People always ask me if I enjoy cooking because I do it all the time. My usual reply is "Not really, but I do enjoy eating healthfully as a result of my hard work in the kitchen." Well today after almost a week off from cooking over the Christmas holidays and after a week of eating food that is not the greatest for me I have gotten back into the kitchen. I whipped up a batch of mixed berry jam and experimented with some leftover pumpkin puree and made a pumpkin loaf. And I must say there is something enjoyable about working in the kitchen and creating something with your own two hands. It was satisfying today to spend some time baking while watching my jars of jam cool on the window sill. (I even used my new label maker and added some handy dandy labels to the jar) What is also gratifying is realizing how my skills have improved over the last year. I never would have experimented with a recipe a year ago but today I subbed in pumpkin for bananas and created my own pumpkin bread. It is still baking away in the oven so I will have to let you know how it tastes when it's done!

Braised Pacific Halibut

This is another one of those dishes I chose to make because I had some leftover white wine in the fridge. So far I have not been a huge fan of the fish recipes in the GI diet cookbook. Out of the six fish dishes I have tried I have loved two (Drunken Salmon and Grilled Tilapia) but the remaining four I have not really enjoyed. If I decide to try this meal again I think I would make a few changes. I would attempt the recipe using fresh spinach and I would follow my chef friends advice with regards to the white wine (see below in cooking tips)

SERVED WITH: Brown rice and Mediterranean oven roasted tomatoes

COOKING TIPS: My chef friend gave me a little tip. He said if you bring your wine to a boil in a frying pan before adding it to your casserole to braise the fish with you will end up with a more flavorful dish.

RATING 6. My husband rated this dish a 7 but I disagree. I didn't enjoy it all that much.

A Sunday Afternoon of Cooking with Moe

My good friend Maureen was kind enough to come over a few weeks back to help me prepare for my annual Christmas party. We had such a good time cooking in the kitchen together that we made a date for the following Sunday afternoon. She selected a few recipes from my blog that she thought she would like to make during the week. On Sunday we shopped together for the ingredients and spent a few hours chopping, mixing, cooking and laughing.

We cooked up a storm and made:
2 batches - Chicken and Rice
2 batches - Runner's World Meatloaf
2 batches - Mediterranean Oven-Roasted Tomatoes (post to come later)
1 batch - Braised Pacific Halibut (that is what you see above, post to come later)

If your not a huge fan of cooking I would definitely recommend having a cooking date with a friend. Time flies when you are cooking with a friend and joking around. (Especially if you have a glass of wine) You will most likely learn some tips from each other and you get to try out each others favorite recipes. Best of all you will have enough food to get you at least half way through the week and you will have had fun making it!

Mushroom and Arugula Salad

Back in the day when we used to eat out all the time this was one of my favorite salads from one of my favorite restaurants. I decided to learn how to make it myself so we could have it at home as often as we wished. It is super simple and extremely delicious, especially if you are a mushroom lover like me. It is easy to convert it to a GI friendly recipe, just use low fat cheese.

1 bag of baby arugula
1 lemon
approximately 10 - 12 mushrooms sliced
parmesan cheese (use low fat parmesan to be GI worthy)
olive oil (ok if you limit your serving size)

Squeeze the juice out of one lemon.
Measure just how much you get from the lemon and then add an equal amount of olive oil and whisk together.
Take a taste of the dressing, if it is to tangy for you then add a little more olive oil. I usually find that one whole lemon yields 1/4 cup of juice.
Place arugula in a large bowl and toss with a couple of tablespoons of dressing.
Place arugula on a plate and top with sliced mushrooms and shaved parmesan

SERVED WITH: Any main course you desire.

COOKING TIPS: It is important to note that you do not need a lot of the dressing on this salad. If you use to much it will overpower the subtle flavours of arugula, parmesan and mushrooms.

RATING: 9. This is my favorite salad. I could eat it every night!

Even though I make this all the time I have never thought to take a picture of it. I promise I will take one and post it the next time I make it.

