Articles
Dairy and Dieting
There is usually a suitable fat content for each occasion and person. Read labels and compare the products and choose what is best for you at any one time. This may vary if you are using yoghurt, cream or cheese in cooking or if you are serving it as part of a dessert or cheese board. I might use a full cream cheese as part of an appetiser but use a low fat one in cooking where flavour and texture aren't as critical. Again substituting evaporated milk for cream in cooking is fine but when entertaining, I may offer the choice of thickened cream or low fat ice cream to go with dessert. Try and adapt low fat alternatives into recipes.
Yoghurt
Yoghurt comes in many varieties, types and flavours which can be confusing to the consumer.
Natural yoghurts are made from skim, hilow or full cream milk. They vary in fat from .15% to 5 %. Light (Lite) yoghurts are generally low in fat and high in sugar. Diet yoghurts are low in fat and sugar. They are artificially sweetened and are the lowest kilojoules (calories) available. Regular full fat yoghurts vary from 3.0 to 5.0%. This means that 200 grams of yoghurt would supply 6 to 10 grams of fat. Choose yoghurt according to desired fat, flavour, sugar and energy content.
Some examples of popular brands of yoghurt
| Yoghurt | Weight | Fat | Kilojoules | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownes Low fat Natural | 200 grams | .5 grams | 570 | 135 |
| Mundella Reduced fat Natural Vanilla | 200 grams | 2 grams | 605 | 145 |
| Brownes Traditional Natural Yoghurt | 200 grams | 6.5 grams | 670 | 160 |
| Diet Yoghurt eg Nestle, Brownes, Yoplait | 200 grams | .2-.5 grams | 377-544 | 90-130 |
| Low Fat or Light (Flavoured- with added sugar) Browns, Yoplait | 200 grams | .2-.5 grams | 733- 858 | 175-205 |
| Nestle Light | 200 grams | 1 gram | 770 | 185 |
| Traditional Flavoured , Brownes, Masters, Nestle, Ski | 200 grams | 4.5-6 grams | 816-942 | 195-225 |
| Soy Life (flavoured) So Natural Soyo |
200 grams 200 grams 200 grams |
1.4 grams 4.4 grams 3.2 grams |
672 758 744 |
160 182 178 |
Cream
Cream comes in different fat levels. There is double cream at 55.0% fat to the lowest cream, sour cream at 17.0% fat. Thickened cream is 36.0% fat. Depending on what you are using it for, there are various substitutes. If you want low fat whipped cream then substitute 4.0% low fat evaporated milk. This is also suitable to add to soups and casseroles where cream is required. A substitute for 17% sour cream is low fat yoghurt. With the emergence of the very popular Thai type cooking, coconut cream is often used extensively in recipes. Try to use low fat evaporated milk plus coconut essence as a reasonable substitute that gives the same sort of texture and flavour.
| Cream or Substitute | Quantity | grams of fat | % Fat | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Double Cream | 1 tablespoon | 11 grams | 55% | desserts & cakes |
| Scalded Cream | 1 tablespoon | 9.5 | 48% | desserts |
| Whipping Cream, unwhipped | 1 tablespoon | 8 grams | 40% | desserts & cakes |
| Thicken Cream, unwhipped | 1 tablespoon | 7 grams | 36% | substitute for whipping cream |
| Reduced fat canned cream | 1 tablespoon | 5 grams | 25% | substitute for scalded cream |
| Light sour cream | 1 tablespoon | 3.5 | 18% | in cooking |
| Coconut Cream | 1 tablespoon | 5.8 grams | 72% | Thai cooking |
| Lite Coconut Milk | 1 tablespoon | 1 gram | 12.5% | substitute for coconut cream |
| Regular Evaporated Milk | 1 tablespoon | 1.6 grams | 20% | Substitute for whipped cream |
| Bear Brand Evaporated Milk | 1 tablespoon | 0.9 grams | 11% | Substitute for whipped cream |
| Carnation Light Evaporated Milk | 1 tablespoon | 0.3 grams | 3.6% | Substitute for coconut milk or cream + coconut essence |
| Low fat natural yoghurt | 1 tablespoon | .03 gram | .15% | substitute for sour cream |
Cheese
Cheese is high in fat ranging from 29% to 34% fat for the most common varieties. Fetta could be at 29% and cheddar at 33-34%. Some of the rich blue vein or English cheeses can go as high as 34% fat. There is now a wide range of reduced fat cheeses on the market that adapt themselves well to cooking. Some are as low as 3% or 10% fat. Read your labels and consider what you are cooking and what would be most suitable. Some of the very low fat cheeses can be runny when used in toasted sandwiches or cooking. There is a low fat mozzarella at 14.5% fat and this is good on a pizza or a lasagne but is stringy in cheese sauces. If a dessert recipe calls for cream cheese use ricotta or cottage cheese instead. Use Cottage or ricotta cheese as a spread on bread instead of butter or margarine.
| Cheese | Quantity | Grams of Fat | % fat | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romano | 30 grams | 9 grams | 40% fat | Italian cooking |
| Cheddar Cheese | 30 grams, 1 thick slice | 10 grams | 34 % fat | sandwiches & cooking |
| Parmesan | 30 grams | 9 grams | 32% fat | Italian cooking |
| Feta | 30 grams | 7.5 grams | 25% fat | salads and cooking |
| Reduced fat Feta | 30 grams | 4.5 grams | 15% fat | salads & cooking |
| Mozzarella | 30 grams | 6.6 grams | 22% fat | cooking, pizza |
| Light Mozzarella | 30 grams | 4.35 grams | 14.5% fat | cooking, pizza |
| Light Cheese, 25% reduced | 30 grams | 7 grams | 23% fat | sandwiches & cooking |
| No 7 cheese | 30 grams | 2.1 grams | 7% fat | sandwiches and cooking |
| Processed cheese slices | 20 grams | 6 grams | 30 % fat | sandwiches |
| Kraft light slices | 20 grams | 4.5 grams | 22.5% fat | sandwiches |
| Extra Light, Super Slim slices | 20 grams | 2 grams | 10 % fat | sandwiches |
| Ricotta | 1 tablespoon | 2.5 grams | 10% fat | spread, cooking & dips |
| Baked ricotta | 30 grams | 4.8 grams | 16% fat | Sandwiches & cheese board |
| Cream cottage | 1 tablespoon | 1 gram | 5% fat | Spread, Cooking & dips |
| Low fat Cottage Cheese | 1 tablespoon | 0.5 grams | 2.5% fat | Spread, cooking & dips |
Recipes
Greek Feta Roll : A Mediterranean delight in filo pastry
Added to site on : Saturday, 15 February 2003