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Low-Fat Cheeses & Egg-Substitutes
At the same time I reasoned that small amounts of full-fat cheese were all right as long as I didn't overdo it. After all, I tried low-fat cheese in 1993 and didn't like it. It was rubbery, dry, crumbly and it didn't even taste like real cheese. It tasted more like Silly Putty than anything else. God put us here on this earth to enjoy our lives, not to suffer with fake copies of wholesome foods He gave us to eat in the first place. Surely God didn't want me to eat weird processed egg-substitutes and sorry-putty excuses for cheese.
The problem with this line
of thinking was that even though I knew I should limit my intake of
these foods, I wasn't really doing it. I pretended to limit my
egg and cheese intake when my doctor, and later on my dietitian,
grilled me about my diet. I was in denial. I fibbed, I
bargained and I lied. In the long run, I was only hurting myself. I went on this way for a decade. Finally my cholesterol was so high (280), and my body was so fat (235 lbs) that I was willing to do almost anything to change. This included trying egg-substitutes again and even buying a brick of that old-rubbery-shoe-leather called reduced-fat cheese. Wow, was I in for some surprises.
I found Egg Beaters®
on sale at my local grocer and brought them home. I was
starving so I cooked 1/4-cup of them right away figuring they would
taste better on a ravenous stomach. I was right. They
were good, really good. I read the back of the carton as I ate and
discovered they had only 30 calories per serving. I continued
reading--zero cholesterol, fat-free, made from 99% real egg-whites
plus a few vitamins and minerals added in for good measure. After this I tried whichever egg-replacement I found for the smallest price. They all seem to go on sale eventually, so I was able to test a broad variety. The frozen products didn't taste as good to me as the refrigerated variety. Eventually I found large cartons of Egg Beaters® at my local warehouse store for about the price of egg whites in their shell. Their quality is unbeatable and at less than 20¢ per egg-equivalent, the price is right. On this website I use Egg Beaters® anywhere you see egg substitute or egg replacement called for in a recipe. Other brands will work just as well so use the brand that suits your circumstances the best.
As I browsed the cheese section of my local supermarket I noticed there were fewer low-fat flavors of cheese than there used to be. I saw fat-free shredded cheddar, but I knew I wasn't ready for anything that extreme. I kept looking and eventually dug up over a dozen types of reduced-fat cheese. I bought all of them.
 They
offer great taste, perfect meltability, and moderate savings in
calories and fat. Since most of them are not available in
store-brands I have to pay name-brand prices for them. This makes
them a little on the expensive side but we feel they are worth the
extra cost because of their quality. Different stores will sell
them for various prices, so be sure to shop around for the best
bargains in your area. The American Cheese Sandwich Slices are
exceptionally good. My kids can't tell the difference between
them and the real American Cheese we had been buying for years.
They are great for grilled cheese sandwiches too.
Since we'd had such good
luck with the 2% milk cheeses, I hoped the others would be just as
good. I looked at the small wedge of Cabot Vermont Cheddar
sitting on my plate and picked it up to take a bite.
Moving on I opened up the
Sargento cheeses, Swiss, Provolone and Mexican blend. The Swiss
wasn't as good as the other cheeses I had tried. It wasn't too
bad though. Certainly not as terrible as the cheese I remember
eating in 1993. At about $6 a pound, I considered it a
possibility for specific uses, but not for everyday use. The
provolone had a smokey flavor and slightly rubbery texture.
Next I sprinkled a little reduced-fat Parmesan onto a spoon and tasted a few crumbs. It was good. I could tell the difference in the texture of the crumbs when compared to real Parmesan, but the flavor was excellent. Since I had been able to find it in a store-brand, it didn't cost any more than I had been paying for regular Parmesan. Like it or not, cost is a very significant factor for me so I was relieved to know that it wouldn't cost me any more.
Soft cheeses were my last
set. Neufchatel or light cream cheese, is an old favorite
of mine. I've been buying it for decades and to me it tastes
the same as cream cheese. I don't like fat-free cream cheese
because it's hard to bake with, softens unpredictably and has an
"off" flavor, somewhat
 further
investigation in my grocer's refrigerator case brought forth
store-brand versions of reduced-fat Swiss Cheese and 2% Shredded
Cheddar. On sale the Swiss much less expensive than
Sargento's. I bought the Swiss, tasted it and was pleasantly
surprised. Where the Sargento had a tell-tale rubbery texture,
this new Kroger Brand tasted and chewed just like regular Swiss
Cheese. It melted beautifully too. At it's sale price of
$4 per pound it was reasonably priced for regular use. The
shredded cheddar had a good flavor and I liked the convenience of not
having to shred it myself. Since it had been on sale, it was
only $4 a pound, or slightly more than my beloved Cabot Cheddar.