Cream Cheese Icing

Every year I bake up some cupcakes for our Christmas party. This year I made the GI Diet cookbook's chocolate zucchini muffins to keep things healthy. Instead of using icing which is full of sugar I made a cream cheese icing from the carrot cake recipe in the book. They went well together. The recipe uses a small amount of orange juice concentrate for flavour but I think it would have tasted just as good without it. The blue and white snowflake sprinkles I added on top however were not sugar free or GI friendly.

SERVED WITH: Chocolate zucchini muffins

COOKING TIPS: Don't be deceived as I was. At first I thought I would not have enough icing so I doubled up the recipe and then ended up with too much.

RATING: 9. I'm looking forward to trying it out on the carrot cake as the recipe originally intended.

Basmati Rice Crackers

Now normally when I make something new I don't hesitate to have some friends over to try it out on the first shot at the recipe. But something about this recipe seemed daunting and I decided to test it out before serving it at my annual Christmas party. Lucky for me I did otherwise I would have been a very frustrated host running out to the grocery store for crackers just minutes before my guests arrived. On the Monday before my party I gave this recipe a go. It was time consuming and very messy and I will definitely not be attempting it again. You basically cook up a pot of rice with some onions and spices. After you let the rice cool you spread it between two sheets of wax paper and go over it with a rolling pin, cut it into squares, place on a baking sheet and bake them for 10 minutes until they are crispy. The reason I didn't like this recipe was that my crackers kept falling apart before I could get them on the cookie sheet, I got rice everywhere, and once baked it didn't taste fabulous. It was interesting is all I can say.

SERVED WITH: We tried it out with a slice of cheese. They had more of a chewy texture then a crispy one you would expect with a cracker. The ones on the edges of the pan got crispier but were almost to hard and felt like biting a popcorn kernel.

COOKING TIPS: Don't make it! Just joking. You may have better luck then me.

RATING: 3. I'd rather just find some healthy crackers at the store then spend time making them.

Warm Artichoke Dip

This is another item I made last weekend for our party. It was the first time I had tried it out and both batches of it were gone by the end of the evening. It was nice to serve a warm dip. I put out a ton of veggies to eat it with but most people ate it with the tortilla chips instead. It tasted great straight from the oven when it was hot and later on when it cooled off. This turned out to be a pretty chunky dip so I can see why people chose the tortilla chips. It was a little more difficult to keep on a carrot stick.

SERVED WITH: Veggies and tortilla chips

COOKING TIPS: No tips necessary, just chop it up and mix it up.

RATING: 8. I would definitely make it again.

Vegetable Barley Soup Au Pistou - Sub in Brown Rice

I've never made this soup because I'm allergic to barley. I know, poor me I can't drink beer! Last weekend I had so many veggies left over from our Christmas party that I was scouring the GI diet cookbook looking for a recipe that had as many vegetables in it as I could find. This one had alot! It includes carrots, celery, leeks, zucchini, and red peppers.

So instead of using barley I substituted in some brown rice and it worked out quite well. Right towards the end of this recipe you mix in some pesto. There is even a recipe for your own homemade pesto. Since I just happened to have some decently healthy store bought pesto in the fridge I used it instead.

I found this recipe posted on line. So click on the link below if you want to try it out.
Vegetable Barley Soup Au Pistou

SERVED WITH: A piece of spelt toast (Spelt is a yellow light item. I am currently trying to stay sugar free at the same time as staying wheat free due to a suspected wheat allergy in the household so I have had to resort to spelt. It's spelt or starve, so spelt it is for now.)

COOKING TIPS: Don't waste to much time cutting up your veggies. Just give them a quick chop chop and toss them in the pot. If you have any left overs that you plan on eating the next day you may have to add in some more stock or even a touch of water. Because I made mine with rice it soaked up most of the broth. I am not sure if the same thing would happen with barely though as I have never cooked with it.

