It sounds silly but I think nearly all of us have a few 'favourite' items in our kitchen! Do you always chose a particular mug for your coffee? Is there a pan that you seem to cook everything in? Well in my kitchen there's a wooden spoon!
This wooden spoon has been in my family nearly as long as I have and my parents got it free with a wok that's long since past it, but this spoon lives on.... Now there isn't really anything special about the spoon, in fact sometimes it even seems a bit impractical to use it but still I find myself looking for it, and often being dissapointed to find that its currently in the dishwasher!
The truth is that you get into habits, in the kitchen just like everywhere else, and sometimes these habits don't really make much difference to how you cook - like choosing a particular wooden spoon isn't going to make my dinner taste better! But some habits you get into can make a huge difference not only to how your food tastes but also how good it is for you!
Oil is one of my pet hates in the kitchen, people seem to use oil for everything and a lot of the time it just isn't necessary, particularly not in the qualities we use it! Even olive oil, arguably one of the 'healthy' options has around 120 calories per tablespoon, and if, like me, you keep a track of your calories, you don't want to be wasting them on something that doesn't taste good or fill you up! Essentially we use oil to stop things sticking to the pan or baking tray so here are a few simple swaps you can make to replace, or at least the amount of oil that you use in your cooking!
Non-stick! Good quality non-stick pans and baking trays can really make a world of difference to your cooking - just remember not to use metal utensils on them as this can damage the non-stick surface. You can get not-stick liners now for your baking trays that can be re-used, or why not try good, old-fashioned, grease proof paper!
Spray! Personally I am a huge fan of the low calorie cooking sprays like Frylight. At around 1 calorie a spray you can really cover your pan. Spraying instead of pouring can save you using more than you need and if you just can't resist the distinctive taste of olive oil, why not get yourself an oil mister or just fill a pump spray bottle with the oil of your choice? Its not just oil that you can spray either, there's now a range of low calories spray salad dressings you can try!
I hope this has made you think about little habits you can change that can really make a world of difference to your cooking so that it still tastes great, but with a little less guilt! Look out for a recipe update shortly and a few more tips and tricks to make all your favourite foods, but with a few less calories and a lot more taste!
Did you know? Here at Amy's we never add any oil when cooking meat... we only use the natural fat that renders down during the cooking process! This means less calories and more flavour - now who wouldn't want that?
This wooden spoon has been in my family nearly as long as I have and my parents got it free with a wok that's long since past it, but this spoon lives on.... Now there isn't really anything special about the spoon, in fact sometimes it even seems a bit impractical to use it but still I find myself looking for it, and often being dissapointed to find that its currently in the dishwasher!
The truth is that you get into habits, in the kitchen just like everywhere else, and sometimes these habits don't really make much difference to how you cook - like choosing a particular wooden spoon isn't going to make my dinner taste better! But some habits you get into can make a huge difference not only to how your food tastes but also how good it is for you!
Oil is one of my pet hates in the kitchen, people seem to use oil for everything and a lot of the time it just isn't necessary, particularly not in the qualities we use it! Even olive oil, arguably one of the 'healthy' options has around 120 calories per tablespoon, and if, like me, you keep a track of your calories, you don't want to be wasting them on something that doesn't taste good or fill you up! Essentially we use oil to stop things sticking to the pan or baking tray so here are a few simple swaps you can make to replace, or at least the amount of oil that you use in your cooking!
Non-stick! Good quality non-stick pans and baking trays can really make a world of difference to your cooking - just remember not to use metal utensils on them as this can damage the non-stick surface. You can get not-stick liners now for your baking trays that can be re-used, or why not try good, old-fashioned, grease proof paper!
Spray! Personally I am a huge fan of the low calorie cooking sprays like Frylight. At around 1 calorie a spray you can really cover your pan. Spraying instead of pouring can save you using more than you need and if you just can't resist the distinctive taste of olive oil, why not get yourself an oil mister or just fill a pump spray bottle with the oil of your choice? Its not just oil that you can spray either, there's now a range of low calories spray salad dressings you can try!
I hope this has made you think about little habits you can change that can really make a world of difference to your cooking so that it still tastes great, but with a little less guilt! Look out for a recipe update shortly and a few more tips and tricks to make all your favourite foods, but with a few less calories and a lot more taste!
Did you know? Here at Amy's we never add any oil when cooking meat... we only use the natural fat that renders down during the cooking process! This means less calories and more flavour - now who wouldn't want that?
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