Recipe makeovers: 5 ways to create healthy recipes
Use these techniques to reduce the fat, calories and sodium in your favorite recipes.
You love your grandmother's bread pudding. But her recipe calls for 4 cups of whole milk, 1 stick of butter and 4 eggs — ingredients that raise the calorie count and fat content of this dessert. The solution? Redo the recipe by switching or reducing certain ingredients.
Many recipes can tolerate a healthy renovation without affecting the taste or texture of the food. So whether you're trying to stick to a healthy-eating plan or following a special diet, use these techniques to make your recipes — including your time-honored family favorites — healthier.

1. Reduce the amount of fat, sugar and sodium
   With most recipes, you can reduce the amount of fat, sugar and sodium without losing the flavor. By cutting fat and sugar, you also cut calories. How much can you leave out without affecting the flavor and consistency of the food? Apply the following general guidelines:
   Fat. For baked goods, use half the butter, shortening or oil and replace the other half with unsweetened applesauce, mashed banana or prune puree. You can also use commercially prepared fruit-based fat replacers found in the baking aisle of your local grocery store.
   Sugar. Reduce the amount of sugar by one-third to one-half. When you use less sugar, add spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg or flavorings such as vanilla extract or almond flavoring to enhance the sweetness of the food.
   Sodium. Reduce salt by one-half in baked goods that don't require yeast. For foods that require yeast, don't reduce the amount of salt, which is necessary for leavening. Without salt, the foods may become dense and flat. For most main dishes, salads, soups and other foods, however, you can reduce the salt by one-half or eliminate it completely.
   Other ingredients may contain sugar, fat and sodium, and you can decrease them as well. For example, if the recipe calls for 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, use 1/2 cup instead. Or use less soy sauce than is indicated to decrease the amount of sodium in the food.
2. Make a healthy substitution
   Healthy substitutions not only reduce the amount of fat, calories and sodium in your recipes, but also can boost the nutritional content. For example, use whole-wheat pasta in place of enriched pasta. You'll triple the fiber and reduce the number of calories. Prepare a dessert with fat-free milk instead of whole milk to save 63 calories and almost 8 grams of fat per cup.
3. Delete an ingredient
   In some recipes, you can delete an ingredient altogether; likely candidates include items you add out of habit or for appearance, such as frosting, coconut or nuts, which are high in fat and calories. Other possibilities include optional condiments, such as pickles, olives, butter, mayonnaise, syrup, jelly and mustard, which can have large amounts of sodium, sugar, fat and calories.
4. Change the method of preparation
   Healthy cooking techniques — such as braising, broiling, grilling and steaming — can capture the flavor and nutrients of your food without adding excessive amounts of fat, oil or sodium. If your recipe calls for frying the ingredients in oil or butter, try baking, broiling or poaching the food instead. If the directions say to baste the meat or vegetables in oil or drippings, use wine, fruit juice, vegetable juice or fat-free vegetable broth instead. Using nonstick pans or spraying pans with nonstick cooking spray will further reduce the amount of fat and calories added to your meals.
5. Change the portion size
   No matter how much you reduce, switch or omit ingredients, some recipes may still be high in sugar, fat or salt. In these cases, reduce the amount of that food you eat. Smaller portions have less fat, calories and sodium and allow you to eat a wider variety of foods during a meal. Eating a variety of foods will ensure that you get all the energy, protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber you need.

Putting it all together
As you look over your recipe, decide what to change and how to change it. Make notes of any alterations, so you can refer to them the next time you prepare the food. You may have to make the recipe a few times, adjusting your alterations, before you get the results you want. But finding the right combination of ingredients — for the desired taste, consistency and nutrients — is well worth the trouble.

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Ingredient substitutions: Make the switch for healthier recipes

Cook up healthier recipes by swapping one ingredient for another. These substitution tips can help.

You stock healthy foods in your pantry, but what do you do with them? And how do you modify favorite family recipes so that they're more in line with your healthy-eating plan? It's not as hard as you may think. The key is to incorporate healthier alternatives into your daily eating routine.

Instead of Bacon:

• Canadian bacon,
• turkey bacon,
• smoked turkey or l
• ean prosciutto (Italian ham)

Instead of Butter, margarine, shortening or oil in baked goods:

• Applesauce or prune puree for half of the called-for butter, shortening or oil
• Note: To avoid dense, soggy or flat baked goods, don't substitute oil for butter or shortening, and don't substitute diet, whipped or tub-style margarine for regular margarine.

Instead of Butter, margarine, shortening or oil to prevent sticking:

• Cooking spray or nonstick pans

Instead of Creamed soups:

• Fat-free milk-based soups,
• mashed potato flakes,
• pureed carrots,
• potatoes or tofu for thickening agents

Instead of Eggs:

• Two egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute for each whole egg

Instead of Evaporated milk:

• Evaporated skim milk

Instead of Full-fat cream cheese:

• Fat-free or low-fat cream cheese
• Neufchatel or low-fat cottage cheese pureed until smooth

Instead of Full-fat sour cream:

• Fat-free plain yogurt, or fat-free or low-fat sour cream

Instead of ground beef:

• Extra-lean or lean ground beef, chicken or turkey

Instead of Mayonnaise:

