Sometimes, I don’t have time to bake my homemade mac & cheese with the crumb topping but I still want my mac & cheese! So I worked on the easiest, fastest, (healthiest!) way to get  some quick mac & cheese into my pie-hole. This recipe has only FOUR ingredients and takes just twenty minutes! It’s lower in fat than most and creamy delicious. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

When it’s cold outside, what makes me feel warm and snuggly? Soup. Unless George Clooney comes over, then I don’t need soup. But he never shows so I make soup. This time it’s minestrone made with eleven different vegetables and my own homemade beef stock made with marrow bones.

Vegetables are essential to good health for their anti-aging benefits and the more different colors you use, the wider array of antioxidants.

Click here for the recipe.

For quick healthy meals, I always keep canned  salmon on hand for these delicious patties. I make them with red pepper, parsley, onion, soft whole wheat breadcrumbs and egg, browned in olive oil with a side of steamed vegetables.

Salmon is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids that protect the heart so I eat a lot of salmon sandwiches, too. I think it’s a Canadian thing… Click here for the recipe.

If you try just one of my recipes, this one is something special. My easy caramel corn has been hugely popular on youtube and everyone who takes a bite asks me for the recipe. Nothing you can buy even comes close to this homemade caramel corn. Mine is not too sweet (so you can eat more!) but I have to stop making it because I cannot leave it alone. Don’t even try to eat just one bite! It’s impossible! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Cook some greens!

Last night I made a Swiss chard/baby kale combo to have with our sardines! I know. 😛 But Denis eats everything I put on the table and cooked greens have lots of calcium for your bones and lutein for your eyes.

All the better to see your sardines up close!

I’m having a contest next month. Check back if you’d like to win a copy of my first cookbook. 🙂

I swear cooking is more fun when you have colorful tools. This knife block may look fancy but I put it together myself with inexpensive knives from Target.

This is my most viewed video on youtube! If you like a crispy crust and a pepperoni pizza that’s not greasy, this is it. Homemade pizza is such a treat and my healthy pizza  has a super crispy crust that comes from using a pizza pan with holes on the bottom, also knows as a pizza crisper, and I use reduced fat turkey pepperoni so it’s a much healthier pizza. If you’re tired of greasy pepperoni pizzas, you must try this recipe. And you will probably agree with me that this is the best pepperoni pizza ever! My trick is in what I do to the pepperoni first… Click here for a printable recipe.

Attention bread bakers: I’ve been using this yeast for years because it doesn’t require proofing but I never read ALL the information on the back. Duh!! I just saw that this yeast eliminates the first rise so you save almost an hour off baking anything with yeast. So… I get cinnamon rolls an hour sooner! Yay!! And here we thought it was MEN who never asked for directions! 😉

It’s flu season and eating certain foods can help keep you well.  Here are some suggestions from someone who hasn’t had a cold or flu since… well, the last time I was sick I stayed home in bed listening to some 8-track tapes.

Red Peppers – Vitamin C helps prevent the body from getting viruses and a red bell pepper has twice as much vitamin C as an orange.

Garlic – Eating garlic stimulates the body to multiply white blood cells making it easier to prevent the flu.

Salmon – The omega-3 fatty acids in salmon enhance the immune system function.

Sauerkraut, yogurt & pickles – They all contain  probiotics, which add healthy bacteria to the intestinal track. A healthy gastrointestinal track can bolster your defense and help resist flu viruses. Make sure the yogurt has active cultures.

Sweet Potatoes – They are loaded with a healthy dose of beta-carotene, which creates vitamin A in the body. This crucial nutrient boosts immune function by lowering the amount of free radicals, helping to eliminate the cause of sickness.

Green Tea – Polyphenols, potent plant antioxidants, are what’s believed to give green tea its immune-boosting effects. One  type of polyphenol called catechin may kill influenza viruses. But don’t add milk, because the proteins will bind to the polyphenols, making them ineffective.