SHAQ'S Big Challenge Family Tips....

Welcome to today's edition of Shaq’s Big Challenge. Everyone’s favorite NBA superstar, Shaquille O’Neal, challenges you and your family to shape up and get healthy with tips, recipes, and more from his online program.

It's All About the Food

Giving Your Recipes a Makeover
Making home-cooked meals is a great way to eat more healthfully — you have more control over what's in your food and how much you eat. But if you're not careful, you can end up feeding yourself and your family just as many calories as you would get from a restaurant meal. To avoid the pitfalls of some not-so-healthy recipes, here are some ways to modify the way you prepare your family favorites:

1. Steam your vegetables. Unlike frying or sautéing, steaming doesn't add fat, and steamed vegetables retain their color and flavor better than boiled ones.
2. Bake, roast, broil, grill, braise, stew, steam, or poach meat, fish, and poultry to keep added fat to a minimum. When stir-frying meat or vegetables, use olive or canola oil or nonstick cooking spray.
3. Trim all visible fat and skin from meat and poultry before cooking.
4. Marinate meat for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking to get the most flavor and avoid adding extra sauce or fat to the dish.
5. Top meat, fish, or poultry with vegetable or fruit salsas instead of gravy or heavy sauces.
6. Skim the fat off soups and stews.
7. If you do pan-fry foods, blot them with a paper towel afterwards to remove excess oil and grease.
8. Use puréed cooked vegetables to thicken sauces and soups instead of cream, egg yolks, or roux (a mixture of flour and butter).

For more tips for kids by Shaq, go to: www.shaqsbigchallenge.com