Great Big Crunch - Today for Food in Schools

I really suck at Selfies but I wanted to participate in the GREAT BIG CRUNCH for Food Share Toronto because they do good work bringing food to kids that need it in Toronto schools.

By taking this really bad selfie of myself and adding the Hashtag #GreatBigCrunch and #BrightWayForward and posting this at 2:30pm on Thursday March 9th, 2017,  I join a whole bunch of other people that want to make a difference in the lives of kids in schools today and tomorrow.

It's an easy thing.  Get your fruit and take a Big Bite and post it.. and with that done Tangerine Bank will donate $10 per post to schools for food for their students.

As a Food Revolution Ambassador this is the kind of thing I like to support because it could mean the difference in a kid being able to concentrate in school or not and falling behind.

No biggie for me but a big thing for a kid in need.

So Get Crunching or donate to FoodShare Toronto so they can continue the great work that they do.

Jamie Oliver energizes Toronto

Jamie Oliver & Linda Matarasso

Did you ever do something for so long and felt like nothing was happening and then you start to wonder why you did it in the first place?  Well, lately I have been feeling that way.  Over 5 years ago I became a Food Revolution Ambassador to represent Jamie Oliver's vision to make people live healthier happier lives by eating better food.  I was originally inspired by his school lunch campaigns and work in the UK and USA so I joined.   But for the past few years I have been spending a lot of my time shouting to whoever will listen on social media about what he and myself and the rest of the Ambassadors were trying to do.  I kind of felt like I was in the ocean in a little boat waving for help and nobody could hear me.  I spent 5 years trying to host events and write about Food Revolution but had never actually met Jamie in person even though I had seen him at television shows and appearances in Toronto a few times.  This time was different though.

I finally got to meet Chef/Activist Jamie Oliver, the person that inspired me to join Food Revolution 5 years ago and representing his Food Revolution campaign.  Jamie was in town to do many things.  He was promoting his 2 restaurants at Yorkdale and Square One in Mississauga and also his new cookbook Super Food Family Classics and he did lots of media interviews a Press Conference Panel and a chat with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Ambassadors around Toronto were invited to go to Jamie's relatively new restaurant Jamie's Italian at Yorkdale for a dinner and Q&A for media and other influencers.  They set aside a very long table for a sit down dinner after Jamie's chat with the media and we were given loads of food.  We were told he would pop by to say hi but as we got through our dinner we didn't think that was going to happen and then someone spoke to Jamie and he came over finally.

He sat down with us and listened to what we have been doing and what we wanted him to tell Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his chat with him the next day.

He had a very long day and was probably extremely jet lagged but he was still full of passion and energy when speaking about what he wanted to do for his Childhood Obesity campaign.

Jamie Oliver and Senator Nancy Green Reine

He invited us to attend a Press Conference panel discussion that was held at the Evergreen Brickworks the next morning with some very important people who were all involved in creating change in the area of Childhood Obesity.  Nick Saul the CEO of Community Food Centres Canada was the moderator.

Members of the panel included:

• Dr. Jan Jux, Chief Sciences Officer, Canadian Diabetes Association
• Dr. Tom Warshawski, Pediatrician and Chair of the Childhood Obesity Foundation
• Geoff Craig, Chief Marketing Officer, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
• Honourable Senator Nancy Greene Raine
• Nathan Sing, Student at Ryerson University

They discussed some statistics about sugar consumption, rates of childhood obesity, and many other health concerns that will increase if changes aren't made now.

Jamie has so much energy and passion and he captivated the room as he stood up in his Canadian Tuxedo to discuss his plan to support changes in Canada through new policies that the Prime Minister makes.

I think the Ambassadors took up half of the small gathering of people.  We all got re-energized from Jamie's passion and enthusiasm.

After the Press Conference and his one on one interviews with the media he set aside time with us to do a Facebook Live with all of us.  We all tried to get our 2 cents in as Jamie shared his thoughts to the Facebook World.  It was so fun.  He asked us to tweet a message at 3pm that would get attention before his meeting with Justin Trudeau at 4pm.

We added the hashtag #JamieSpeaks4FoodRev so if you check that on twitter you can see all of our messages.

And after much love, food and attention for a couple of days then he was gone but left us all fired up ready to do whatever we can to help people lead healthier better lives.