While I thought it would be good when I pressed for time, all things
considered it wasn't as good a bargain as Cabot. Regularly
priced it was $6 per pound, way outside my budget. Sale priced
it was worth considering for the time savings, but the flavor simply
wasn't as good as I had gotten used to with Cabot.
My final analysis of low-fat cheese brought me to 5 winners based on flavor, cost, texture and performance during cooking.
In addition the store-brand of Swiss cheese and Sargento's Mexican 4-cheese blend were good choices for special use. With these 5 winners and the 2 runner's up I feel we have found the best compromises between flavor, texture, variety and price. I encourage you to investigate the low-fat cheeses and egg substitutes available in your area. There are some real gems out there. The only way to find them is to ferret them out.
1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
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Mmmm,
I quickly made another batch, this time using 1/2-cup of the
egg-beaters. I added a tablespoon of reduced-fat bacon bits and
a sprinkle of Tabasco sauce. Boy-Howdy! Eggs could be
good again. All the flavor, almost no fat and none of the
guilt. It was like finding an old friend after you think you've
lost her forever.
Encouraged
by my experience with Egg Beaters®, I begin talking to other
people about reduced-fat cheeses. Things began to look bleak
almost immediately. Everyone I spoke with told me about their
horrible experience with reduced-fat cheese. It seemed that no
one had tried it and enjoyed it. I almost gave up my decision
to try it myself. My experience with Egg Beaters® had been
so positive though, I persevered in spite of myself.
This
was the beginning of a love affair that I hope will never end.
My mouth soared with pleasure as I chewed. The firm, dense
cheese filled my taste buds with gourmet cheddar flavor. It was
almost too good to be true. This cheese saved me 50 calories
and 5 grams of fat per ounce! Hastily I dug the receipt out of
my bag. It's price hadn't stayed in my mind the way prices
usually do. I worried frantically that it would be twice the
price of regular cheddar. My eyes scanned the tall column of
numbers. They came to rest on the cost of my new addiction, my
beloved Reduced-Fat Vermont Cheddar. You can imagine my
surprise when I read that it cost a mere $3.50 per lb. I could
hear angelic choirs singing in the background as I confirmed the
economical cost of my newly discovered ambrosia. 
Yum!
Less fat, more flavor, perfect texture, all for the same cost per
pound that I was already paying for big bags of shredded
cheddar. My life was changing. Sure I would have to shred
the light cheese myself instead of buying it already shredded, but
this was a small price to pay for the avenue of good eating which I
saw opening before my eyes.
The
flavor was wonderful and the texture tolerable. Later when I
tried it on a sandwich with sliced ham I found the texture much less
noticeable, while the flavor turned my standard ham and cheese into
an exotic gourmet treat. The 4-Cheese Mexican Blend was another
story. Creamy textured with a complex blend of flavors I
imagined cheese enchiladas prepared with this enticing blend of
Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Quesa Quesadilla and Asadero cheese.
Authentic flavors for an almost reasonable price. The Sargento
cheeses would add variety to our cheese repertoire, but once again
they were overpriced for everyday use. For special occasions
though, they were definitely worth remembering.
The
mozzarella cheese was the same I had been buying for 10 years.
A large 2-pound bag for $6, or $3 a pound. It did all the
things I needed mozzarella cheese to do. After experimenting
with it for a few months I realized it was much more versatile than I
had ever given it credit for being. Turns out it makes great
quiches, is good in casseroles, on sandwiches, and of course perfect
for pizza. By combining it with Cabot's shredded cheddar I was able
to create a mild, creamy blend that was perfect for homemade macaroni
and cheese.
like
stale dried milk that I could never get past. Neufchatel has
more calories and more fat than fat-free cream cheese, but it has
fewer than full-fat cream cheese, and for me is the best
compromise. Cottage Cheese is an old dieter's staple.
It's good in casseroles, lasagna, or served with 1/2-cup of canned
pineapple for a low-calorie, high-protein snack. I prefer 1%
cottage cheese over the nonfat variety. Fat-free cottage cheese
costs about the same, or slightly more than it's low-fat sibling and
doesn't have the fullness of flavor that I expect from cottage
cheese. Lowfat cottage cheese has lots of flavor, very few
calories and tons of protein. Part Skim Ricotta cheese is not
something I buy very often. Some people find myriad uses for
it, but at my house it sort of sits around until I use it up in
lasagna. It can be eaten like cottage cheese, with sliced fruit
or sprinkled with a little sweetener, but it costs more than cottage
cheese, even in a store brand, and has a few more calories too.
For my money ricotta cheese isn't worth stocking on a regular basis. 