Taking colored food photos is difficult and time consuming. It is also expensive to print them and consumes a considerable amount of space in a cookbook. For Simple Choices for Healthier Eating, we opted to put several recipes on the front cover and add some recipe photos to the website.
Here is a start. At time permits, we will add more.
You will find other photos of recipes included in “Tips on Cooking” and “A Healthier 30-Minute Meal.”
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Whole-Grain Heart-Healthy Blueberry Coffee Cake (p. 185): This is a great recipe to make when beginning to try all whole-grain flour. It does not have an overwhelming whole-grain taste.
The cookbook also contains the same recipe using only partially whole-grain flour. If desired, diced frozen strawberries can be used in place of frozen blueberries. Since publication, Sondra has also enjoyed the recipe using small diced apples (with peel). |
| Protein Bar (p. 114): These bars make a great “on-the-run” breakfast, snack or item in a travel lunch. They can be frozen for weeks and thawed quickly when needed.
The cookbook also contains a gluten-free protein bar and several granola bar recipes. |
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Seasoned Nuts/Seeds (p. 117): This is a great recipe to introduce the flavors of alternative sweeteners such as honey, brown rice syrup and agave nectar. We combine only a small amount of these syrup-type sweeteners with water so the end result has just a hint of sweetness.
Before roasting, spices and dried herbs can be added to create great flavor for a low-sodium snack. |
 Spice “Muffin” Cupcakes (p. 200) with Pink Frosting (pp. 207 and 199 sidebar): This recipe makeover features pureed carrots and applesauce along with less sugar and less fat for added nutrition. It is made with whole-grain flour for even more fiber and nutrients.
The pink frosting as shown uses pureed beet juice instead of red food coloring. The cookbook includes more about making natural colored frostings and our companion website will soon offer more information on natural colorings. |
 Pumpkin Cupcakes (p. 206) with Cocoa Frosting (p. 207): These quick and easy cupcakes feature a Baking Mix that is made with half whole-wheat pastry flour. It also uses canned pumpkin which, along with the whole-grain flour, adds fiber and other rich nutrients. The pumpkin also allows for the use of less fat and sugar while maintaining moisture and great flavor.
Both recipes may be baked in mini-muffin cups. We recommend serving fruit along with sweet desserts for improved nutrition. |
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Heart-Healthy Pumpkin Pancake Breakfast/Brunch (pp. 188-189): This meal features many heart-healthy foods and ingredients such as pumpkin and optional soy milk in the pancakes, blueberries as the fruited topping, only one lean sausage patty, pomegranate juice and optional eggs (notice they are offered on the side and could replace the sausage patty). For a complete brunch, add a spinach salad or Roasted Asparagus (p. 46). |
| Oven-Fried Chicken (p. 144; sidebar): Compared to a popular brand of fried chicken, this tasty Oven-Fried Chicken has 34% less calories, 73% (or 15 grams) less fat and 78% (almost 800 milligrams!) less sodium for a 6 ounce chicken breast. That’s a pretty hefty savings! Plus you save on preservatives and artificial flavorings.
Surprisingly, this recipe is very simple, is oven-fried and has only a light whole-grain breading that is gluten-free and spiced to perfection. |
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| Oven-Fried Chicken (p. 144; sidebar), Basil Quinoa Pilaf (p. 179) and Roasted Asparagus (p. 46): This is just one delicious meal combination using Oven-Fried Chicken. It is a 35- to 40-Minute Start-to-Finish complete meal. |  |
| The same flour-spice mixture is used to season pieces of chicken breast meat (Oven-Fried Chicken Chunks; p. 144). The book contains an easy 30-minute Start-to-Finish meal using these tasty chunks and another one is outlined on the home page – “A Healthier 30-Minute Meal.” | |
We originally desired to have this photo of Oven-Fried Chicken on the front cover of Simple Choices for Healthier Eating, but we were told that it looked like deep-fat fried chicken and would lead people to believe our meals were not really healthy!