Butter vs. margarine

[SparklyUnicorn]

That's true, but for me that would be deprivation and I don't think that's healthy. I lost 55 lbs. eating apple pie every day and never felt deprived. 

 

My dad is like this.  He eats a sweet of some sort every day and managed to lose weight.

[Bluegoat]

According a dutch documentary no.

If a certain % of the ingredients of the product is fairtrade, the whole product will be considered fairtrade.

 

Something like chocolate - hazelnut - paste is fairtrade because of the chocolate and the sugar.

For the hazelnuts child labor has been used.

 

This just for information on your question, not to derail the thread.

 

The more complex and far flung a supply chain, the harder it is to keep tabs on every part - even if you really want to, or are a business that wants to - sometimes you can't find everything you need, or reliable supplies.

[HomeAgain]

Forgive me if I'm confusing you with another poster, Night Elf, but haven't you been struggling with calorie intake for a bit?

[Soror]

Forgive me if I'm confusing you with another poster, Night Elf, but haven't you been struggling with calorie intake for a bit?

Yes, I am cringing at the suggestions that she eat less. From previous posts NE already follows a very low calorie diet and has for years, I'm more concerned she's trying to cut calories.

 

re: butter vs. margarine- I'm not really a baker at all, my 10 yo bakes far more often than I do and she follows whatever recipe she is using, some use oil, some use butter, and I have a coco oil blend spread used for shortening. I do prefer butter personally but don't bake enough to really give a good opinion about what works vs. what doesn't. 

[Soror]

I don't know anything about the OP's eating history though. And she asked in the OP about cutting butter specifically to reduce calories, but is eating sugared treats every single day. It just seems like there's a clear path ykwim? She's said she doesn't want to eat less sugar, so NBD. It's not like eating less sugar isn't worth the suggestion.

I dont' fault any of the suggestions that don't know her past history. But I do remember it and can't answer it without thinking of that. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

When I was a teenager I had a job that sold candy and I could eat whatever I wanted for free. I ate nothing but candy bars for  a month on a dare and lost a lot of weight :laugh: . What a freaking idiot :glare: :laugh: Where were that girl's parents!

 

Yeah.  I don't say my dad is being healthful.  But he doesn't have much going for him (with a laundry list of health ailments including kidney failure) so I understand it's one of the few pleasures in his life.  He doesn't eat tons of sweets, but yes, a daily sweet.  Of the zillions of foods he has to watch (which in large part are healthy foods) sweets isn't one of them.  So it's actually one of the few things that isn't very problematic for him.  Thankfully he doesn't have diabetes!

[kiana]

Honestly I don't think eating a sweet every day is intrinsically unhealthful. Yeah, it's an easy target for cutting calories, but life is also to be lived. 

[Seasider]

#teambutter

 

If you are making a dense cake, applesauce can be a good replacement.

[Night Elf]

Forgive me if I'm confusing you with another poster, Night Elf, but haven't you been struggling with calorie intake for a bit?

 

Yes, I haven't been formally diagnosed except for my counselor and nutritionist saying I have disordered eating. I do not fit the parameters of any eating disorders. I've made a lot of progress and lots has changed for the better. However, I do still record calories but I'm eating more of them every day which is one of those big changes for me. Both my counselor and nutritionist say to continue giving myself a sweet treat every day so I don't feel deprived but just to not go overboard. Before, I was eating several sweet treats a day and using more calories for them than I should have. Now I'm down to 1 or 2 small things and using my calories for more healthy options during the day.

[Night Elf]

And just as an aside, I appreciate the many different eating plans represented on this board but I refuse to believe a treat every day is a bad thing. I eat much less sugar than I used to do but I refuse to cut it out altogether unless ordered by a doctor. I believe in moderation of all foods. I don't even like to call some foods junk foods. Food is food. Some is healthier than others but for me, nothing is off the table except for foods I don't like. I maintain a good weight and my doctor says I'm very healthy. I have a physical done every year with lab work and although my HDL and LDL rise and fall a little, they are within the healthy range. So I'll stick to my treat a day.

 

I'm sorry my post caused such reactions. I made a cookie that was like 90 calories and I don't want to spend that many calories on one cookie. I just can't wrap my brain around it. I've accepted eating higher calorie items like nuts and avocados and peanut butter. But I still like to make my treats small. 

 

I did ask about margarine because of calories but also because I had no butter in the house and I didn't want to go to the grocery store. I was thinking of baking with it but was wondering if it would change the cookie. Apparently it would because of chemistry. Learn something new every day.

