Trying to eliminate huge amounts of fat, sugars, cholesterol, etc.

Deanna - posted on 02/18/2011

If you really like the taste of fried chicken and can't seem to move completely to baked chicken then fry it on a higher heat. When it is done put it on a broiler pan and in the oven for about 30 minutes or so to finish cooking. Also the breading. You can replace that with crushed corn flakes. it still gives it a crunch, doesn't need to be fried, and tastes a lot better than it sounds. I switched it on my DH without him knowing. He told me it was the best fried chicken I had ever made. :) I got to tell him it was baked chicken and that I had changed the breading to corn flakes. He stopped eating, looked at it a minute, and went back to eating.

As for mashed potatoes use half the butter you normally do and replace it with milk. A little bit of butter is fine though you can get the low cholesterol butter or get real butter with no added salt.

Mayo can be removed completely but do it in stages. Make a mayo/mustard mix 3/4 to 1/4 the first time. When everyone is used to that then cut it back to 1/2 and 1/2 and when they are used to that then th 1/4 to 3/4 (mayo to mustard ratio) Eventually you can remove mayo almost completely.

Sugar? For Tea? or drinks? Not a clue. I just stopped using it and started drinking more water. It took me a long time to stop drinking it in my tea and I really prefer sweet tea to non-sweetened. I don't go for the artificial sweeteners either so I really drink a lot of water now. :) lol

I would suggest serve small and I mean small salads at each meal also. It will not go off well but if you and DH want to cut out the bad stuff you will stick together and stick with a plan on removing the bad stuff slowly and replacing it with good stuff. (no offense meant) It took us almost a month to weed it out of the kids diet completely only because my DH isn't on board. He eats healthy with us but still eats twice or three times as much as one person should at a sitting.

good luck. I know you can do it.

Tracy - posted on 02/15/2011

When buying any products for you or your family to eat the most important thing is to make sure that sodium,fat and sugar is 10% of less on any labels of food you buy.Anything over the 10% is unhealthy.

Alexandra - posted on 02/14/2011

Actually most people don't get enough potassium a day. RDA recommend a minimum of 3,000-5,000 mg a day. It's really hard to get more than that a day...and only in extremely rare cases does a persons body not metabolize it properly, in which case a person can have kidney problems. Stress depletes your body of potassium quickly.

The salt substitute has 610 mg in one serving-1/4 of a teaspoon. ( 17% of RDA recommended a day)

So don't worry about getting too much potassium. Thats really really hard to do.

Sarah - posted on 02/14/2011

Thanks everyone....will def. try some of your advice. I have been getting the Italian Bread crumbs and mixing it with the French fried (dry, crunchy) onions and using it to bake my chicken in...and they love it. The chicken doesn't dry out either, it is pretty juicy when it's done.
As for the butter, I use Country Crock (churned)....and I'd prefer that over the vegetable oil...it has less fat and calories...BUT I do use Pure canola oil instead of veg. oil. Mayo is hard b/c my hubby is set on using blue plate mayo on his sandwiches and mashed potatoes.....but I myself use miracle whip or the light/fat free mayo. I use this with my kids as well. He just doesn't like the taste of it. I found a salt substitute the other day and wanted to try it out.....so I bought it. Have yet to use it. The only thing is, I am concerned at the amount of potassium in it. It's basically nothing but potassium. Isn't too much potassium bad for kidneys? Anyway, thanks guys. feel free to keep recommending new things...I'll try anything once! ♥

Talea - posted on 02/13/2011

for sugar you can try stevia (it's an herb and can now be found in Wal-Mart and other grocery stores fairly easily) and I also use organic local raw honey for sweetener or other organic sugars, I personally use butter as much as possible instead of margarine because I really believe eating as close to nature as possible, I just use less or use a small bit in some olive oil or vegetable oil when I have to saute something, margarine spray's are good for things like toast or for a butter flavor on popcorn (I use I can't believe it's not butter), for mashed potatoes I sometimes mash up steamed cauliflower with lowfat cream cheese to resemble mashed potatoes and my kids like it, for fried chicken I usually pan fry in a veg. oil to get the crisp then I finish cooking in the oven. I don't honestly think there is a such thing as bad food's. Everything in moderation and in being balanced is what I strive for. I have my chocolate still I just don't have as much of it. :) I also use really good quality ingredients so that I feel as if I'm pampering myself. My kids now like hummus (a chickpea spread from the middle east) on sandwiches as well as with crackers or pita chips, we use lots of diffent kinds of salsa's and pickles and just have fun trying one new food a week at the grocery store (Publix is great for this in their ethnic isle my kids have discovered some of my childhood favorites (military brat) like turkish delight and English custard.) Make trying new things a game and let them pick something taking turns. Who knows your kids may be the next ones to love pickled okra. (something I NEVER thought I would eat and my kids dared me to try - still haven't got the nerve up for the bologna, raspberry jam, and cheese sandwich my daughter loves - shudder) :) keep it fun and look at other cultures for ideas I know it's awesome fun over here making curries and custards again!

Alexandra - posted on 02/13/2011

Processed butter is actually 1 molecule away from being plastic...that is why it looks waxy and shiny when you first open a tub of it. It is far better for your family to eat REAL butter, despite the fat, because it has less chemicals.

Mashed potatoes can be made without butter...just use chicken broth instead of water.

Bake chicken in the oven, instead of frying, and make it crispy with crushed and seasoned corn flakes.

Use olive oil instead of vegetable oil for sauted veggies and browning meat. You can also add a tablespoon of olive oil to smoothies for some extra good fats.

Use mustard instead of Mayo, and anything that calls for sugar can be made with natural honey. It doesn't enter the blood stream nearly as fast as processed sugars, and doesn't have the chemical poisons that artificial sweeteners have.

April - posted on 02/11/2011

if you bread it with panko (japanese bread crumbs) they add the crunchiness of frying without the fat...just bake them then instead of frying them

April - posted on 02/11/2011

instead of frying chicken double bread it and then bake it...

Krystyna - posted on 02/11/2011

When I make a pot of mashed potatoes, I use only 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 heaping tablespoon of light cream cheese and low sodium chicken broth. Mash everything together and add more broth until you get the consistancy you want. I cant give you accurate measurements because it all depends on how much you are making.

Instead of frying chicken, I coat it with crushed corn flakes and bake it in the oven. Comes out crispy and delicious. I have to find the recipe I posted for someone else last week.

I use light mayo, and always real butter, but just less of it. I also use less sugar. The substitues seem to be more harmful than good. Try to adapt your family to eating less sweet things. Read all the labels when you go shopping and know how much fat, calories, sugar are in the foods per serving. Look for alternatives that taste good.

It will take a bit of trial and error to find foods your family will like. Use good judgement and fill your plates with fresh fruits, veggies, lean meats and proteins, whole grains, and you'll get there. There's lots of info on the internet. Good luck!

Lesa - posted on 02/11/2011

Why not use smart balance butter, it has good fats in it. I use florida organic unbleached minimally processed sugar. or evaporated cane sugar. The sugar is brown and has a unique taste. Its better than the white stuff or fake stuff. You can actually make your own mayo or just get the light stuff. Thats what I do.