RATING 7. It was fine, not overly flavorful. I might make it again.

GI Diet Christmas Party

Last night we had our annual Holiday Bash. Each year we host a Christmas party for 20 - 30 of our friends. This year we decided to make it a GI friendly party (well, as much as we possibly could). With so many celebrations in the month of December many of us become "over sugared" and over eat with all the festivities. We did have two or three indulgences but for the most part it was all healthy and most of the dishes were from the GI Diet cookbook. Everyone had a nice time and I think they all enjoyed the food. One guest even told me she was "stuffed full but a good healthy stuffed full". Getting ready to host a party of this size takes a fair amount of time and planning but I absolutely love organizing things. A good friend came over on Friday night and we cooked for four hours and then I spent the entire day in the kitchen the day of the party. But all that work is worth it. It's wonderful having all of our closest friends in one room at the same time.

Here is what we served:
Spicy Popcorn - Parmesan Garlic and Cajun (GI friendly)
Warm Artichoke Dip with Cut up veggies such as carrots, celery, zucchini, and peppers (GI friendly)

Anti pasta Platter - salami, turkey and prosciutto with olives and sun dried tomatoes - one of our splurge items

Layered Guacamole served with tortilla chips - a Canadian Living recipe (Guacamole GI friendly but not the chips)

Quinoa Bean and Vegetable Chili with yogurt cheese (GI friendly)

Mushroom and Arugula Salad with Lemon Olive oil dressing - a dish I copied from one
of our favorite restaurants (GI friendly)

Cheese and Crackers - another splurge because it was not low fat

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins with Cream Cheese icing (GI friendly)

Peppermint Bark - another splurge

Fruit salad with strawberries, blackberries, pomegranates, melon (a red light item), and red and green grapes (GI friendly except for the melon)

And of course the red wine and beer were a special treat as well.

I started incorporating GI Diet into my life in February of this year. Because I was so thrilled with the amazing recipes from Rick Gallops book I started posting about it a few months later in April. So I thought this would be as good a time as any to tally up my accomplishments so far.

*Since February I have dropped 12 pounds. Most of this weight came off in the first 3 months. Since I was happy with my new weight (my jeans now fit) I began to focus (I got lazy) on maintaining that weight, not necessarily losing the remaining 8 pounds I had originally intended to.
*In August I went away and managed to put 5 pounds back on in a matter of 10 days but as soon as I got back I jumped on the GI diet bandwagon and lost the 5 pounds again
*Overall I feel much much better. I have more energy, I don't get as grumpy as I used to and I crave healthy food instead of junk. My allergies are even better.
*I now view food as fuel for my body and try to put only good fuel into it. I am always conscious of what I am eating and always read the nutrition labels.
*As for the GI Diet cookbook which has become one of the few cookbooks I use regularly in the house, I have managed to cook 57 recipes from it and many of them have been incorporated into our weekly meal plans.

I still however have 132 recipes to go. And I plan on committing to losing that last 8 pounds as soon as the new year hits.

19 soups - 6 completed
21 salads - 5 completed
10 pastas - 4 completed
19 meatless mains - 6 completed
18 fish and seafood - 5 completed
20 poultry - 11 completed
19 meat - 4 completed
8 vegetables and side dishes - 1 completed
19 breakfasts and brunches - 6 completed
11 muffins and breads - 5 completed
24 desserts - 3 completed

188 recipes in the book. 57 recipes completed

Here are my absolute favorites:
Spinach and Meatball Soup
Quinoa Bean and Vegetable Chili
Grilled Tilapia with Black Bean and Mango Salsa
White Chili Chicken
Spicy Roasted Chicken with Tomatoes and Tarragon
Blueberry Beef Burgers
Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes
Baked Eggs in Ham Cups
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Macaroni Frittata

This was a really interesting dish to cook. I have never made anything quite like it before. You basically fry up some veggies and then add a mixture of egg, cooked pasta, peas and milk to pan, give it a stir once and then let it sit and cook. I had to resist the impulse to stir it again. Just when it is starting to firm up on the top you add some shredded cheese and pop it under the broiler until the cheese is melted and nice and brown.

