While checking out my food journal I still consume more butter than I would like to. I can cut a couple hundred butter calories a day and replace them with better food. I have never used any sort of butter substitutes before so I'm at a loss for which ones are best.

Which butter substitutes do you use?

What's best for toast?

What best for a potato?

Hi Russ, I like the Brummel and Brown spread. While butter is wonderful, the fat sure adds up!

Brummel and Brown

I would just cut down on the butter, not substitute it. Real butter does have a lot of fat, but fat doesn't make you fat, too many calories make you fat. So maybe just cut down on the butter, the alternatives are more plastic than butter anyways.

I like Matt's thoughts, everything in moderation or instead of a butter substitute try something totally different such as salsa on a baked potato.

Can't really offer anything more than that. I've had the same tub of butter in my fridge for a couple of years...

I agree with Matt - try to cut down on the butter. I eat real food - no substitutes.

I don't remember the last time I used butter....seriously! When I began to eat "clean", my tastebuds changed. Carrots and sweet potatoes now taste sweet all by themselves; steamed broccoli and cauliflower are just fine without any sauces or butter.

Try different combinations of steamed vegetables. Some of the ones that I like to make frequently are:

Carrots and those small sweet peppers
Bits of cauliflower, carrots, jalapenos, red peppers
Broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots
Zuchinni, onions, and jalapenos
Winter squash and carrots
Winter squash, carrots and jalapenos

I usually make big pots of steamed vegetables for dinner and refrigerate what isn't eaten to be used in the next day's salads.

Real food for for real people!

I agree...

cut down, don't substitute...

I can't do steamed veggies... (I can eat anything that has been steamed really...)I don't like the texture or flavour (I rather eat them raw then steamed)

but my favourite way to eat veggies is by roasting them....

Roasting veggies gives them TONS of flavour and you won't miss the butter at all... When I roast veggies I can use up a whole head of cauliflower, two bunches of brocolli, more than a dozen mushrooms and other misc veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes etc..)

I cut them up and toss them in a bit of olive oil and Braggs (a natural soy sauce) garlic powder etc.. and then roast for about an hour until the brocolli gets crunch bits...

My kids love them and we eat all those veggies in a sitting without hesitation...

For baked potatoes I make them a bit different and more flavourful....
http://paxye.com/blog/baked-potato/

On toast, I use butter... and have no qualms about it....

In baking, butter or oil can be substitued by pureed pumpkin, mashed banana, apple sauce or flax seed with water... I often don't substitute all the butter, but I do half instead to not change the texture too much...

One thing to remember about butter substitutes is that they typically use trans-fats, which are far worse for you then the fat in real butter. Why not just put some fresh fruit slices on your bread? maybe with some splenda and cinamon?

Get a spray bottle and fill it with olive oil. I use an old "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" bottle. This is good with toast.

Olive oil is so good! I think that people turn food over, look at the fat content and are immediately put off by how much fat something has. They'll take margarine, look and see that its got helf the fat of butter/olive oil etc. and use the imitation stuff instead. But all they've done is replace natural, healthy (in moderation) fats with chemical substitutes, just because they think that fat makes you fat. If that were true we'd eat nothing but low fat and no one would have a weight problem, but obviously this isn't the case.
Extra calories make you fat, don't replace healthy fats with crap fats.
Instead of looking at fat content, look at the ingredient list first. If its all natural, you can pronounce the ingredients, eat it and don't over do it.

For potatoes - most people spread the butter on. Instead try melting a bit and dipping each piece in, you use less. And if you're looking for a healthier alternative go with olive oil - if you can find picual olive oil (a type of olive oil) it is the best with potatoes.
As for toast, go for something else entirely - guacomole, peanut butter, tuna or salmon spread.

The best substitute for butter is.... butter itself. What I mean is Ghee or clarified butter. What you do is take all the bad fat and only leave the good one. In the process of making it, the butter flavor enhances. For what I've read, it also lower cholesterol.
I am posting this video on how it is made.
Hope it works for you as it has worked for me. This recipe can be posted as the "recipe of the week" in the podcast.
Best wishes.

Ivan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGBI4IKL58g

I rarely use butter but when i do use something similar, it's usually Smart Balance withthe Omega 3s.

I buy salsa in the larger jars now... especially when on sale.