8 surprising tips for healthier cooking habits

This is a great healthy food swap that is low in fat, but tastes great. Give it a go by replacing one fourth of the oil with carrot juice.

You might be thinking how mustard could work as a crumbing ingredient, but it can! To prepare a low cholesterol bread crumb mixture, replace egg with mustard. Mustard has virtually zero cholesterol and fat count so it is perfect for when you want to make chicken schnitzel, cutlets or crumbed fish.

Did you know that most of the nutrients from vegetables are found in the skin? So instead of peeling your vegetables try scrubbing with water and cooking and eating with the skin on.

This is great if you are suffering from lactose intolerance. Use smashed bananas and vegetable oil in place of butter in your favourite recipes.

When you brown vegetables don’t put the oil in first. Place the vegetables in a hot pan and spray with extra virgin olive oil. This reduces the amount of oil the vegetables absorb.

Reduce your salt consumption by adding a splash of olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice close to the end of cooking time or to cooked vegetables. This will enhance the flavours in the same way as salt.

If you are a fan of muffins, you can enjoy them without feeling guilty. Replace half of the liquid in the batter with natural yogurt. The acidity of yogurt helps to enhance tenderness in the absence of fat.

If you like to poach your chicken and fish then start making a stock out of it. If you poach chicken in water add pepper corns, celery and carrot and voila you have a delicious and healthy stock you can use to make soups. Same goes for fish.