Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Saving Some Fat & Calories

So I've been thinking about oatmeal chocolate chip cookies all morning. I wish I could say I've been thinking about being strong and NOT stuffing my face with them...but mostly it's been just the opposite. The ooey gooey chocolaty goodness of those little nuggets of temptation are evil, I tell you, E.V.I.L. !

Since it seems to be beyond my willpower to avoid eating one (or 6) every time I walk into the kitchen, I've been doing two things. One - avoiding the kitchen...this is evidenced by the breakfast dishes still sitting out with syrup on them (evil...see?!). And two - figuring out how to make them a tad bit better for me.

What if I make them with Smart Balance spread and Egg Beaters instead of real butter and eggs, I wonder?

2 sticks real butter: 1600 calories, 176 g total fat, 112 g saturated fat
2 large real eggs: 108 calories, 7.4 g total fat, 2.2 g saturated fat
Total just from these ingredients: 1708 calories, 183.4 g total fat, 114.2 g sat. fat

Using Smart Balance: 1280 calories, 144 g total fat, 40 g saturated fat
and Egg Beater type eggs: 60 calories, 0 g fat
Total: 1340 calories, 144 g fat, 40 g sat. fat

Difference: 368 calories, 39.4 g fat, 74.2 g sat. fat

As much as I'd love to eat all 4 dozen cookies, even I can usually stop at oh, 2 dozen or so! Let's break it down per cookie:

By using Smart Balance and Egg Beaters instead of the real stuff, I'd save (per cookie):
7.67 calories
.82 g fat
1.55 g saturated fat

Hmmm. I'm not sure if it really makes that much of a difference. I'm not sure that it even made enough difference for me to take the time to fire up my calculator! Well, I guess every little bit helps.

I wonder if they'd taste any good. You know I'm forced to make a new batch, right?

I hate it when the "math" tells me that to really save on fat and calories I should just eat in moderation. I hate moderation. At least when it comes to these cookies...

No comments: