Okay, so I was just kidding. We are not going to actually eat Bread, Rolls, Pies, or Pastry. Well, just a little bit maybe. We are not fat shaming either folks. I think we have all been here and this lady is very dear to me. I have her posted in my bathroom near the scale. My dog actually watches me weigh every morning and I somehow think he is laughing.

The point of this entry is to offer 3 days of very easy eating as a trial for you to see just how simple it is and how rewarding. Just try for 3 days.

Day 1

Breakfast-Overnight Oats-Have a big serving. (Recipe at the end.)

Lunch-Big veggie salad with any meat you like added to it. Pescatarians add salmon or tuna. My husband likes ham.

Dinner-Grilled Salmon on your grill or on a George Forman. Add rice and any veg. choice to this dinner. (Not too much rice and lots of veg. raw or cooked.

Day 2

Breakfast-Cereal-Yes, cold cereal. You can have it any time for any meal or sprinkled on top of anything. Read the labels to get a fortified cereal with not too much fat, add 2% milk, and at least 1 cup of fruit.

Lunch-Tuna or anything else (no cheese) sandwich. Use a high fiber bread, only a dab of V and O or any low cal salad dressing-yes, on a sandwich, no mayo..

Dinner-Great Big Salad

Day 3

Breakfast-2 boiled eggs and a piece of high fiber toast with a bit of butter-not marg.

Lunch-Pita or Naan bread with melted cheese in the microwave and a veg. salad.

Dinner-French Toast with a fruit salad. (I LOVE breakfast for dinner and I highly recommend it!)

Overnight Oats-Pour a packet of any type of instant oats into a medium sized bowl. (I use a salad bowl from my china set.) Pour in one of those little chopped fruit cups-I like chopped peaches with the juice. 60 cal from Del Monte, sold in 4 packs) Add a layer of unflavored yogurt. Drizzle honey over the yogurt. Add fresh fruit-I like sliced strawberries, blueberries, and grapes. Add another layer of yogurt and top with chopped nuts-your favorite kind. I like walnuts, the friend who gave me this recipe likes almonds, her daughter likes peanuts! Put in the fridge overnight. Have this for a meal with a fruit salad or just for a snack. Also anytime, have a smoothie with protein powder.

Give it 3 days. Honestly, almost nothing special to buy which is a big criteria for me and no big baking or cooking or prep time. Let me know how you do.

How, you may ask, can soup actually be sneaky? Well, I am an “add too” fan so stay tuned and I will share with you some really neat ways to make wonderful homemade soup to warm your little heart on a cold winter day.

1. Potato Leek Soup

Start with 2 cans of potato soup. I use Campbell’s Cream of Potato. Add 2 1/2 soup cans of 2% milk. Add the extra 1/2 can to create more liquid. Bake 2 red potatoes in the microwave. Clean and finely chop all of the white part of a big leek. Chop your potatoes finely leaving on the skin. Put 1 Tbls. of butter or marg. in a medium saucepan and saute the leek and chopped potato. Put all ingredients in the pan and cook at a low simmer until all combined and hot. I like to add salt, pepper, a bit of garlic salt and a little dried parsley. If this seems too thick, add just a bit of vegetable broth. Remember, homemade soup is soup that you made at home!

2. Vegetable Soup

Start with 2 cans of any kind of vegetable soup you like. I like Progresso. If you buy the kind that does not take extra water, add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth. Now, get creative. Chop fresh vegetables and microwave until al dente, use froxen peas and carrots, add a bit of corn to all of this, add any other veg. you like. Final sneaky trick-add a couple of hands full of cooked pasta and you have Minestrone.

3. Tomato Bisque-Same formula-Start with 2 cans of soup and add an extra 1/2 can of liquid. (I always add milk even if the can calls for water.) Add a can of drained chopped or finely diced canned tomatoes. This may sound icky, but I like Bisque of Tomato slightly sweet so I add a packet of Sweet and Lo. (Family secret.)

4. Make your own “Chicken” Noodle Soup-I am a vegetarian so all of my recipes are either vegetarian or pescaterian, so I start this with 4 cups of vegetable broth. Cook 2 QUORN ‘chicken’ breasts in the microwave and chop one finely and put the other in your food processer and almost puree. Add this to the broth. Next just use your own taste buds. I add some sauted green onion, and the usual salt, pepper, garlic salt and dried parsley. Finally add any pasta you like. My grandson likes the little stars so I buy them at Trader Joes. He also likes spirals. I like flat cut noodles. What do you like?

It is very easy to make any of these soups your won or to devise other sneaky ways to make canned soups seem like homemade-which they are, right? Last but not least-add some warm French bread with butter. I have tried garlic bread with these soups, but just the regular warm slice French bread is the best. Mmmmmm!

PS-QUORN is the #1 selling vegetarian product in England. You can usually find in most stores with the other veg. products in the freezer. They make all sorts of products. I like them and I also really like Morning Star Farms.

Yes, I just LOVE corn. Or, a my Grandmother from Georga used to say, “I just yen me some carn in any way ya’ll can fix it!” OK, so here are three really yummy corn recipes from that old cook book “Sharing Recipes” I scored as a Thrift Shop find.

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Baked Corn

2 cups corn-fresh or canned

1 tbsp. flour

3 Tbsps. sugar

2 eggs

A dash of salt

3/4 cp. milk (I use 2% )

1/4 cp. margarine melted

Blend all ingredients with your blender and pour into a well greased baking dish (I grease with marg.) Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Serve this with anything that needs a hearty side or take it to a gathering and watch is disappear!

