The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet: Activate Your Body's Natural Ability to Burn Fat and Lose Weight Fast by Mark Hyman

The Hungry Girl Diet: Big Portions. Big Results. Drop 10 Pounds This Month. by Lisa Lillien

Healthier Caesar Salad Dressing

We all love a good Caesar dressing, but we always try to avoid the excessive fat with full mayo, or especially using a pre-made bottled version. So after a little experimentation we came up with a yogurt version that really tastes good and we feel a little better about eating it. Kids love it so it gets them to eat some salad as well.

Ingedients:
Dressing:
1 Garlic Clove minced
1 Teaspoon Anchovy Paste
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
2 Squirts Worcestershire Sauce
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
2 Tablesppons Mayonnaise

Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Salad:
1 Large Head Romaine Lettuce
Grated Parmigiano Cheese
2 Slices Stale Bread for croutons

Preparation:
In a bowl mix all the dressing ingredients together till smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use. In a large bowl tear apart (cleaned) Roamaine lettuce. Cut up the stale bread into 1/3" cubes, mix with Roamaine and Parmigiano cheese. Add enough dressing to coat lettuce fully to your desired taste. A little more cracked pepper and Parmigiano to taste. Serve cold.

You should love it, it does not lose anything to the yogurt and personally I find it much less heavy as well.

Enjoy!

Emi's SIMPLE Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

Last night, I was running late at work, my wife was sick and my kids hungry. My darling 12 year old daughter calls and asks if she can make dinner. No problem, so she made a spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce. I tell you it was so good that there were no leftovers for lunch today! To anybody who tells me that they can't cook I say you don't want to. If my 12 year old can make a pasta that would cost $20 in any restaurant so can you. Oh, by the way, she also made a homemade Caesarish type salad dressing that I will post after this. She has not cooked by herself before but she watches when we cook and sometimes she helps out, but on her own like this was prety impressive.


Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion finely chopped
2 Cloves Garlic crushed and finely chopped
1 Can GOOD QUALITY Italian Tomatoes (don't skimp and buy noname, pay the extra $1)
Good pinch of Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Italian Spices

THAT'S IT! - Good olive oil (and don't be shy and try to use only a tablespoon) and good canned tomatoes. That is the only secret to a good tomato sauce. You will be surprised.

Preparation:
I a large saucepan, medium heat, add olive oil. Add onions and cook until soft and golden. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute. Don't let the garlic burn. Add the can of tomatoes and their juice. Let cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. With a large fork, crush the tomatoes down to a pulp until smooth and no chunks. Add salt and spices stir and let cook for as long as you can on medium-low heat. The longer it cooks the better, thickens and flavors meld but after a 1/2 hour it's ready to eat.

Serve on spaghetti or your favorite pasta, top with some grated parmigiana and tell me its not great! If the 12 year old can do it so can anyone!

Barley Risotto with Vegetables

With the intention of eating better I made a risotto last night, but substituted the arborio rice with barley. Barley is one of the "superfoods" that is supposed to be be extremely healthy. According to Dr. Perricone barley's benefits include:

* Lowers blood cholesterol levels
* Protects against cancer because its high fiber content helps speed food through the digestive tract, and because its a good source of selenium, shown to significantly reduce the risk of colon cancer
* Is a good source of niacin, the B vitamin that is cardio-protective
* Slows starch digestion, which may help keep blood sugar levels stable
* Provides high concentrations of tocotrienols, the "super" form of vitamin E
* Provides lignans, phytochemicals that function as antioxidants. Women who consume lignans (also present in high levels in flaxseed) are less likely to develop breast cancer.

Anyway, cooked like a risotto, tastes great and all the better if its healthy. I used water instead of chicken stock, and just added a little salt to taste.


Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Finely Chopped Onion
1 Large Carrot Diced
1 Large Celery Stalk Diced
1/2 Pound Mushrooms Sliced
1 Garlic Clove Minced
2 Cups Pearl Barley
6-8 Cups Water
1 Teaspoon Salt

Preparation:
In medium/large pot on medium heat, cook up onions until golden. Add carrot, celery, mushrooms and garlic and cook until firm but tender. Add barley and 1 cup of water and stir. As water reduces keep adding 1/2 to 1 cup at a time while stirring regularly. You want almost all the water absorbed before you add. Continue for about 30 minutes until barley is firm but creamy in texture.

Ready to Serve

Tuna Burgers

Trying to cut down on the red meat and we made these last night. With the right spicing and cooking you would never guess these are not beef! We serve them on toasted whole grain bread with a yogurt Dijon sauce, sprouts, sliced tomatoes and finely chopped red peppers.

Makes 4 Large Burgers
Ingredients
1. 2 Cans Tuna (Chunk in Water, no salt added)
2. 1 Egg
3. 1 Cup Wheat Germ
4. 2 Tablespoons Montreal Steak Spice
5. 1 Tablespoon Ketchup

Drain tuna. Mix all the ingredients together with your hands until well blended. Form 4 equal patties. Place in fridge for 1/2 hour to firm up. Fry patties in lightly oiled pan at medium high heat for about 5 minutes per side, until golden.

Meanwhile for the Yogurt Dijon sauce:
1. 1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt
2. 1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Grainy Dijon
3. 1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise

Mix together.

Place the burgers on your toasted whole grain bread, add your favorite toppings and a few tablespoons of the Yogurt Dijon sauce and Voila, a healthier alternative to a standard burger.

I know we shouldn't be eating fried food but we got about 2 feet of snow last night and the BBQ was not that appealing! Also was fried in about 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil so was not too bad.

Amazing Roast Potatoes

These are the best roast potatoes I've ever made. The idea came from a Jamie Oliver Christmas special he had. I didn't follow exactly his recipe but the idea of crushing down the potato mid-roast is brilliant. Increases the surface area to crisp and leaves the center so soft and fluffy. The herb mixture really can be whatever you like but always good to have an oil/vinegar base (I always do 2 to 1 oil to vinegar). Garlic flavor here works really well and the herbs really should mix well with what you are serving. Rosemary always works but if you are leaning more Italian, oregano, basil work really well too.

Ingredients:
5 Lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes (these are my favorite but any roast potato will do). Cut into equal sizes (about 1/2 a tennis ball). With Yukon Gold you can leave the skin on but if you are using thicker skinned potatoes you will want to peel them.
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 lemon (use rind and juice)
1/8 cup Red wine vinegar
Fresh Herbs (rosemary, thyme, whatever your favorites)
8 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°C.
2. Boil the potatoes for around 10 minutes
3. Drain the potatoes and let dry slightly. Add some olive oil, salt and pepper, shake them up and place on roasting pan
4. Meanwhile in a blender put garlic, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and herbs. Blend until smooth. Grate the lemon peel and add the rind to mixture.
5. Roast potatoes for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and with spatula press potatoes down until they are all about 3/4" thick.
6. Pour herb mixture all over the potatoes and put back in the oven. Continue to roast for another 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
7. Season with salt and pepper.

Ready to serve.