SERVED WITH: This is a full meal in one pan so it is good on its own.

COOKING TIPS: You only need to stir this once! And make sure to make it in a pan with an oven proof handle so you can pop it under the broiler.

RATING: 7. While it was a fun dish to make I was not overly happy with the flavour, it was a little bland for my tastes.

Roasted Tomato and Bean Soup with Bacon

Now I know I am not the best photographer and these pictures don't always turn out that great. In fact I am usually in a hurry to eat and snap a quick photo while the dish is on the dinner table waiting to be eaten. So please excuse the poor quality pictures with bad lighting.

Now that it's the fall I have started focusing some attention on soups. I am not a huge soup fan but my husband is. He works outside and enjoys coming home to a warm bowl of comfort after a chilly day spent outside.


SERVED WITH: A slice of toast, wholewheat of course

COOKING TIPS: To make this soup you have to roast your veggies and that takes a while, one hour to be exact. I for one don't have that kind of time to cook when I get home from work so I roasted the veggies on my day off on Monday and popped them in the fridge until today. That way all I had to do today was puree the veggies, mix it with the stock, beans and bacon and heat up. Then it was ready in less then 20 minutes.

RATING: 7. I would definitely make this soup again.

hot and sour soup

This soup just tasted ok. Something was missing but I can't put my finger on what. I think it just was not sour enough or something. If I knew how to fix it I would. I don't think I will be trying this one again.

SERVED WITH: We ate it as a meal all on its own.

COOKING TIPS: It is quite neat to add in the egg and watch it cook while you stir it.

RATING: 6.

Homemade Jam - Less Sugar

So I found this recipe for making QUICK strawberry jam. This is jam that does not involve the complicated canning procedures of sterilizing jars and such but there is a catch. It only lasts about 9 days in the fridge, you can't keep in the pantry for an extended length of time like regular jam.

So because I am on the GI diet and always looking for ways of cutting back my sugar intake I have been playing around with this recipe a bit. I basically cut the amount of sugar in half to see if it would still taste good and still gel together like a jam should. And I am happy to report that yes it still worked out and yes it still tasted good.

I also experimented by using different types of berries. One week I just happened to have some blueberries and blackberries left over so I popped them in with the strawberries and came up with a yummy three berry jam.

If you are a fan of Splenda I am sure you could use that as a sugar substitute but as I mentioned in the past I prefer to use less sugar then play around with sugar substitutes.

A Cooking/Baking Fest in the Kitchen

Yesterday I spent the majority of my afternoon in the kitchen. Taking care of my health by staying on the GI Diet and cooking almost every meal of the week for my husband and I is a lot of work. In order to get ready for the week I took advantage of some time alone in the house to get prepared for the week so that I would have less work to do when I get home from work.

So my marathon of baking and cooking included making:

2 batches of Chocolate Zucchini Muffins - which we will eat as a snack each day and will last us at least two weeks

2 batches of Blueberry Rock Cakes - again to have as a snack here and there over the next few weeks.

1 batch of strawberry jam for on our toast in the mornings

1 pot of Ham and Split Pea Soup for dinner on Monday night (and leftovers for lunch on Tuesday)

1 Chicken and Rice Casserole for dinner Tuesday night (and leftovers for lunch on Wednesday)

1 batch of basic spaghetti sauce for dinner on Thursday night (and left overs for lunch on Friday, the rest to be frozen for dinner next week)

Every Wednesday we go for a run and sushi with our friends so we are covered for food until Friday night. I have planned something that is quick and easy to make for dinner on Friday because who wants to spend an hour in the kitchen after a long week.

