Butter substitute

I have gone six weeks now with no butter or margerine, and do not miss it at all.  I enjoy avocado or peanut butter on my toast.

My goal is to lower cholesterol and lose weight.

But, in the spirit of trying new foods, I bought a tub of Earth Balance "natural buttery spread" (100% vegan).   It makes the toast tasty and greasy, like butter. Good to know if I ever crave butter.

I thought I might use it for cooking. How does Earth Balance compare to olive oil for sauteing? Anyone use it in baking?

How does it compare to, say olive oil, nutritionally?

I tried it ... it's nice on english muffins and on baked potatoes.

I haven't used it for cooking, though. I tend to just use a non-stick cooking spray or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray (which I do not know if it is vegan or not) or some Ponzu sauce (soy sauce - lemon juice blend.)

=^..^= MOLLY

oh my! I love earth balance!! My roommate and I do a lot of vegan baking, and boy do we use a lot of earth balance!! I made (vegan) chocolate chip cookies the other day that were amazing and used the earth balance buttery sticks. They also have shortening (which my roommate has used, but I haven't) and margarine-like spread. I am also not a huge fan of butter (like on toast or whatever) so I don't really know how it compares that way... but it is great for baking and cooking. I am not sure without looking at the label how it compares nutrionally though. I will have to check that out when I get home!

I've been using soy garden but I'm thinking about switching to earth balance; it seems to have a nicer texture.

another vote for earth balance. it's amazing. i ate too much of it. now i'm on a diet ;)

i would think it is not as nutrutious as say an organic cold-pressed olive oil, but in my opinion is healthier than butter. i often use it instead of oils because i don't keep oils in the house (too easy to go overboard).

How is the calorie content of earth balance?

I've used it on bread and it was great. I haven't tried cooking with it yet.  The few times I fry or saute I use olive or canola oil. I often use them for baking as well, though I have experimented with walnut and hemp oil. Flax is great for salad dressings and things with no heat.

Its not low fat by any stretch, but I use way less than normal anyway so it isn't too much of an issue for me.  It tastes great and is solid {mostly} at room temp so it should be good fry cooking, though I've not yet tried. I may make apple crisp with it this weekend {one of my best totally vegan recipes, go me}

According to  the label it has 100 calories per tablespoon, all of them fat.

it breaks down to 3.5 grams  each of saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat. with 0 transfat {that is a true 0 trans fat as there is no hydrogenated oil in it}. It also has 120 mg of sodium per that same tablespoon

I find nothing wrong with it, if used sparingly. Like any fat, a little bit is good, but too much is not so good.  Especially when you consider the price vs maragarine {ick} or butter {good for taste buds but not the arteries}.

I LOVE Earth Balance.  Just cause it's better then butter and margerine health wise but tastes EXACTLY like margerine.

 For future referance, coconut oil is a healthy alternative to crisco and other shortening. It does NOT taste like coconuts, it has no taste at all.

The saturated fat content in coconut oil is very not healthy. It's not advisable to use a lot of coconut oil...

Earth Balance rocks my socks. I love to bake and this works perfectly for it if you work fast. It tends to melt much more quickly. I do not like it for sauteing though. I would stick with olive oil for that. The calorie difference is not that drastic.

I think smart balance (light is vegan) is better than earth balance, tastes more like real butter.  I use it for cooking, baked potatoes, etc. and my family can't tell the difference! 

Mm I got some and it's delish!

Original Post by akakibbles:

The saturated fat content in coconut oil is very not healthy. It's not advisable to use a lot of coconut oil...

While I agree it's best in moderation, I think the jury is still out on whether the saturated fat in coconut oil is the same health wise as the saturated fat in animals.  There are a lot of conflicting studies, and some that show coconut oil in moderation can have health benefits. 

Seems like there is never a definitive answer!

I like it too.  But it spatters terribly if you use it to saute.