healthy recipes

Why do I love my pot roast? 1) It’s easy to make. 2) It all cooks in one pot.  3) It’s a complete meal. 4) It’s comfort food squared!

Old fashioned pot roast is a crowd pleaser and takes very little work. It’s mostly cooking time. Who doesn’t love meat that’s moist and tender with potatoes full of flavor? Okay, maybe your vegetarian friend. But meals like this pot roast are my favorite Sunday suppers. While it’s simmering in the oven, I have time to make a salad and dessert.

If you make pot roast, here are a few tips: Browning the meat is crucial for developing the best flavor. As for the liquid, I have made it with both beef stock and chicken stock (I usually make my own but I’ve also used unsalted store-bought stock). And the cooking time is very flexible. Feel free to cook it even longer depending on the cut of meat and how tender it’s becoming. Finally, adding salt is not always necessary.  It depends on  your stock and how much sodium it has, so test it near the end of cooking before adding salt. If you add too much, there’s no way to fix it.

Then there’s the leftovers! You can use the leftover meat in soup, a burrito, shepherd’s pie, nachos, Italian beef sandwiches, or just eat more pot roast! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

My less-butter, less-sugar Christmas cookies just got even healthier. I decided to try making them with extra-light olive oil and they turned out great. This time I rolled the dough and cut out the holiday shapes but I will say that a cookie press is a great invention! But when you cut them out, it’s a lot more fun decorating. I like my candy canes the best. This recipe is exactly the same as the one already posted but I used extra-light olive oil instead of canola oil.

There’s no reason to use all butter in these holiday cookies. I bake all my cookies with either half the butter or with some recipes, no butter at all. With these healthier sugar cookies, there’s plenty of butter taste and half the saturated fat. I like to bake them until the edges brown just a little. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

I’m sharing one of my prized recipes just in time for Thanksgiving. This is one people will talk about long after it’s gone and they’ll probably ask for the recipe. My lightened pumpkin cheesecake is made using all reduced fat ingredients so it’s a healthier dessert, perfect after you’ve stuffed yourself senseless with turkey. This lighter cheesecake won’t weigh you down and the recipe is fairly simple but you will need a springform pan.

The crust is just graham crackers sprinkled on the bottom so there’s no heavy butter-laden crust. And the secret to this light and airy cake is to beat the egg whites separately and fold them in at the end. I get the best results using Daisy Brand light sour cream and Philadelphia brand 1/3 less fat cream cheese. I tried neufchatel but didn’t like the result, and I would never use Knudsen reduced fat sour cream for anything!

So if you try this amazing holiday dessert, make sure you have all your ingredients at room temperature and leave enough time to let it cool for at least two hours on the counter and then refrigerate for at least two hours as well. This is my Thanksgiving gift to all you cooks who will soon be stuffing turkeys and faces! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Got 15 minutes? Then you have time to make a quick and easy meal. This black bean quesadilla is my go-to meal when I’m pressed for time and with the holidays coming, I’ll be having lots of quesadillas. Of course, I use my own homemade whole wheat tortillas, which I usually have on hand, but you can use store-bought ones too. Try to find them without saturated fat.

I realize it’s convenient to use pre-shredded cheese but because of the additives it won’t melt as well as using a block of cheese. So take the extra 30 seconds – yes, that’s how long it takes to shred 2 ounces of cheese – and you’ll have a nice “cheesy on the inside, crispy on the outside” quesadilla.

If you like spicy food, you will love the spicy version of my black bean quesadilla. Simply replace the reduced fat jack cheese with reduced fat pepperjack, and use the hot canned diced chiles.  Oooh, Mama!

Whichever way you swing, serve it with salsa (pico de gallo is my fave) or guacamole… or both. Click here for the recipe.  – Jenny Jones

I absolutely love my beet & cabbage borscht. It has a complex flavor but is really easy to make. You basically put all the ingredients in a pot and cook. It’s the best soup I know to restore electrolytes and boost your immune system.

Every time I make this soup, I devour it in no time. I think your body knows when it’s getting something super healthy and yesterday I had two big bowls of it for dinner – nothing else. We Polish people usually add a little dollop of sour cream to our borscht. My dad had his own way of eating it. Instead of adding diced potatoes to the soup, he would make a side of mashed potatoes and put some potatoes in his spoon, then dip it in the soup so every bite had mashed potatoes and delicious borscht. Yummm.

Beets alone are an anti-aging powerhouse. They are said to stabilize blood sugar & cholesterol, support the liver & urinary tract, and help fight heart disease and cancer. The rich variety of other vegetables can protect against prostate, lung and other cancers, heart disease, macular degeneration and memory loss.

