Cut the ‘bad’ fat

At some stage everyone tries to reduce the fat in their daily meals, however with the overload or misinformation within the industry and the often misleading and confusing packaging on foods these days, few people rarely achieve it consistently.

Try to introduce these small steps into your cooking and make a habit of reducing the bad fat content of your meals.

When you are cooking meat, cut off any fat you can see. This type of fat is saturated fat which will only clog your arteries.

If you can see the fat (yes, all those white bits!) and you can’t remove it, like in mince sausages and salami, it’s probably not a healthy choice. If you really want the mince or sausages try ones made from chicken or turkey breast as these will contain less fat. If you are cooking with other types of mince you can reduce the amount of fat by boiling the mince in hot water first (you will see the fat rise to the surface of the water) and then just continue cooking as you normally would, without that extra fat!!

When frying meat ensure you use olive oil, as this is one of the good fats. Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat which is used by your body to lower cholesterol, burn fat and keep you feeling full.

You should always use a non stick fry pan or try other methods apart from frying. A favourite alternative of mine when cooking chicken or turkey breast is to cook it in the oven instead. It sounds hard but it is really quick and easy and comes out tender and juicy every time. All you have to do is individually wrap the chicken breast in some foil and put it in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes and it will be ready to eat or add to the rest of your cooking. Easy!!

Finally you can limit the amount of fat you add to your cooking by allowing your meat and veggies to cook in a sauce rather than frying them until they are cooked. If you are frying, try adding a squeeze of lemon juice or the liquid that you are cooking with, to prevent things from sticking to the pan. This not only adds flavour but reduces the amount of fat you will use.