We finally got acknowledged and thanked for our efforts and it really helped to legitimize what we have been doing individually on our own.

After spending a couple of days listening to him speak I remembered why I got inspired to join in the first place.  I agree with everything he says about food and health.  It's all about balance and education.  People need the knowledge to make the right choices and they also need access to fresh food and water to be able to live their lives fully and have a fighting chance to reach their potential.

Jamie's energy is contagious and we all got energized from his presence.
Let's see what the Toronto Team can do this year.  One of the Super Ambassadors from the Netherlands said it crossed the pond to her too.

JOIN THE REVOLUTION 

www.foodrevolution.org

Visit Jamie's 2 Jamie's Italian Restaurants in Canada at Yorkdale and Square One.

Jamie's Italian

Why buying 100% Italian Olive Oil is important.

Event:            100% Italian Olive Oil Tasting Dinner
Date:              July 7, 2016
Host:              Redoro Olive Oil
Campaign:     Flavor Your Life
Location:       Buca on King St.
Hashtag:        #FlavorYourLife
Social:           facebook.com/FlavorYourLifeNA 

                      twitter.com/Flavor_YourLife

Recently I received a mysterious email invitation to attend an Olive Oil tasting at Buca Restaurant on King St. West.  I didn't know who the invitation was from exactly but I accepted the invitation because it was at one of Toronto's Top 10 restaurants.  I have been to the 2 others but hadn't visited this location yet so this was a great opportunity.

It ended up being my blogger pal Shuang's (TheTeleporta) birthday that same evening so she was my plus 1 guest.  Great way to spend a birthday I think. I didn't know who else was going but so happy to see some of my other blogger friends there too.

The reason for the event was because there is a new FLAVOR YOUR LIFE campaign that is supported by the European Union and Italy to explain the importance of 100% Italian Olive Oil.  Our host was Roberto Accurso the very informative owner of REDORO Olive Oils. Redoro is supported by the European Union and Italy and is one of the only certified producers that they have agreed to partner with.

We sampled the first 3 Olive Oils on this list and Roberto explained the differences of each one.  All are first pressed oils. They only use Italian Olives from the local growers and there are no GMO's. There are a lot of oils that claim to be Extra Virgin olive oil but they are not first pressed and they use olives from other countries mixed and use blemished low quality and sometimes under ripe olives which won't have full flavour.

OLIVE GROWERS SINCE 1895

REDORO farm estate is located in Grezzana, in the heart of Valpantena, in the northern area of Verona: the secret of success at Redoro oil mills is the presence of the mills, very close to the heart of its production: one in Grezzana, the main seat of the firm; the other in Mezzane and also near the Lake of Garda, where only Garda DOP Extra virgin Olive Oil is produced. The oil mills work at full capacity during the three months of harvest – October, November and December. Olives are collected from the neighbouring valleys, which cover a wide area that comprises seven valleys.
 About 1000 producers send their best olives to the mills. Average yearly output amounts to an estimated 30.000 quintals of olives, processed by Redoro’s mills.

Oil production undergoes strict controls by our specialized staff who carefully follow each step of the process, pressing only good olives whose quality can produce the excellences of Redoro Mills, namely:


• -      Italian Redoro 100%
• -      Redoro Organic

• -      Extra virgin Garda DOP

• -      Extra virgin Veneto Valpolicella DOP

The oil produced at the mill is very aromatic, has an intense green color with shades of gold, and a sweet full-bodied and fragrant olive flavor, that allows it to be tasted on bread or used to dress any dish. REDORO has even given its special attention to the bottle that contains the oil: this bottle bears the REDORO registered trademark, is attractive and has a practical and very original handle.


For more information please email Marcella Dose at info@Redoro.it

REDORO SRL – Frantoi Veneti - Sede: Via G. Marconi, 30 - 37023 Grezzana (VR) - ITALY

After our Olive Oil tasting we had some truly amazing appetizers.  From the famous Buca Margherita pizza to a fried stuffed olive and a breaded eggplant with burrata cheese and basil and one of most flavourful bites was the ceviche served in spoons.  To end the meal we were presented with Olive Oil Gelato served in espresso cups.  What an interesting dessert and beautiful presentation.  One thing that wasn't event meant to stand out was the fantastic Italian sodas that they had. I had the refreshing lemon flavour.  A great citrus cleanse for the whole meal.  And I must say that there really was a noticable difference to each of the Olive Oils and I think we all had our preferences.  I think the DOP was the one I liked the best.  Each a different purpose, as dippers, finishers and for salads so it's best to sample and see which one you like the best.

