vegetable intake. I can't believe that pureed and then baked vegetables has any nutritional value left. If you are using vegetable or fruit puree as a substitute for less healthy liquids in a recipe, okay - but to think that kids are really getting some nutritional value out of a muffin with pureed carrots in it - please.

[Frugal Nurse]

Jan 21, 2011 10:43:31 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

A friend of mine gave me some "Sneaky Chef" recipes where you sneak in pureed vegetables and fruits into foods.

I'm against this as a concept of increasing your vegetable intake. I can't believe that pureed and then baked vegetables has any nutritional value left. If you are using vegetable or fruit puree as a substitute for less healthy liquids in a recipe, okay - but to think that kids are really getting some nutritional value out of a muffin with pureed carrots in it - please.

Why would the nutrients be gone? I don't puree veggies into baked goods, but like when I make spaghetti sauce for DH, I puree it because he likes a smooth sauce. I wouldn't expect him to get much of the fiber benefit anymore, but the nutrients should still be there. Why would pureeing them make them lose vitamins and such? I mean, baby food is still nutritious, isn't it?

[thyme4change]

Boil, then bake? I don't know - Maybe I've been brainwashed by raw foodies.

[blackcard]

I am, no fat, low fat and sugar free as much as possible with everything. I made the transition to fat free and low fat frozen yogart and sorbee instead of real ice cream. I use margarine instead of butter.
Taste? Most of it tastes good to me. Just have to experiment with a few though.
Cant belive its not butter tastes good. Promise spread tastes horrible.

[Frugal Nurse]

Jan 21, 2011 13:20:20 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Boil, then bake? I don't know - Maybe I've been brainwashed by raw foodies.

Boiling would make you lose some nutrients in the water. You could steam them instead, then bake. If you bake it into the food, any nutrients that might seep out would just go into what ever you're baking, so they'd still be there.

[Frappuccino]

I definitely prefer the real thing over the substitutes, but I sacrifice with the substitutes because I am more of an eat until I am stuffed kind of person versus an eat the real thing in moderation kind of person.

Since I am kinda trying to be low-carb, I do eat all full fat and real butter products - no fat free.

Veteran-Lender, that is an inspiring story. Since I am failing at my new way of eating, I may take on the approach you outlined above - just eliminating all of the whites and incorporating olive oil instead of butter when possible. That was interesting stuff about the exercise too.

I don't know what to do without the caffeine. Maybe I take extra B vitamins for energy or something. My job is so sedentary, I need caffeine to get through a workday most days.