[Kati]

I took my next step in my plan to lose weight and get healthy. Reduced fat cheese.

I love cheese, it is my best friend. Remember back in school "Well if you love it so much why dontcha marry it?" yeah well I would marry cheese, but which would ai marry? Sharp Chedder, Provolone, Parmisan?

I was not looking forward to today. Fat free or reduced fat cheese cannot be good. I have gone from eating alot of cheese at nearly every meal, to having to three or four times a week, from having piles of it to eating 1 oz servings.

It was my next step. I have been grumpy all day because this is not something I wanted to do. At all. So....of to Wally World I went. Down the cheese aisle, slowly, "Dead fat walking!" sadly. Looking at all the loverly cheeses, orange, yellow, white, chunk. blocks, slices, sticks.

I looked, sadly at the choices. I wasn't impressed by most of them, reduced fat was 8 grams instead of 9 grams. Then I saw it, there on the top row, hanging, mocking my every move. Kraft Free fat free chedder shreds.

I quickly grabbed it and rushed to the check out so that I would not change my mind. Unhappily, I drove home. Is there a support group for people that have lost their dearly beloved cheese?

For supper I made the girls their supper and I made me a nice yummy salad, with the Fat free cheese. I shook it up to spread out the dressing and then put in my salad bowl. I sat down and looked at it and took a bite and chewed and...


OMG Fat free cheese so good. It is a bit salty, which I love and sort of chewy, but heck who doesn't like chewy? YUM another battle won!

[Lovely]

It's true that there are many reduced fat & fat free cheeses that are very yummy! I'm glad you found one you can enjoy!!!

I would suggest if you need melty cheese, you either choose reduced fat or a smaller amount of full fat. I've had some issues with fat free cheeses when I need to melt them on something. They either end up kind of oily or plasticy. Weird.

[mom2mollie]

Another good alternative is part skim mozzarella-- yum!! It has about 30 calories less per oz than other cheeses.
And I like the Frigo reduced fat string cheese. mmm!

[rockinrobin]

Great story Kati. I'm so glad for you. You're really getting into this healthy stuff!

It really is all about experimenting, making better choices and making substitutions for your old standbys. Finding tasty, delicious HEALTHIER alternatives to all the old stuff we used to eat.

I now eat grilled or sauteed chicken cutlets instead of having them breaded and then fried. I now eat tons of roasted green beans instead of tons of rice. I now eat spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti. I now eat acorn squash instead of potatoes. I now eat homemade applesauce instead of homemade cookies. No need to ever feel deprived. You just make trade offs.

[xJox]

Thats great!!!!

[Robin41]

I now live on reduced fat feta cheese. Great with chicken, stunning on salads, amazing on eggs.

I believe cheese to be a god-given right. I'm pretty sure it's in the Bill of Rights somewhere between freedom of speech and the freedom to assemble.

Thankfully there really are a lot of decent fat-free substitutes now. They don't seem to taste like rubber anymore.

[mandalinn82]

Robin41 - Trader Joes has a fat free feta that is literally indistinguishable (to me) from full fat. Its sooooooo good.

[rockinrobin]

All right, I love feta cheese. Amanda, do you know what the calorie count is on the Trader Joe's Feta? I'd be curious to know. Thanks.

[MarinePrincess]

Hello fellow cheese lover! Ever need to sprinkle cheese on dinner and end up pinching little handfuls into your mouth between each sprinkle? Oh yeah...cheeeeeeese, lol.

They don't have the pre-shredded stuff in reduced or fat free here, so I've discovered Kraft 2% Chunk Cheese. Soooo nummy. We shred it ourselves and also cut it into bite sized chunks. DH can't tell the difference; he didn't even know it until I asked him to shred some cheese one day.

[Eves]

Originally Posted by Robin41

I believe cheese to be a god-given right. I'm pretty sure it's in the Bill of Rights somewhere between freedom of speech and the freedom to assemble.

Amen.

Reduced fat cheeses are something I'm going to have to look into once I get back to the US, since on the coast I can only get a really salty Queso Fresco.

When I started counting calories in the US I remember that I cut and weighed 1 oz of cheese and the only thing I thought was "That's it???" I mean, that covered one fourth of my sandwich!

[Daimere]

I switched to swiss cheese. I didn't see any other good choices other than that. I've grown to love swiss cheese though

[mandalinn82]

I think the fat free feta is like 30 calories an ounce. So thats 1/4 of your standard cheddar or half of your part-skim mozzarella.

And GOOOOD on a salad.

[katmeow]

I adore cheese. I personally can't handle the fat free cheese either taste or texture wise. I have found that if you buy SHARP or EXTRA SHARP reduced fat cheese, you can't taste the difference. I think the few extra calories are worth it, even if you have to use less.Cracker Barrel makes one that I SWEAR I cannot even tell it is reduced fat.

I also make white pizza with a combo of part skim mozzarella and fat free ricotta cheese. Lots of garlic and basil on a boboli crust. SO yummy.

Hard cheeses like aged parmesan or romano are a good choice because you don't have to use much to get that "taste".

[Lovely]

Oh any Cracker Barrel cheese is good!

[rockinrobin]

Originally Posted by mandalinn82

I think the fat free feta is like 30 calories an ounce. So thats 1/4 of your standard cheddar or half of your part-skim mozzarella.

And GOOOOD on a salad.

OMG. 30 calories - an ounce?!?!?! That's practically nothing, if it's as good as you say. I have got to get me to a Trader Joe's - and soon.