Easy substitutes
I've seen a lot of "substitutes" that are supposed to make cooking lower calorie. Too often those low calorie substitutes are nothing more than chemically processed crap. I believe that if your body can't digest it, you shouldn't be eating it. Even "natural" substitutes are acquired through processes than end up leaving them with more chemicals than natural components (ie. Stevia, Monk fruit extract). If you truly want to be healthy you need to substitute out the chemicals and over processed ingredients for ones that your body can break down and use for energy and nourishment.
Butter Substitutes
*Sauté in water, or vegetable broth, or white wine.
* Use coconut oil for a light flavor such as in baked goods.
* Use palm oil for a richer smoother flavor such as in Sautéed foods.
* With coconut, palm, and olive oils be sure to only use expeller pressed. The less refined an oil is, the better it is for you.
* If you truly want that butter taste, try organic, locally sourced, or vegetable butter
Milk Substitutes
* Try s of soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk.
* All these typically have fewer calories with more protein and calcium.
* Excellent for cooking, on cereal, coffee, and hot chocolate – use them any way you’d use milk.
* In some cases you can get away with a 50/50 blend of milk and water.
Hamburger
* There are a large variety of vegetarian burgers, salmon burgers, and mahi-mahi burers or you can just replace a burger patty with a cut of fish or chicken.
* For hamburger meat as an ingredient, substitute crumbled veggie burgers in recipes, black or white beans, or ground turkey.
* When buying hamburger meat always go for the leanest you can find. (never less than 80/20).
Eggs
* You can use commercial egg replacer (made mainly of potato starch) in baked goods.
* For breakfast, scramble tofu with veggies of your choosing.
* If you buy locally scourced, free range eggs you can get a larger variety of eggs. Buying from a local farmer often gives you a better quality, more nutrient rich, and more flavorful variety of eggs.
Replacing Oil
* Applesauce or bananas may be used in cookies, cakes, and other sweet baked goods to replace oil or margarine.
* Mashed or pureed tofu can replace oil in other (non-sweet) baked goods.
* Flax meal can replace all or some of the oil in a recipe. The substitution ratio is three parts flax seed meal, one part oil or butter (i.e. for 1 Tbsp Butter, you would substitute 3 Tbsp. flax seed meal). Baked goods with flax in them will brown faster so be sure to modify your baking time.
* There are tons of different kinds of oils out there. When choosing an oil make sure it is epeller pressed and minimally processed.
* When using an oil such as a denser coconut or palm oil be sure to melt it before using it for baked goods.
* Blend Silken tofu into the rest of the ingredients for a creamy dressing or sauce.
* Mix ground flax seeds into hot water. Start with hot water in the amount of oil that is called for, then add the ground flax seed to it one teaspoon at a time, stirring constantly, until the mixture is almost the consistency of oil. Allow it to stand and cool for a few minutes; it will thicken more as it cools.
*Blend cooked white beans into sauces or dressings to replace oil or dairy ingredients. Use the same amount of beans as you would oil.