Winter’s coming and that’s soup season. Try my beet and cabbage borscht on the next cold night but don’t wear white when you’re making it. Beets turn everything red. Even…. well…. you’ll see the next morning. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Is there anything better to have with a salad than garlic bread? I love it! And since I make my own garlic bread all the time, I keep it simple and fast. What I usually do is preheat the oven (actually, I make mine in a toaster oven), prepare the bread, which takes less than 5 minutes, and I set it aside. Then I make my salad and dinner. When it’s ready for the table, I pop the garlic bread into the oven. Then I warm a plate, line it with a cloth napkin, and bring the fresh warm garlic bread to the table because fresh out of the oven is the best way to have it. And oooh, that smell!

I like to use thick slices of sourdough bread because you get a soft, golden top and nice crispy edges. And any day that I bake a loaf of bread, that’s always a garlic bread day. If you’ve ever had homemade garlic bread on homemade bread, well… I’m pretty sure you had three slices! My easy recipe makes two slices so double it up if you need more. Line your baking sheet with foil and there’s no cleanup.

There are lots of things people add to garlic bread like herbs or fresh parsley but I don’t think it’s needed. Try my version and let me know if you agree. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

As if anyone needs it, I just posted a printable recipe for my sweet and salty popcorn, also known as kettle corn. I could eat this every day! I prefer mine just sweet with no salt but I know lots of people crave sweet & salty so you can make it that way too. Either way, it’s ready in 5 minutes. Making your own homemade kettle corn is easy in the microwave and it tastes way better than anything from the store. Click here for the recipe.

Wow! I love this incredibly easy recipe. It’s so simple. One bowl. No mixer. No shaping. And no cleanup if you use parchment paper. There is no butter and no flour is this simple cookie recipe. And my version has less sugar than most. Wait ’til you try one – the taste is out of this world!

Even the most amateur cook can’t mess this up. Here are the steps: 1) Mix ingredients together in a bowl. 2) Drop on sheet and bake. 3) Done.

I’ve always used natural peanut butter, like Laura Scudder’s or Santa Cruz organic, but always chunky. You can use smooth… but why? With chunky peanut butter, you get some nice peanuty crunch with every bite. When cookies are this easy to make, anyone can make cookies from scratch – in 15 minutes.  Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Here’s an easy recipe for my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Even without the chocolate chips, they are still a great tasting snack. My recipe includes toasted walnuts and trust me, toasting the nuts first will send their flavor into overdrive. I use walnuts and pecans in lots of baking so I just toast a bunch of each one in the oven (see my video) and keep them in the fridge for baking.

It doesn’t have to be pumpkin season to make these yummy muffins, in fact canned pumpkin has more antioxidants than fresh. Orange and yellow vegetables like pumpkin, sweet potato, and carrots have lots of betacarotene which is good for your lungs and eyes and will give you healthy hair and skin.

The most important thing about making muffins is not to over-mix. Just fold the ingredients together gently with a spatula or spoonula – I love those! This recipe was in my first cookbook and I’ve updated it by increasing the whole wheat pastry flour a little and switching from canola to extra light olive oil but you can use any oil of your choice.  I’m posting this recipe by request from a fellow baker (Rori) in Denver who lost the recipe. Here it is, Rori!  Click here for the recipe.

If anyone else has a recipe request, just let me know….

Thank goodness for canned salmon. I always keep it on hand so I can make my quick and easy salmon patties. We know how important it is to eat fish, especially salmon, which is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids to protect your heart, and my recipe makes this easy dinner even healthier by adding red pepper, onions, parsley, egg, and my fresh whole wheat bread crumbs for added fiber.

I made these delicious patties last night and served them with my Greek lemon potatoes and some steamed broccoli. There was nothing left on our plates! It seems like the body knows when something is doing you so much good because all of it disappeared in a flash. Another way I serve my salmon patties is with a side of steamed sweet potato, which is loaded with antioxidants and protects your eyes and lungs and boosts your immune system. Just peel, chop, and steam. Dinner is ready in 15 minutes! What an anti-aging combo!

Oh… some more serving ideas…. I’ve also had these salmon patties with my Spaghetti With Greens, Sweet Potato Fries, Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Potatoes, and those awesome Roasted Vegetables. So eat fish often, and with this recipe, you can make a healthy 15-minute meal anytime. Quick. Easy. Healthy. You’re welcome!  Click here for the recipe.