Many of the recipes in my collection started out as high in fat and have been adapted by me to make them low-fat. Most were high in fat due to unnecessary amounts of oil, butter, etc. Once you get the hang of cooking low fat, you will easily be able to look at a recipe and determine whether it can be adapted to meet your requirements. One thing I found that helped me immensely in adapting recipes was a good Recipe Software Program. I use Micro Cookbook for this purpose. I have tried Mastercook and Mealmaster and find that Micro Cookbook is much more effective for those who wish to live a low-fat lifestyle. The program allows you to view both the recipe and the nutritional evaluations on the same page. You can edit a recipe, save it, then the recalculated nutritional data appears! Another feature of this program that was very helpful was that you can sort your recipes by calories, fat content and % fat calories. I used this feature to pull low fat recipes out of the 10,000 recipes that came with the program.

Purchase the best (i.e. heaviest) set of non-stick cookware you can afford.

Purchase a few low-fat cookbooks for inspiration (see cookbook recommendations).

Stock up on spices. One of the keys to cooking low-fat and not getting bored is to spice your food well. When you have finished your recipe, always taste it and adjust the spices to meet your taste.

Purchase a can of Olive Oil, Butter and Regular Pam or other cooking sprays.

Use olive oil for cooking when appropriate. It adds to the taste of the dish and is better for you.

You can successfully saute vegetables, etc., in 1 teaspoon or less of oil in a non-stick pan. I keep olive oil in a pump bottle and in a spray bottle by my stove. For sauteeing, approximately three pumps is a teaspoon of oil, then use a pastry brush to spread the oil in the pan. If you just need to coat the pan lightly with oil, use the spray bottle or a pastry brush to apply oil. I use these methods for sauteing rather than coating the pan with a cooking spray, since I find that the lecithin in the cooking sprays burns easily, and it is impossible to get the pan hot enough for a good saute without burning the spray.

Purchase a good wok and learn to stir fry. You can successful stir fry in broth or water with no appreciable decline in texture or taste.

When cooking a dish with both vegetables and meat (i.e. in stir frys and stews), reduce the amount of meat by 1/3 and increase the amount of vegetables by 1/3. You will hardly notice!

Thicken gravies with milk or broth blended in the blender with the flour. Be sure to cook long enough to remove the raw flour taste. You'll never notice the lack of fat.

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