Top tips for lowering the fat in your meals

It's the time of year when most of us have resolved to eat better and one of the main things that can help us do this is lowering the fat content of our meals.  There are a number of things I do when I am cooking to try and lower the fat content of my food as much as possible.

1. Minimise the amount of fat added when cooking.  I do this by using a non-stick pan and cooking meat without adding any oil, or using fry lite instead of olive or cooking oil, or putting a bit of water in the bottom of the pot to start cooking onions etc.
2. Cut fat off meat before cooking, or use cuts that are lower in fat.  I use bacon medallions instead of streaky bacon if a recipe requires bacon and I use lean mince where possible.
3. Use low-fat alternatives where possible, like low-fat cream, cheese, milk.
4. Changing your cooking method can also help lower the fat content.  Grilling or steaming instead of frying can have a massive impact on the fat content of a meal.
5. Decreasing the amount of some ingredients can help lower the fat content of a meal.  For example, if a recipe calls for cream, as well as using the low-fat version, I will sometimes only use half the amount of cream mentioned in the recipe, or not put the ingredient in at all.

Making little changes when cooking means that you can still enjoy a lot of your favourite meals while following a low fat diet.