They provided us with a gift bag of their Olive Oil and a bunch of recipes.

Here's a recipe that would be great for your SUMMER BBQ's that will be enhanced by using Redoro Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Coming soon the oils will be available at selected Costco stores where you will be able to sample the oils and find out more about each one.  Once the brand is established they hope to expand to large grocery stores.

Website coming soon at www.flavor-you-life.com

Green Living Show highlights

The Green Living Show is back again at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and I checked it out on Friday afternoon.  Here are some of the highlights of the show and a few things I picked up.  I wasn't planning on doing any shopping,  just lot's of sampling and seeing what's new.

When I first got there I decided to start at the Food End of the show of course and walked by my friend Richa's booth for Good food for Good but she wasn't at the booth so I walked through the aisle and stumbled on one of the stages and who was on stage doing a presentation but the energetic and funny nutritionist Julie Daniluk.  I always learn something new every time I listen to her speak so I plunked myself down in the front row so I wouldn't disturb anyone since she was midway in her talk.  Julie was speaking about hugging and the power of touch and walked over to me and said hi and used me as the example to connect to someone.  I think she knew I would be a safe bet to get her message across but it was nice that she used the moment as the perfect time to say hi.  She had talks scattered throughout the weekend.  As I write this it's the last day of the show. I wanted to write this post earlier to get the info out but didn't have a chance to.   I hope a couple of you get a chance to stop by before it ends or plan to go next year.
The show did seem a little different this year. It was very quiet on the friday and it seemed like there were less food companies this year.

But returning again with a huge booth were my other friends at Organic Garage.  They have the best booth at the show since they have a whole bunch of their vendors set up sampling.  I liked a couple of the samples so much that I bought them.  I picked up Organic Garlic Coconut Oil which they sampled on popcorn.  It was amazing and I think it would be amazing for bread dipping or garlic bread or in dressings.  No more garlic hands from peeling garlic.  I also picked up Organic chocolate covered almonds because they were just so good.

I wandered around by myself for a while then a couple of my friends joined me after they finished work.  We saw Chef Rodney Bowers and my friend got excited and got a selfie with him.  He was in the ticketed food section.  We didn't end up getting anything there and just tried a lot of the samples around the show.

This year they were giving out Powerbars and free entrance to attendees that brought in e-waste.  You know if everyone at the show brought in e-waste or walked away with an eco power bar that would make a huge difference in energy and also in landfill waste.  Great initiative.

Besides all the food products including food using insects as the protein ingredient, there was also beauty products.  I stopped to check out one booth and was impressed by the creator who said she created it for her own use.   I was struck by the packaging.  I saw Mature to Dry Hotty Balm.  When do you ever see that stand out on a beauty product?  They always cater to young skin even though everyone wants anti ageing which is usually what it says.  But I liked the idea of a balm for your face because my skin has started to lose it's youthful glow. Yeah I know I lost it a long time ago but let's see if this can bring some of it back.  It made my skin feel soft without being sticky or smelly.  It's made with beeswax and jojoba oil and shea butter and host of other natural ingredients. I like that it's a balm so that I can carry it around in my bag without worrying about a mess.

This show is all about Eco in any area of life.  There were sections for kids with a sandbox even.


There was a row of wood home decor products, jewellery, clothing, cars, bikes, healthcare products, suppliments and beauty products and even things like a lightbulb that lasts for 40 years.  So while everything might not interest everyone, there is something that will help everyone that attends.
My friend picked up hot/cool silicone packs for himself and his mom.

If you are interested in finding products to swap that help the environment instead of harm it then this is a good place to check it out.  And even if you don't want to buy products it's a great place to listen to people like Julie Daniluk and other health and business experts speak about interesting topics.

Go Green.... save the planet and check out the Green Living Show.

Feed it Forward

Food insecurity in Canada

Do you know what the face of hunger looks like?

·       

1 in 8 Canadian families struggle to put food on the table.

·       32% of the people requiring food assistance are children.**

·       25% of food bank users are immigrants.**

·       79,000 people each month access a food bank for the first time.*

·       Almost 40% of food bank clients have a diploma, degree or higher.**

·       On average, people who use food assistance programs do so for two years.**

*According to Food Banks Canada's HungerCount 2015 report.

