Evaporated Milk vs. Cream vs. Half and Half

[mbarra]

I've noticed that many of you substitute evaporated milk for cream or half and half. Why is that? taste? calories? I am completely ignorant of how evap milk compares to the other two...!

[Vanessa]

The reson many substitute skim evaporated milk for half and half or cream is because of calories & fat. To give you an example if you need 1 cup heavy cream and you use 1 cup evaporated skim milk you save 621 calories and 87 g of fat.
If you use 1 cup whole milk and switch to 1 cup skim milk you save 64 calories and 8 g of fat. Because the idea of Cooking light is making recipes lighter but retaining flavor many recipes call for small adjustments that help make a recipe healthier.

[mbarra]

Thanks!