My Father's Birthday!

Today would have been my father's 65th birthday! We would have been having a huge birthday party for him and I, of course, would of been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. I remember the first birthday after he passed, my son asked me if we could throw a piece of cake into the air so Yayo could catch it. Boy did we all laugh. That's when you realize that life if for the living so start living.

Life is for the living! A lof of you must be saying well obviously. But what I mean is that I want to live life not just be alive. I want to have energy to travel and get to know people and places all over the world. I have met too many people over the age of 65 that just can't do it. They are too tired, whether it is because of lack of exercise or eating the wrong foods. They, unfortunately have slowed down. That's what I don't want. Too slow down. Cooking to lose weight is teaching me how to fuel up and get the energy that I will need to do all this.

Last year I made a promise to God, not that I am so religious, but I do believe in God, anyway, I promised not to eat anything that wasn't beneficial to my body for one year. Well, I did it, and in the process I taught myself a whole new culinary world. I taught myself to think about what I am making and how I am making it. Do you really know how amazing fruits and vegetables are ? I mean...do you really know??

Take this for example: My favorite dessert is cheesecake. For all you cheesecake lovers out there who want to crave the craving without tipping the scale, here is a great nutritious alternative recipe:

Tastes like Cheesecake

Grill a slice of Angel Food cake, my recipe on August 19th blog, spread each slice with low fat ricotta cheese and top with your favorite fruit jam. Tada! You have a perfect healthy and nutritious dessert. Enjoy!

First things first...tip of the day:

I truly believe this tip is the bases for my healthy eating. We all have a list of essential vegetables that we usually cook with everyday or almost everyday. :-)

Onions, Zucchini, Red and Green Peppers, Carrots, Celery, & Mushrooms

I chopped them all up and put them each separately in a vegetable tray. Try and get the one with a lid. I then keep the tray in the fridge and us as needed. This will take time out of your prep work. Now during the course of the week just add a little to a stir fry, cooked rice or couscous, can of chick peas or my favorite; a frittata.

You will be surprised how much time, money and calories you will safe on a weekly basis. !!!