**According to Daily Bread Food Bank's Who's Hungry 2015 report.

1 in 6 Canadian Children are affected by food insecurity.
*Source: Maple Leaf foods

Over the past couple of years I have learned a lot about Food Insecurity in Toronto and around the world because of my blog and in my work as an Ambassador for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  I got involved to see if I could do something to help people learn about their food and in the process I learned about the food insecurity issue from attending local charitable events that raise funds for programs like the Stop Community Food Program, who have various food training programs and they provide food to local communities in need.  This past October  a group of people and  I toured a couple of local schools and we learned about the Feed Tomorrow program that has school programs that provide food to school children who are experiencing hunger.  The older students volunteer to assist the program.
Second Harvest is another great non-profit that has great initiatives that many local restaurants in the city support by donating food.  And don't forget the food banks, one of the largest being the Daily Bread Food Bank who work tirelessly to get food and cash donations to provide food for people on various forms of assistance.

In a city as big as Toronto that is supposed to be "booming" why do we still have these organizations struggling to serve the local community?

Is food a Human Right?

While I am not a big fan of giving street people spare change because I don't believe it helps them in the long run, but I do believe there are a lot of people that need help.

Food Insecurity is a bigger problem than you think.

Recently the cost of produce shot up almost triple the normal cost and a head of cauliflower could cost about $8.  When you make $11.50 an hour you

If you think about the fact that the minimum wage is under $12 and the cost of living in Toronto for just a bachelor apartment starts at $900 if you are lucky, there isn't much left for enough food  after you pay your necessities but isn't food a necessity too?

If you are single on Ontario Works assistance you only get $681 dollars a month.  They believe you should spend $200 a month from that for food.  Good luck with that working out.
Disability is somewhere around $900 a month I believe.
In other words if you get sick or lose your job you have a good chance of going hungry at some point unless you have some other assistance.

As a regular contributor to Gastropost (The National Post's) community I am happy to support a new partnership campaign between Gastropost and Maple Leaf Foods.
Maple Leaf Foods will provide a $10,000.00 donation.

THE CAMPAIGN:

Feed it Forward by nominating a great Canadian in your community who has gone above-and-beyond to use good food to better the lives of others. Whether they have put in place a program to nourish school children, deliver nutrition education for people who need support, or use food as a way to bring people together and teach valuable life skills.

Nominate a great Canadian in your community who has gone above-and-beyond to use good food to better the lives of others. Whether they have put in place a program to nourish school children, deliver nutrition education for people who need support, or use food as a way to bring people together and teach valuable life skills.

They could receive a $10,000 donation towards their organization and enjoy free Maple Leaf groceries for a year.  And just by nominating them you could have the opportunity to receive free Maple Leaf groceries for a year.

The Nominee must volunteer or work for a registered not-for-profit organization or community group that uses food as a key component of supporting their program goals.

I mentioned a few of these organizations above.

To NOMINATE someone submit your information here:  

http://www.mapleleaf.com/feed-it-forward-donation/

This program takes place from March 21 to April 9, 2016.

Spread the word and get people talking about this great campaign that can make a difference in a lot of people's lives through this large donation. It's easy, all you have to do is nominate someone that is already doing good things to help them and you be rewarded for the great work.

Don't forget to follow along on social media and Tweet, Instagram, Facebook or whatever else you use to spread the word.

HASHTAG #feeditforward
Don't forget to follow @MapleLeafFoods on Twitter and Instagram
Follow fellow Gastroposter's feed using the Hashtag #Gastropost
Become a Gastroposter and submit your food photos for weekly missions and follow @Gastropost
http://gastropost.nationalpost.com/

This blog post was promoted by Gastropost + Maple Leaf Foods but the opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

Don't fall into the Resolution trap.

It's a New Year and you are feeling like crap right?  Why? 
Well, because you went to a whole bunch of Holiday Parties or had big Family dinners that you likely don't have the rest of the time of year.

Then January comes and your clothes don't fit well and you are tired and feeling bad about yourself because you now have to think about going on a diet or something.

People join gyms first thing in January and then they start falling off a couple of weeks later when their regular life sets back in.

Why again?  Well because you are really getting sucked into Social pressures and the messages you get from the media.