Broccoli and Caulifower Salad

I made this dish with high hopes that it would be a flavourful way of getting more veggies into my diet. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it all that much and doubt that I will try it again. It is not often that I am disappointed with a recipe from this GI Diet cookbook but unfortunately I was this time. If you want to give it a go and see if you get better results click on the link below for the recipe.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

SERVED WITH: I took this as my lunch and didn't have anything else with it. Perhaps it would have tasted better as a side dish instead of a salad.

COOKING TIPS: Make sure to steam the broccoli and cauliflower to your desired tenderness. I would even suggest steaming them separately as I find the cauliflower takes a little longer in the steamer.

RATING: 5. I just was not impressed.

Chicken Rice Casserole

I have made this dish two or three times already. You have your vegetables, meat and grain all in one dish so making it is a snap and there are plenty of leftovers. At first I was not used to working with ground chicken and I was hesitant to try it out but now that I have worked with it I am ok with it and not as quick to dismiss recipes with ground poultry in them.

SERVED WITH: Nothing else is needed.

COOKING TIPS: I cook the rice before I add it to the casserole. The first time I didn't and it took way to long to cook it through. Even though I pre cooked the rice I still put it in the oven for the full hour suggested in the recipe.

RATING: 6. It is a good stand by recipe because it is easy to make and filling but not the most exciting dish flavour wise.

Pasta Salad with Goat Cheese and Arugula

This meal is so super easy I just had to share it with you. But I warn you it has a dreaded red light item in it - GOATS CHEESE. On the good side it is made with whole wheat pasta, nutricious spinach, red onions, and white kidney beans - all of which are allowed on the GI diet
Basically you take some cooked pasta and toss it with the remaining ingredients. I actually enjoy eating this meal warm for dinner and then eat it cold the next day for lunch. Below is the recipe. Try it out if you are allowing yourself a small splurge.

Pasta Salad with Goat Cheese and Arugula


SERVED WITH: This is a full meal all on its own.

COOKING TIPS: It is so easy to make, just throw it all together, mix and serve.

RATING: A 9 for flavour, but only a 6 if you consider the red light item in it.

Spinach and Meatball Soup

For a soup this was quite delicious. The soup broth and the mini meatballs are flavoured with cumin so I find I have to be in the mood for a dish such as this. By adding in some white kidney beans this soup becomes quite hearty. As the recipe suggested we ate ours with a dollop of yogurt cheese stirred right in. This gave the soup a creamy texture even though is was made with chicken broth. It may not be the most attractive looking soup but its flavour made up for its appearance.

SERVED WITH: A slice of whole grain toast and a glass of water

COOKING TIPS: Before I made this soup I just assumed I would cook the meatballs before putting them in the soup but that is not the case. You simply throw the meatballs into the broth and let it simmer for 20 minutes. By then your mini meatballs will be cooked all the way through.

RATING: A solid 8 as long as you are in the mood for Indian flavorings.

Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs

This is one tasty breakfast. I had some friends over on a Sunday morning so I served up these fancy scrambled eggs with some oatmeal buttermilk pancakes and chopped up fruit.
I just served the scrambled eggs in a big bowl and let everyone help themselves. I am not a huge huge fan of smoked salmon, or scrambled eggs for that matter, but this dish hit the spot with everyone including me. I actually found the recipe published on the internet so you can take a look for yourself by clicking on the link below.
Smoked Salmon Scrambled eggs

SERVED WITH: Pancakes, fruit and coffee

COOKING TIPS: Being able to serve everything all at once was a little tricky. I had my husband tend to the scrambled eggs while I finished off the pancakes.

RATING: 7. Very rich and flavorful. You don't need a huge helping of these eggs.

Fish Burger

Ever since my husband and I went on vacation to Nova Scotia this summer we have been craving the delicious array of seafood we consumed in mass amounts while there. One of our favorite meals was a simple fish burger. Now of course the fish burgers we ate while on vacation were anything but good for you, deep fried fish served on white buns with a side of fries, delicious but fattening! So we have been on the look out for a healthier version we could prepare at home. We happened to stumble upon a recipe in an old issue of a Canadian Living magazine I had lying around, and we were not disappointed. Of course it was not quite the same but it still tasted good and reminded us of our relaxing vacation. The funny thing is I never would have attempted to make this meal in the past. Before our vacation a fish burger would not have appealed to me at all.