 

Today I'm making zucchini muffins to be sweet treats rather than cookies. 

 

I love to bake and sometimes I bake just to bake. I send the food with DH to his office because they'll eat anything! He leaves it on the break room table and it's usually gone within an hour. :)

[HomeAgain]

I don't think a treat every day is bad.  I have a Lindt chocolate most nights after dinner.  :)  My only worry was that a replacement of fake food for real could throw you out of wack. 

[kiana]

OP, if you are out of the ingredient you want to use, it is often interesting to google "cookies made with x" and see if you can find a substitute recipe. I was out of butter and not feeling like buying a pound just for cookies and googled "molasses cookies made with vegetable oil" and found a really great recipe that I have added to my permanent list. 

 

Also, here is an excellent Q + A on low-fat/low-sugar baking in general: http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/the-art-of-low-fat-baking

 

I have tried several of cooking light's recipes and been generally pleased with the results. I always add more spice than they say though. You may try looking at those instead of just trying to swap light margarine into the recipes you already use -- let someone else (their test kitchen) deal with the failures. If you can find a cookie recipe that works chemically and has the general texture you want, altering spices is simple. 

[Night Elf]

OP, if you are out of the ingredient you want to use, it is often interesting to google "cookies made with x" and see if you can find a substitute recipe. I was out of butter and not feeling like buying a pound just for cookies and googled "molasses cookies made with vegetable oil" and found a really great recipe that I have added to my permanent list. 

 

Also, here is an excellent Q + A on low-fat/low-sugar baking in general: http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/the-art-of-low-fat-baking

 

I have tried several of cooking light's recipes and been generally pleased with the results. I always add more spice than they say though. You may try looking at those instead of just trying to swap light margarine into the recipes you already use -- let someone else (their test kitchen) deal with the failures. If you can find a cookie recipe that works chemically and has the general texture you want, altering spices is simple. 

 

The thing is, I rarely make cookies. I usually make banana chocolate chip muffins, zucchini muffins, sometimes chocolate chocolate chip muffins, and pineapple upside down cake. I made a batch of pumpkin muffins last month and those were pretty good. It just seems whenever I try cookies, they never turn out the way I think they should. I finally gave up on chocolate chip cookies. This time I made almond crescent and they were just okay, not great. I really wanted the almond taste but the texture bothered me and the taste was chemical because of the extract. I think I may try butter cookies for Thanksgiving. How hard can it be to make a simple butter cookie? Surely I won't fail at that! And no, I have no plans to use margarine! :)

[ScoutTN]

I am happier with a sweet treat every day too! 

Nothing huge, just a bit of something sweet after supper or in the late afternoon with hot tea. A cookie, a piece of good chocolate, usually. 

[kiana]

The thing is, I rarely make cookies. I usually make banana chocolate chip muffins, zucchini muffins, sometimes chocolate chocolate chip muffins, and pineapple upside down cake. I made a batch of pumpkin muffins last month and those were pretty good. It just seems whenever I try cookies, they never turn out the way I think they should. I finally gave up on chocolate chip cookies. This time I made almond crescent and they were just okay, not great. I really wanted the almond taste but the texture bothered me and the taste was chemical because of the extract. I think I may try butter cookies for Thanksgiving. How hard can it be to make a simple butter cookie? Surely I won't fail at that! And no, I have no plans to use margarine! :)

 

If you ever wanna talk recipes, hit me up, baking is one of my significant interests :)

[eternalsummer]

I don't think okbud was saying a sweet every day was bad, she was just saying that if you're trying to cut calories, one way is to use light margarine instead of butter and another way, which you may not have considered and is worth pointing out, is to just not eat a cookie every day.

 

Night Elf, unfortunately, doesn't really need advice about how to restrict calories - she is already obsessed with counting every calorie and weighing herself daily, and is a healthy weight.

 

 

[Night Elf]

I don't think okbud was saying a sweet every day was bad, she was just saying that if you're trying to cut calories, one way is to use light margarine instead of butter and another way, which you may not have considered and is worth pointing out, is to just not eat a cookie every day.

 

Night Elf, unfortunately, doesn't really need advice about how to restrict calories - she is already obsessed with counting every calorie and weighing herself daily, and is a healthy weight.

 

Actually, I don't weigh myself every day anymore. I do it twice a week. I do record calories but I don't like to use the word obsession because it's possible that it can be used to keep up with a healthy diet. It's way easy to overeat. I've increased my daily calories by a very healthy amount and have gained some weight without freaking out. Both my counselor and nutritionist are very happy with my progress, as is DH and me. I'm doing well, thank you.