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2. Corn Fritters-Not totally healthy I grant you, but boy are these good!

1 cup sifted flour

1 1/2 tspn. baking powder

1 Tbsp. sugar

Dash of salt

1 egg

1/4 cp. milk (I use 2%)

1/2 cp. corn (Fresh or canned)

Drop into deep fat and shake in a bag of powdered sugar when done. PS You don’t really have to do this. I drop this mixture by tablespoon full into a pan with just enough melted marg. to give flavor and keep from sticking. Press down with your spatula and cook one side until brown. Watch it carefully. Flip and brown the other side. I serve these with just about anything, but traditionally they are served with fried cat fish. Not so much here. I pan grill talapia, serve the corn fritters and green beans. MMMM.

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3. Sweet and easy Corn Pudding

1. 2 cups corn
2. 1 Tbsp. flour
3. 3 Tbsps, sugar
4. 2 eggsDash of salt
5. 3/4 cp. milk (I use 2%)
6. 1/4 cp. butter or marg.

Place all ingredients in a blender (or not) and pulse for 10 seconds. Pour into a well greased (I really mean it!) baking dish, dot with butter, and bake for 45 minutes at 375. This is not really meant as a dessert even though it is called pudding, but goes well with baked chicken or veggie Field Roast.

Although corn is a starchy veg. it is actually quite healthy. It has lots of natural fiber. Watch portions!

This is a
Dump Cake and it is sooo good.

This cake has only two ingredients. The first is a box of Angel Food Cake mix. No special brand-just a box of cake mix./ Add a can of pineapple chunks Don’t drain the pineapple as the juice forms the liquid. Combine.

That’s it…Honest, That is it. Heat the oven to 350 and dump the mixture into an ungreased 9by 12 baking pan. Bake for about 25 minutes. Cool right in the pan and scoop out to serve. I really like to give this a squirt of whipped topping just for a nice touch. Enjoy!

We have all heard of avocado toast and love it, right? Oh, not everybody loves avocado? Well, yes, you are right. Not everybody loves avocado. If you are one of those, how about this on a piece of toast-wheat if you like it, but for a big change, try this on Pepperidge Farms Cinnamon Toast.

Lightly toast your bread and spread with cream cheese or cottage cheese. Layer on slices of fresh pear. Fresh pear is best, but sliced canned pear halves works too. (Save the juice from the can for a great addition to salad dressing.) Sprinkle with your favorite nuts. I really like walnuts, but sliced almonds are good too. Enjoy.

More recipes from my old (1968) cookbook find-yes, at a thrift shop!

Tuna Casserole

Okay, who did not have Tuna Casserole at least once a week in college, or am I really dating myself??

1. 1 can of tuna-These days I use water packed, chunk. (Drained)
2. 1 can of mushroom soup-Branch out if you dare: cream of broccoli, potato, or if you eat meat, cream of chicken!
3. 1/2 of the soup can filled with milk. I do not use the whole can as the recipe calls for, I like mine a bit thicker. Use your own taste buds for this.
4. 1 box pasta swirls-We used whatever pasta was on sale when I went to college. Don’t use too much pasta though.
5. 2 cups grated cheese. I like cheddar. (Use less cheese if you want/or no cheese)
6. Some people like to add peas or some other veggie to this recipe, I do not. A tuna casserole is a carb bomb. Let it be!
7. Potato chips-Or any cracker you like, but remember that potato chips are the classic.

Cook pasta and add everything else except cheese and chips. Sprinkle with cheese and potato chips. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

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Here is another recipe from my old (1968) cookbook assembled by a group of volunteer ladies in Rocky Ridge Maryland.

Hot Crab Dip Casserole

1. 1/2 pt. sour cream (I used Daisey Lite)
2. 2 8 oz. packages cream cheese (Again, I use the lite)
3. 1 Tsp. mustard
4. A shake of Worcestershire sauce
5. A shake of garlic powder (Not garlic salt)
6. A shake of Old Bay seasoning
7. 4 Tbspns mayo( I like Dukes)
8. 1/2 cup grated (finely) sharp Cheddar cheese
9. A little milk to thin if needed.

Beat all ingredients together and top with cheese. Bake at 300 for one hour. Serve with a heavy cracker like Ritz or with toast.

Coming up are some recipes from the “gem”of an old cookbook I found at a thrift shop. This old book (1968) has been a blast and is in many ways very contemporary. Try some of these ideas!

Microwave Savory Cauliflower

1. 1 head of cauliflower
2. 1/2 cup mayo
3. 1 Tbls. minced onion-I just chop a green onion
4. 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard or French mustard
5. S and P to taste
6. 1/2 cup grated cheese, I like sharp cheddar

Cut up the cauliflower into bits sized chunks and microwave until medium soft. (Be sure to add a little water. Drain and spread with a mixture of the mayo, mustard, and s and p. Sprinkle with cheese and ZAP until the cheese is melted-about 1 minute. Cover and let stand for a bit before serving.

TIP: Always check what you are using to microwave. Be sure it is microwave safe. Now days almost everything is, but I got caught the other day using some pottery that got so hot I dropped it when I tried to take it out.

Stay tuned for more recipes from the “Sharing Recipes” Cookbook