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The holidays are a difficult time if you are dieting. My wife saw a recipe for a low-carb lasagna in a magazine, and asked me to make it. I read it and thought, it just wasn't lasagna. I went through the pantry looking for ingredients that would create a healthy and delicious meal.
There are two ways to make the noodles. You can slice them by hand, or you can do it the way I do, with a vegetable sheet cutter on my KitchenAid mixer. Once you get the hang of using the sheeter, it's a breeze to slice long ribbons of vegetables that can be sliced to your desired length.


Ingredients:
8 to 12 sheets or slices of butternut squash
2 cups fresh spinach
1 can spaghetti sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups fat free mozzarella shredded cheese
1 pound ground turkey breast
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup diced black olives
1 cup finely diced butternut squash
1 teaspoon olive oil
cooking spray

 Begin by cutting your "noodles". Next in a preheated pan, ad…

This is an easy recipe for quick side, with lots of flavor. It can been made at the last minute, but tastes like you spent all day creating it.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound fresh green beans
6 grape or cherry tomatoes halved
1 teaspoon clarified butter
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon bacon bits

Begin by preheating a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add butter, and allow to melt.
Add green beans and saute for about 5 minutes. Stir beans occasionally. Once beans have slightly darkened, add garlic and bacon. Cook for about two more minutes, then add tomatoes. When the tomato skins start to blister, remove from heat. Stir once more, then serve.

I have a few weaknesses. One of them is caramel. Caramel corn, caramel sauce, caramel candies, you get the picture. These cookies have been in development for several months. Creating a cookie that tastes like caramel is not easy. My first few attempts smelled like caramel, but tasted like flour. Finally, I think I got it. The key is replacing the sugar with ground up Werther's Original hard candies. This sugar substitute combined with canned dulce de leche, give just the right flavor.

Ingredients:
1 cup ground Werther's original candies (about 35 candies)
1 can dulce de leche caramel sauce
2 1/2 cups pastry flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick of melted butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup of brown sugar

Begin by creaming the butter, ground candy and brown sugar until smooth and velvety. Add dulce de leche and beat for a few more minutes, until well combined. Mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Slowly add flour mixture until everything …

It's cold here in Florida. The low last night was 47 degrees. Tonight will be a few degrees colder. It is perfect soup weather. This is a hearty soup, combining my two favorite soups, tomato basil and vegetable beef. It's made quickly, in an electric pressure cooker. As with most of my recipes, this is no salt added. You can always add salt to the finished product, but you can't take it out.

Ingredients:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds of beef stew meat
32 ounces no salt added beef stock
2 potatoes (diced)
1 14.5 ounce can petite cut no salt added tomatoes
1 small can no salt added corn
1 small can no salt added green beans
1 cup carrot chips
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion powder
1/4 teaspoon roasted garlic powder
2 teaspoons  dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
2 packets of Herb-Ox no salt added beef bullion
1 bay leaf
2 tablesppons tomato paste
Begin by browning the meat in pressure pot pan.
Add the rest of the ingredients, put the lid on the pot, an…

This is my grandmother's recipe for springerle cookies. These cookies are German; how they ended up in my Scotch-Irish family I'm not sure. Full disclosure, up front, you either like them or you don't. I haven't met anyone who is on middle ground when it come to these treats. Springerles are an anise flavored hard biscuit style cookie, and by hard I mean HARD. When my mother was alive she used to remind me every Christmas, how I cut my first teeth with these cookies. They are brick hard when cooled from the oven.

They are also time consuming to make, be prepared to spend an few hours, and a couple of days, making these delectable snacks. Creaming the butter and sugar takes a half hour with a stand mixer, longer with a hand held, and your arms will fall off before you can complete the task by hand.
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 cups flour
10 drops of LorAnn anise oil or 1/4 to 1/2 tsp anise extract

Start by beating the four eggs until light and foamy. Gradually ad…

This is a great substitute for the calorie laden sweet potato casserole usually served at the holidays. The sweetness comes from apples, not cups full of sugar. The best part is how quickly you can make and serve this delicious side.

Ingredients:
6 cups diced sweet potatoes
2 Honey crisp apples
1/2 cup diced Vidalia onions
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
drizzle of molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon unsalted butter

Chop sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. In a microwave bowl, add potato cubes and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and microwave on high for 5 minutes. While the potatoes are in the microwave, heat a cast iron skillet on a medium heat. Add the oil and butter. Remove potatoes from oven and add to pan. Core and cube apples cutting them into 1/2 inch cubes. When the potatoes star to brown, add the apples, onions, and spices. Sauté for several more minutes, until the onions are translucent, and the pota…