Try Adjustments to Comfort Foods

As fall arrives and the weather starts getting cooler, many of us love to indulge in our favorite comfort foods. Some may be high in calories, fat and sodium, and could affect our weight and health.  Below are a few ideas to make our favorite comfort foods healthier.

In a lot of cases, you can make some relatively small adjustments to recipes that will boost nutrition, cut calories or otherwise make them healthier overall. Many ideas for making these types of food substitutions are a simple search on the web. A great resource from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is, “Altering Recipes for Good Health,” available at the Extension office located at 206 S state Street in Decatur or to download at http://fcs.tamu.edu/files/2015/02/altering-recipes-for-good-health.pdf.

Just a few of the ideas include:

• In baking, substitute applesauce or prune puree for half of the butter, shortening or oil that the recipe calls for. A half-cup of unsweetened applesauce has just 50 calories and barely any fat, compared with nearly 1,000 calories and more than 100 grams of fat in a half-cup of oil. Another idea: reduce the amount of sugar the recipe calls for by a third. Chances are you won’t notice the difference.
• For chili, stews and soups, increase the proportion of beans and legumes and reduce meat to increase fiber and reduce overall calories. For meat, choose lean beef or turkey. If using broth as a base, choose low-sodium versions. Brands vary in sodium content, but one brand of regular vegetable broth has 800 milligrams of sodium per cup, compared with 140 milligrams per cup in another brand’s low-sodium vegetable broth.
• Instead of sour cream, try plain Greek yogurt. If nonfat versions don’t work for your recipe, try a traditional full-fat version. A cup of regular plain Greek yogurt has 190 calories and 9 grams of fat, compared with sour cream’s nearly 450 calories and 45 grams of fat.
• If you use whole milk or cream in your mashed potatoes, try buttermilk instead. A cup of buttermilk has less than 100 calories and 2 grams of fat, compared with 145 calories and 8 grams of fat in whole milk.

This cookie recipe below uses half the butter of a regular chocolate chip cookie. Include your family in the preparation and have fun!

Zucchini-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or white whole wheat

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar packed

1 egg

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups shredded zucchini

1 cup rolled oats

½  cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt for 20seconds, set aside. With electric mixer whip together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. Add zucchini and with mixer set on low speed, slowly add in flour mixture. Stir in oats, walnuts and chocolate chips (I reserved 1/3 cup of the chocolate chips to press into the tops of dough balls before baking, just for looks which is totally optional). Shape dough into balls, 2 Tbsp each, then transfer to parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 11 - 14 minutes until edges are lightly golden. Cool on baking sheet 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 24 cookies