• Reduced-calorie mayonnaise-type salad dressing or reduced-calorie, reduced-fat mayonnaise

Instead of Oil-based marinades:

• Wine, balsamic vinegar, fruit juice or fat-free broth
  

Instead of fatty Salad dressing:

• Fat-free or reduced-calorie dressing or flavored vinegars

Instead of Whole milk:

• Reduced-fat or fat-free milk
  

Sodium
To reduce the amount of sodium:

Instead of Seasoning salt, such as garlic salt, celery salt or onion salt:

• Herb-only seasonings, such as garlic powder, celery seed or onion flakes, or use finely chopped garlic, celery or onions
  

Instead of Soups, sauces, dressings, crackers, or canned meat, fish or vegetables:

• Low-sodium or reduced-sodium versions
  
• Soy sauce
• Sweet-and-sour sauce, hot mustard sauce or low-sodium soy sauce

Instead of Table salt:

• Herbs;
• spices;
• fruit juices;
• salt-free seasoning mixes; or
• herb blends

Instead of Sugar:

• Instead of Fruit canned in heavy syrup Use Fruit canned in its own juices or in water, or fresh fruit;
• Instead of Fruit-flavored yogurt Use Plain yogurt with fresh fruit slices;
• Instead of Syrup Use Pureed fruit, such as applesauce, or low-calorie, sugar-free syrup

To increase the amount of nutrients, including vitamins, minerals and fiber:

• Instead of All-purpose (plain) flour Use Whole-wheat flour for half of the called-for all-purpose flour;
• Instead of Dry bread crumbs Use Rolled oats or crushed bran cereal;
• Instead of Enriched pasta Use Whole-wheat pasta;
• Instead of Iceberg lettuce Use Arugula, chicory, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach or watercress;
• Instead of Meat as the main ingredient Use Three times as many vegetables as the meat on pizzas or in casseroles, soups and stews;
• Instead of White bread Use Whole-wheat bread;
• Instead of White rice Use Brown rice, wild rice, bulgur or pearl barley.
  

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Adjusting the servings: Considerations for scaling a recipe
Want to alter the amount of food a recipe produces? These practical tips can help.
All recipes produce a specific number of servings — for example, six waffles or two dozen cookies. But what if you need more or less food? How do you change the recipe to fit your needs?

Scaling a recipe — increasing or decreasing the amount of food a recipe produces — isn't as simple as it sounds. "It's a balance between art and science," says Jennifer K. Nelson, a registered dietitian at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. "Consider that there are thousands of different foods, millions of ways they're combined in varying amounts and numerous ways to cook them. All of these variables mean there are very few hard-and-fast rules."

Though no strict guidelines govern how to scale a recipe, these practical considerations can help you adjust your recipes with greater success.

Changing a recipe's yield: Points to consider
A recipe's yield, for example, 12 muffins or 3 cups of spaghetti sauce, tells you how much total food the recipe makes. If the yield is more or less than what you want to make, you may need to scale the recipe.

Though some recipes, such as casseroles, stews and other main dishes, usually lend themselves to simply increasing or decreasing all ingredients, other recipes don't. For example, baked goods — especially those that require leavening agents, such as baking powder, baking soda or yeast — may not turn out well if doubled, tripled or quadrupled.

Here are several points to consider before increasing or decreasing the number of servings a recipe provides:

1. Equipment. When you scale a recipe, match your equipment to the volume of the food. Larger batches need bigger bowls and larger or extra baking pans, for example. Likewise, smaller batches require smaller bowls and baking pans.
2. Cooking times. Cooking times may stay the same. For instance when preparing muffins, it won't matter if you bake one dozen or six dozen muffins, the cooking time remains the same. Some recipes, however, may require longer cooking times. A casserole that serves four will need much less baking time than one that has been tripled to serve 12.
3. Cooking temperature. In most cases, you won't have to change the cooking temperature when you scale a recipe. The exception is when you have multiple items in the oven. This may require a slightly higher baking temperature.
4. Seasonings. Spices and other seasonings, including salt, don't always need to be increased or decreased in the same proportion as the other ingredients. Instead add seasonings to taste until you get the results you want.
5. Alcohol. In recipes, alcohol, such as white wine or rum, can quickly overpower the flavor of the food if you use too much. So don't increase alcohol as you would other ingredients. Rather, add small amounts and taste as you go until you're satisfied with the results.
   Best practices for scaling a recipe.
6. For best results, be familiar with your original recipe, experiment with your adjustments and make separate batches, if necessary.

Other Tips in preparing the recipe:

• Make the original recipe first. Know how the recipe should look and taste before you make any adjustments. The original is then a benchmark for comparing the success of the adjusted recipe. Plus, the original may yield more or less than you're expecting, and you may not need to adjust the servings after all.
• Test first, then serve. You may not find success when scaling a recipe for the first time. So test your scaled dishes first, before serving them. Experiment with what works and what doesn't work. Ingredients interact with each other differently, and you may have to adjust cooking methods, temperatures or times accordingly.
• Make food in batches. If you're increasing a recipe and lack time to experiment, make several individual batches. This way you end up with the amount you need based on the original recipe. Baking separate batches also reduces waste because you can cook food as needed, which ensures the freshness of your food.
• No tried-and-true rules dictate how to scale a recipe. But experience and common sense can help you find success.
  

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