Answers to some basic questions about myself, my recipes, and this blog.

You say that your recipes are healthy, but they are not low-fat!
I don’t believe in low-fat. I never use trans fats, and I try to minimize saturated fats and to make high-fiber, high-protein, nutritious foods. But I believe that fat in itself is not a bad thing – especially not the good fats found in foods such as salmon, avocado and olive oil.

According to this Harvard study, even the fats found in dairy are not necessarily bad. Over the years, I have come to believe that processed foods, food additives such as dyes and preservatives, refined low-fiber carbs and sugar are the enemy, not fats.

Healthy, to me, does not mean “low-fat,” “low-carb,” or even “low-cal.” It means homemade; not mass-manufactured and factory-processed; fresh and wholesome, with no preservatives, artificial additives, and trans fats. A recipe that uses a simple list of ingredients that I am able to pronounce and that my grandparents would have recognized.

If your definition of “healthy” differs than mine, by all means look for a more suitable blog that works better with your lifestyle.

Do you have any formal education in nutrition/cooking?
No! I’m just a busy mom, trying to find a way to make everyday recipes better for my family. I have no special talent as a chef – just curiosity and a willingness to learn and to try new things. Unlike the cooking shows you might be watching on TV, nothing about the way I cook is smooth or elegant. When I cook, things fly out of pots and pans, countertops get filled with dirty dishes, and I curse (quietly, to myself!) more often than I smile. But the results – at least those that I include here – are amazing.

In other words, if I can do it, you most certainly can!

Where do you find your recipes?
Some of my recipes are based on a single recipe that I’ve tweaked to make it healthier. In these cases I mention the original recipe, sometimes also adding a breakdown of the nutritional value for that recipe to compare it to the healthified version. Other recipes are a combination of several different recipes. Recently, I’ve been coming up with my own recipes – it turns out that after years of cooking and baking, one gets a general idea of the basics and of what works/doesn’t work.

How do I know these recipes work?
I have made all of the recipes in this blog- many of them more than once – so they are all tried and tested.

I’m annoyed beyond belief when you include difficult-to-find tools/ingredients in your recipes. Why oh why do you do that?
I know you’re annoyed with me when I ask you to use special tools, such as a bread machine, a perforated pizza pan, a French bread pan, or a silicone muffin pan. I know that ingredients such as whole wheat pastry flour or vital wheat gluten are not available in most supermarkets. But experience has taught me that a big part of professional cooks’ success in the kitchen is not just talent (although they have that too, of course), but using the right tools for each task.

I use a bread machine when making leavened breads, because it makes life so much easier than mixing and kneading by hand. I’ve been using a Sunbeam Breadmaker for the past five years. It’s well worth the investment (about $50); I use special pans for pizza and bread because they produce amazing crust; I use a silicone muffin pan for my egg muffins because they badly stick to anything else!

In terms of being able to find the stuff, I just order it on Amazon.com, and you can too, via the Healthy Recipes Amazon Store.

I don’t have whole-wheat flour in the house. May I substitute all-purpose flour?
Whole-wheat flour contains more protein than all-purpose flour and absorbs more liquid. Most baked goods recipes in this blog are tweaked to reflect that. In quick breads and muffins, the difference isn’t huge, so you can probably use all-purpose flour while keeping the rest of the recipe as is (keep in mind that nutritional values will change). In biscuits, scones and cookies it becomes trickier – batter may be too runny. And when it comes to yeast breads the answer is a definite no – I’ve tweaked these recipes heavily to work with whole-wheat flour.

How do you calculate nutritional information?
I use this tool. Weight Watchers points are calculated using this tool.

Doesn’t all this healthifying result in food that simply does not taste very good?
Look. I’ll never tell you that a whole-wheat muffin made with 1/4 cup butter and half a cup of sugar tastes as good as a white-flour muffin made with 1/2 cup butter and a full cup of sugar. Sugary, buttery, fatty and refined tastes good! But it’s generally unhealthy, so I prefer to reserve that for special occasions. But even though, when reducing the amounts of sugar and fats in recipes you do sacrifice *something* in terms of taste and texture, my healthified recipes are really, truly, amazing. I’m a foodie – I definitely live to eat rather than the other way around, and would never settle for bland or flavorless food. I insist on eating well and on enjoying my food, and this is exactly what sparked the idea for this blog – my insistence on modifying recipes but keeping them tasty.

OMG you changed that recipe after publishing it!
Yes, I do that once in a while – go back and change recipes if I make an even better version of them. This doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with the original recipe – just that I found a way to make it even better/healthier. The way I see it, a blog is a live thing that keeps changing and developing. I don’t feel a need to keep things frozen. Sure, I could publish a new post with the new version for the same recipe, but that would just weigh down this blog and create duplicate recipes.

Are you really that happy with your George Foreman grill?
Yes! So many people complain that their George Foreman Grill was one of those purchases that just sits in a closet, gathering dust. I encourage you to rethink this! I use my George Foreman grill a lot, for grilling chicken and meat, for grilling vegetables, and for making paninis and quesadillas. It truly is a great way to make quick, tasty, low-fat dishes. As for cleaning it (a common complaint), simply unplug, and place damp paper towels on the grill surface. Close the lid, and your grill will be steam-cleaned, making cleaning a snap. Here’s a link to my George Foreman Grill recipes.

How do you stay thin?
Portion control. I wish I could tell you that eating healthy means I can eat as much as I want without gaining weight. But even healthy food can cause weight gain. It’s all about quantities. I also exercise daily, but I believe that the key to avoiding weight gain is controlling one’s portions.

So, you never eat unhealthy stuff?
Of course I do! I try to eat healthy *most* of the time, but sometimes you just want the exquisite taste and texture that white flour and lots of butter lend to a recipe. My personal blog contains some of my best not-so-healthy recipes.

Why no comments on this blog?
I removed comments from all my blogs. I find that online anonymity and the lack of face-to-face accountably often result in aggressiveness and negativity that I am unwilling to deal with. Yes, most commenters are nice and supportive, but the few that are not can take the fun out of online publishing. In real life, I have surrounded myself with love and support and have distanced myself from toxic friends. By closing comments, I am doing the same online. If you need to contact me, or ask a question, simply use the contact form below.

What camera/lens do you use?
I take food photos with Nikon D60 Digital SLR Camera with an 18-55mm lens. It’s a fairly expensive piece of equipment that I got as a birthday present, and I really should take the time to learn how to really use its many features, but so far, I haven’t. My passion is food, not photography, if you know what I mean? I also don’t really take the time to style the food prior to photographing it, because we eat everything I make, and my family would kill me if I took 30 minutes to style and shoot their meals! So yes, the photography here will not win me any prizes, but I think it conveys what I’m trying to convey – this blog features simple, delicious, healthy homemade recipes.