An Easy Recipe

For some reason McDonalds is a huge motivator for eight year old little girls. I love to give my daughter a nice treat every once in a while. We’re not a family that eats out more than once a week and usually it’s something other than fast food. But, this time, my daughter wanted a Happy Meal and I was happy to take her. I’ve been doing very well with my eating lately, so I planned on making something at home.

About three months ago, I would find myself at lunch in a fast food drive through at least a couple of times a week. I would order a Big Mac or even a Double Quarter Pounder if I was exceptionally hungry. Sure, I still crave those fries when I drive by and get a good whiff, but now I can control my urges. But why can’t I have these items at home using healthy alternatives?

I’ve been making copy cat recipes from my favorite restaurant for years. I’ve just never tried to make them healthy. Usually the goal is to make them taste exactly like I would get in the restaurant. But, now I have a different motive, losing some fat. There’s no reason I couldn’t substitute low fat cheese for the full fat version. I’ve done it with other recipes, there shouldn’t be a reason I can’t do it with restaurant recipes.

You don’t have to tell me that low fat cream cheese is a little different than the full fat version and turkey substitutes can’t possibly taste like pork or beef, but I’m always surprised at how close they can come. A few months ago I wanted food that tasted the same as the restaurant, today I want food that’s allows me to fit in the same size pants tomorrow.

So, I’m going back to some of the restaurant recipes in my database and looking for ways to modify them. Here are some things you can do to turn your high fat, high sodium, full of carbs restaurant food into something that’s not going to tip the scales.

The Low Fat Alternative – Replace the cheese with a low fat alternative. Even heavy cream can be replaced with evaporated skim milk. I’m sure you realize mayonnaise comes in both low fat and no fat versions and make a great substitute. You can even try some of the off the shelf egg substitutes for the real deal.

Giving Thanks For Turkey – The other day I actually bought some turkey bacon. That is a HUGE stretch for a bacon aficionado like myself. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t real bacon but it wasn’t bad either. Try finding a turkey substitute for your favorite high fat meats.

Low Fat Oil? – Well, it’s not really low fat oil, but it does reduce the amount of oil you use. What is it? Spray on oil. It’s the same oil you pour into a pan, but when you spray it you can coat a pan with considerably less oil than you would pouring. It can even be sprayed on food you would normally deep fry, but want to bake instead. It puts a nice crispy coating on the food.

Sugar Busting – Sugar is everywhere these days. But, you can fight the battle and win. When you’re favorite top secret recipe calls for sugar, measure out some Splenda instead. I’ve done this with so many recipes and the results have been fantastic.

I’m not going to tell you that a Big Mac made with low-fat secret sauce (shhh, I think it’s just Thousand Island Dressing) and turkey patties instead of hamburger is going to taste exactly the same, but it does taste pretty darn good.

I have plenty of restaurant recipes on my website that are waiting for your modifications. Don’t be afraid to experiment a little and see what you come up with. You never know, you might end up liking the new healthy version better than the one at the restaurant.