4. Use olive oil - Replace other oils or fats with olive oil, which is a monounsaturated oil and actually helps to reduce cholesterol. Make your own salad dressings from olive oil and balsamic vinegar to give your salad a Mediterranean taste, and this will be lower in fat than commercial salad dressings. Search online for free recipes using olive oil. Some muffin recipes use olive oil or corn oil instead of solid fats.

5. Use skim milk in cooking and baking to cut the fat content of your healthy recipes.

6. Replace fat in baking. Look for low-fat recipes for cakes and biscuits or replace half the fat in recipes with pureed prunes, yogurt or mashed banana. Search diet recipes for sweet treats.

8. Add more vegetables to casseroles and soups and use fresh or frozen vegetables rather than canned.

9. Don't add salt to food. Season food with herbs, spices, garlic and lemon juice instead of salt.

10. Trim visible fat off meat and use lean meat in your low-fat recipes. Cut down on how much red meat you consume and replace with fish and chicken or turkey.