I admit that I am not happy with my weight but it's because I don't have the energy to do all the things I would like to do and maybe because I can't buy the clothes I want to buy that will make me look good and professional but mostly because I think of my health and what it will be like in the future.

But I am not going to make a Resolution to go on a DIET.  Why? Because they only work for short term and they make you feel miserable and then you give up and gain more weight after you stop.  Don't believe me check the statistics.  It's a FACT.

How can you not feel bad about yourself when starting January 1st every TV show tells you how to lose weight.  New Year, New You.   Like you aren't good enough the way you are.   Every commercial is for a gym or some sort of weight loss centre or pill you should take.

January is also the start of Awards season in Hollywood where all you see is slim Celebrities in fabulous outfits with perfect hair, skin and bodies and if they don't have all of these things together they are judged on all kinds of TV shows including fashion shows, daytime talk shows and night time entertainment shows.   You feel like if these celebrities who all have style teams get judged and they have all the help in the world then what about you because you can't possibly look like that so you feel bad about yourself.  At this time I am watching a commercial about how people have an "I hate my body moment".  Yes we do.  But you don't have to buy into it.

Here's what I have learned over the year's doing makeup, being in a media related industry, working in the healthcare system and having my own weight issues.

NOBODY is PERFECT.... NOBODY!!....

Every single person that I have done makeup on has had some issues with the way they look.  Even those that most people would say are gorgeous.

If OPRAH who has all the money in the world to have personal trainers, personal chefs and whatever else it takes to lose weight still struggles and has teamed up with Weight Watchers because it's the 1 thing in her life that she hasn't been able to tackle.

If it was about money don't you think Oprah would have been able to fix it?

Here's the RUB...   Weight isn't just about weight.  It's about stress,  it's about self esteem,  it's about environmental issues, it's about general health, it's about the world we live in now.

If it was easy for everyone to lose weight there wouldn't be a billion dollar weight loss industry.

Here's the thing about the Weight Loss industry.  They succeed if you fail because they can blame you for not following or sticking to their program.  So you lose weight at the beginning and then it stops and you give up and then you gain it back and more and then you find some other diet to start when at the beginning of the year you feel the pressure from the media to be a better YOU and from friends and family to lose weight.

Yes, I am one of those people unhappy with my weight but I am not going to make a RESOLUTION about it.  Instead I will make a GOAL.

Here are my GOALS:

1.  Try and stay ahead of the game in my life so that I don't have the stress of rushing things.
2.  Keep life in balance as much as possible with eating, sleeping and living life.
3.  Eat well 80% of the time and eat whatever I like the rest of the time.
4.  Waste less food.  I am going to try and buy the best quality food and try to not waste any of it.
5.  DON"T BELIEVE THE HYPE.  Magazines are all Airbrushed, celebrities all have doctors, and a special team devoted to making them look the way they do.  They don't wake up looking like that.
Don't fall into the pressure that you have to join a gym or join Weight Watchers because Oprah says so.

I like what author Michael Pollan says about health ""Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
This makes a whole lot of sense to me.

It also seems to me that the way back to health is to go back to eating the way people did before we got sucked into buying a whole bunch of commercial convenience products.  While not ALL are horrible and there are a lot of foods that are more convenient now.  Things like Passata tomatoes which are just strained tomatoes.  The old way was using a food mill.   We buy bread but we could make bread if we had the time.

But if you are busy it's easy to just grab something from the freezer and heat it up.   I just tried a new boil in bag frozen meal.  It doesn't have any junk in it and I can say that it's a good alternative to the common frozen meals full of sodium and other preservative.  I will review it as soon as I try all the samples and write a post on it.

Yes I will struggle because I know that people judge me because of how I look and I learned that watching the way models I had done makeup for were treated.  Guys you should have seen what they looked like when they walked in before the makeup and hair were done.

I am also not going to join a gym,  the last one I went to just stressed me out.  I found myself getting annoyed by rude inconsiderate people and it didn't help me lose weight.
I have also joined Weight Watchers in the past and faithfully spent my money going for a year and when I stopped the weight came back and then some.

I am going to try and remember that all the media stuff is designed to shame you into buying into all this stuff.
My mom lived to the age of 88 and she never joined a gym and she never went to weight watchers and she was active until the last year of her life.  Why?  Probably because she ate real food and didn't go to fast food restaurants.  She cooked probably about 70% of her food from scratch and she was constantly moving, working into her late 60's and cooking, and doing other household chores for herself until she couldn't anymore.

