I won't get into the fact that there are those who question the quality, the rancidity, and heating process of the olive oil that is available in our supermarkets, but that's another issue.
A 1/4 cup of oil ( any oil) contains almost 500 calories (480 for some oils to be exact)
A 1/4 cup of oil is = to 4 tablespoons
It's really easy to use 4 tablespoons of oil when sautéing vegetables or cooking. and 500 hundred calories is a lot when you consider I eat 1200-1400 a day.
By using broth, water, or acquafaba to sauté , I'm saving calories in all my cooking !! For example. I make oil-free soups, oil-free stir-fry, and oil-free roasted vegetables. In the soup, I cannot tell the difference, in the stir-fry only slightly and the roasted vegetables take a little getting used to - but not too bad.
By cutting out or back on oil in my cooking, I save about 300-500 calories per day or more. You need to walk at least 3 miles to burn 200-300 calories which varies depending on you walking speed and weight. I do both walk 3 miles and cut back on oil.
Salad Dressing:
I add lemon juice with herbs to my salads and skip the oil!
Sometimes I make a oil-free salad dressing such as a light sweet fruity dressing.
Try my oil-free soups
Homemade Tomato Soup : Easy and Low Fat
Homemade Lentil Soup : Easy and Low Fat
My oil-free pakora appetizers - very easy and delicious
Creamy French Mushroom Soup
Seasonal indulgence is a hangover from harder times, when it was a real treat to have something richer. Now, in the Western world, we can eat whatever we like whenever we wish, so seasonal treats may be even more excessive, just to show the difference.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Good point. Now we have so much available, advertising encourages us and desserts are so readily available , I think we go overboard.
DeleteThe pasta primavera looks so good. I use rice and quinoa in a similar way. I will try it with the pasta.
ReplyDeleteOh .. love the idea Marie. I'll try with rice or quinoa.
DeleteWe really don't eat much differently around the holidays. Maybe a few more sweets than normal. I was reading somewhere that said the average Thanksgiving dinner is 3000 calories. Our meal doesn't come near that. Thankfully!
ReplyDeleteYes, I read that too!! I tend to start over doing it with all the sweets. Hopefully, I won't this year.
DeleteThat sweet potato (or pumpkin?) pie looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks Angie- It is a favorite on Thanksgiving!!
DeleteNow that I use so little oil at home, restaurant meals are often too rich for my stomach.
ReplyDeleteI get it. Me too. I often find some restaurant foods way to oily for me.
DeleteI will try your recipes.
ReplyDeleteI agree but find it really hard to use NO oil. I just try to use a little.
ReplyDeleteI agree! It is harder but not impossible. I do use avocado, nuts, and olives... yum
DeleteThis was such a lovely post! We just got a brand new cabinet painting in our kitchen and because of that I've been cooking a lot more. It's just fun to be in there. This is really good information to know. I'll be sure to remember this as I cook even more during the holiday season. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Renee for stopping by and commenting.
DeleteSurprisingly, I don't use a lot of oil when cooking, but I do need it for baking. I love a good french onion soup. We used to have it every Christmas Eve when the kids were little. And the pasta primavera looks delicious. That pumpkin pie is yummy looking, and I like the pretty yellow plate it's served on.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the rest of the Autumn days.
~Sheri
I find it almost impossible to bake without oil or butter, but I seem to be able to control it in my cooking.
DeleteWhat good ideas for reducing or cutting out oil in meals before the holidays. I try to maintain a policy of low oil or no oil all year long. I'm conditioned to eating less oil or oil-free. When I eat a meal out, I need to request no oil in order to be able to eat it. Your oil-free soup recipes are so scrumptous sounding, I'm going to try them all.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nancy for the encouragement. Cutting down on oil or eliminating it seems to work of me too.
DeleteYour oil free salad dressing is brilliant, and your other creative alternatives for not using oil are going to be so helpful. Thank you for sharing this very timely post to help us all save a few unnecessary calories!
ReplyDeleteThanks Heidi and the salad dressing is really good
DeleteWe do consume fats, but no too much oils, so many are not good for us to begin with....that French Mushroom Soup looks really tasty. Something I would enjoy sipping from a mug.
ReplyDeleteOil is so controversial, but I agree that so many of the seed oils are actually not healthy and we are lucky if we are able to find quality olive oil.
DeleteWe have cut out cheese and chocolates which has helped slightly for losing a few unwanted kilograms.
ReplyDeleteTandy | Lavender and Lime https://tandysinclair.com
My husband cut our cheese ( he should cut out chocolate) and he lost 10 pounds in 2 months. Unfortunately, we went on a cruise and he started eating it again and didn't stop. Within 3 months all ten pounds were back.
DeleteI prefer just lemon juice to an oily dressing (or a lot more acid if doing one with oil.) Just my style. That soup looks great and I like your ideas.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeanie. It took me a while to get used to salad dressing without oils but now I prefer it.
DeleteGreat tips for cutting the calories. I like to put a little balsamic vinegar on my salads instead of oily dressings, but I like your idea of lemon, too!
ReplyDeleteThank you Theresa. Balsamic vinegar is a great choice especially the flavored kinds.
DeleteGreat tips! I actually often use only water or broth to saute ingredients, especially when making soup. As for salads, yes, sometimes I add a little of extra virgin olive oil, but in most cases a drizzle of lemon / orange or honey do the trick!
ReplyDeleteI think sautéing in water or broth really was a game changer for me. I learned it in Weight Watchers,
DeleteWe use olive oil regularly, and eat olives frequently, and also use avocado oil and eat avocado almost daily. Neither one of us is overweight. Throughout the years I have travelled to areas where a Mediterranean diet is simply what the people eat; it has no name, it carries no specific recommendation from a dietician, yet daily consumption of olive oil is universal, and there seems to be no restriction on quantity. I have been on birding walks where a mid morning snack has been bread dipped in olive oil. Somehow, something doesn’t seem to add up here!
ReplyDeletehi David, I am not disagreeing with you. My 48 year old son follows a Mediterranean diet and eats lots of olive oil. He is really thin and never gains a pound. His wife follows the same diet and is 30 pounds overweight.My husband lives on olive oil too. I don't know the answer. I just know for me, I tend to have a slow metabolism, am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers and their suggestion is to cut down ( not eliminate) oil consumption for weight loss. We are all different. Wish I could consume oil as I wish. I do love it. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteWe use lemon juice in place of oil in our dressings too!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to cut back on oil before the holidays!
ReplyDeleteI’ll definitely try that dressing recipe, sounds yummy! 😋
Small changes like these really add up without losing flavor!