The Divine Art of Modification
An easy way to get your family to eat healthier, without protest, without whining, without expensive healthy eating cookbooks, is to modify those recipes you are already using. This can prove especially difficult for all you like my sister, who for the love of all that is good, cannot change stray from the written recipe. But, this can be super simple. Remember two things:
- Cut fats in half; still retain a little fat in the recipe for best results (remember, all fats are not bad). If recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, use 1/2. If it calls for 1 cup oil, use 1/2. You may add pureed fruit like applesauce if you are nervous about the result to make up the other half, but it is not necessary.
- Cut sugar by 1/2. This will most likely not affect the consistency of your product, it will only affect the sweetness, which needs to be dialed down anyway.
These two substitutions work amazingly well in breads and cookies. So I modified my favorite zucchini bread recipe that normally calls for 1 cup of oil, and 2 cups of sugar. I used 1/2 cup of oil, 1/2 cup of applesauce. Then changed the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup. Wah-lah. Low fat, less sugar, no artificial sweetners, no preservatives, plus some great vitamins and minerals to boot from the zucchini. Here is the recipe in it’s modified form. If you haven’t yet, I typed up a handout for a church class about healthy eating. You can download it here for other substitution ideas.
Posted: June 23rd, 2008 under Breakfast, Fruits and Vegetables, Whole Grains.
Tags: healthy eating substitutions, healthy ideas for baking, zucchini bread recipe
Comments
Comment from Amy
Time June 23, 2008 at 8:04 am
Honestly Kristie, no difference at all. Not with this zucchini bread, and not when I’ve done it with cookies! It shocked me with how much less sugar I could use in a recipe and it still be good. Makes me wonder every time why there was so much sugar to begin with.
Comment from Emily
Time June 23, 2008 at 9:01 am
Good tips, Amy!
Comment from Autumn
Time June 23, 2008 at 9:38 am
NO Way! Awesome…I’m so glad I have you to educate me on these things!
Comment from Beth
Time June 23, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I’ll try it!…but I won’t tell my family, and we’ll see if they notice. Asher can go through a loaf of zuccini bread in a day!
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Time November 19, 2008 at 4:01 am
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Comment from Kristie
Time June 23, 2008 at 8:00 am
I have heard of the apple sauce thing, but have never tried it. I will have to try the sugar thing as well. Do your kids notice a big difference in taste?