My mom had more energy than I do and that's what I base my health on.

Life is all about Energy.  Do you have enough energy to live your life?  Well that's something I want to work on as my Resolution or GOAL.  To have as much energy as my mom did well into my old age.

My goal is to live better in 2016 than I did in 2015 and keep doing that.

The GOAL is to DETOX the things the things in my life that aren't good for me.

Food Resolutions 2012

Every year we make New Year's Resolutions..right? And do we keep them? Not so much. Guilty as charged. Here are a list of New Year's resolutions that might be easier to keep in small changes that create big changes later.

1. Cut out as much processed food as possible.
If it comes in a box that has to be frozen it might not be so good for you.

2. Drink water and cut out pop and juices and fancy coffees. I am guilty of the fancy coffee one. Water does not add calories and will hydrate you and make your internal organs function properly. Yeah I like those flavoured drinks too but skip the liquid calories and save them for some tasty food.

3. Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Try buying new vegetables you have never made before and find a great recipe and try adding it to your cooking repetoire. The more variety of vegetables the better the health benefits. And the added bonus will be that you won't get bored from eating the same vegetables every week.

4. White stuff. Cut down or cut out white foods such as Sugar, White Flour, Salt. Yeah they all make food taste good but we have increased our consumption of these things so much that they are killing us. Use Stevia or Agave in place of Sugar when you need to. Use other types of flours if you can substitute, like quinoa or rice flours or even whole wheat is a bit better. Salt.. use fresh herbs to bump up the flavour or use small amounts of things like parmesan cheese to get that salty taste.

5. Fried Food... BAD, BAD, BAD... but tastes GOOD, GOOD, GOOD. yes I love me some fried food. They say everything tastes better when it's fried and put it on a stick and then you have a fried party on a stick. But frying things changes their molecular structure and also adds a ton of extra fat calories. So I will try and limit or eliminate fried foods.

6. Red Meat... limit or eliminate this if you can. I know it's hard to give up your steaks and hamburgers but it's better for you and the environment. I am going to try and limit my consumption of red meat for health reasons and I am sure it couldn't hurt financially.

7. Salmon is your friend. If you like fish then Wild Salmon or Sardines will be your best friend when making food resolutions. Salmon and Sardines are high in Omega 3 Fatty Acids which are great for things like depression, healthy hair, nails and even bones. Your body will thank you and people will notice how much better you look. Make sure you look for WILD Salmon instead of farmed salmon for the healthiest option.

8. Alcohol. While I don't drink much I am not going to tell you to give up your social drinking forever. Just think about what you are drinking and slow it down. A glass of red wine with dinner is a good thing. Cooking with Wine is a good thing. Drinking a whole bottle of wine without dinner and home alone is not such a good thing. Maybe limit your drinking to once a week and one or 2 drinks to celebrate occasions with friends. The average drink is roughly 100 calories. Think of a 6 pack of beer ...if you pass on the 6 pack of beer maybe you can get the 6 pack abs instead.

9. Cooking utensils. Go through your inventory of pots and pans and toss out all your old Teflon frying pans and invest in a cast iron skillet or grill pan. It will last forever if you take care of it and will add iron instead of toxic substances into your food when you cook with it.

10. Cooking methods. Try poaching, steaming, baking and broiling your foods. These are the best methods for keeping your food healthy. People say RAW is better. Buy a juicer if you prefer to drink your fruits and vegetables. Puree your soups and take them with you in a thermos if you need to. Think outside the cooking box.

I know it's hard to make these changes. I have struggled and been successful at some of these things. I recently had a party and made almost an equal assortment of healthy and not as healthy options. Unfortunately the healthy options were the less popular choice and the higher fat options were the things that were eaten the most. It's a work in progress. I am trying to find recipes that taste like high fat foods but aren't. I did make a healthier chocolate chip cookie that people liked so there is hope.
Don't give up. Try to do as many of these things as you can and even if you only take on 1 of these and carry it through 2012 you will have made a huge change in your health by the end of the Year.
I will try and take my own advice this year and hopefully make as many healthy changes as I can in 2012.

I have done it before and I know I can do it again. This is the year to make a change and stick to it.

Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR and a Healthier New Year too.

CHEERS!