Click here for the recipe from Canadian Living.

Part of the recipe is a simply delicious spread that you serve with the burger. It also tastes amazing when you dip your fries in it. But I warn you, the spread uses mayonnaise as its base. It is light mayo but even the light stuff is a yellow light item! All the other ingredients are GI approved (as long as you choose a whole wheat bun).


SERVED WITH: Sweet potato fries baked in the oven.

COOKING TIPS: This recipe did not call for any sort of coating on the fish. I think the next time I would look up a breading of sorts from the GI Diet Cookbook and use it on the fish for a crispier burger. This recipe also uses catfish. Since I am not a fan of that particular fish I used haddock. It was rainy the night I made this so instead of grilling it I had to pan fry it.

RATING:7. With a few alterations it has the potential to be a 9.

Ham and Split Pea Soup

Making soup is so easy! You just chop every thing up, throw it all in the pot and let it simmer. This recipe does however require a little bit of time as you have to leave it on the stove for an hour and a half. I had the day off so I spent the morning in the kitchen preparing a few things for the week so I would not have to cook every night. I assembled this first and by the time I was done everything else the soup was done. When we ate it the next day I actually had to add in some more water as it was pretty thick. I also added a touch of salt and pepper to taste.

SERVED WITH: A piece of whole wheat toast. It makes a great meal on a chilly fall day.

COOKING TIPS: This was the very first time I had used split peas and I didn't understand why the recipe said to wash and sort the split peas first. So I looked it up on google and found out that the purpose of sorting the peas is to make sure no random stones or chunks of dirt have made it into the bag and inadvertently into your soup.

RATING: 7. It is definitely better then the canned versions I am used to and now that I know it is so easy to make I doubt I will go back.

Black Bean Burritos - Take 2

I made these black bean burritos again, this time with better results. The first time I attempted to find a healthy version of a soft tortilla shell without any preservatives and ended up with a pasty version that was rock hard and difficult to fold after only seconds of being heated. This time I stuck with the usual slightly less healthy but much more tasty tortilla shell and I enjoyed the meal even more. This time around I did discover two new products:
Armstrong cheese - a surprisingly good light style cheese. I purchased the old variety. I usually find light cheeses to be tasteless but this brand is very flavourful.
Newman's Own salsa - is a salsa made of all natural ingredients with low sugar and salt levels.

If you want to see my original post click here
SERVED WITH: All on their own. I ate one and half and was stuffed full.

COOKING TIPS: If you like your food spicy then double the amount of chili peppers the recipe calls for.

RATING: Still an 8.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

If you are in need of something a little sweet these cookies will do the trick. Even though this was my first time making the cookies I played around with the recipe a little. Instead of using Splenda or other sugar substitute I used real sugar but cut the amount in half. Now I know the point of the GI Diet is to try to eliminate sugar from your diet but I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners and I find most recipes turn out well and still taste sweet enough if I use just a touch of real sugar. I won't make these cookies all the time, not because of the taste but because I would consider this a special treat and my 10% cheat of the week. (on the GI Diet you are allowed to cheat 10% of the time)


SERVED WITH: A cup of coffee or tea

COOKING TIPS: Don't over bake the cookies. The 10 minutes cook time suggested is just perfect.

RATING: 8. These cookies don't have the chewy texture of a traditional cookie and are a touch dry but still a nice treat.

Sun Tea

I came across the idea of sun tea while browsing through one of my favorite blogs, Design Sponge. I don't drink much else other then water, coffee, tea and the occasional glass of wine. Sometimes it would be nice to have a cold drink with a little more flavour but most juices and pops are laden with sugar. That is why sun tea caught my interest.

I looked up several recipes but they all vary widely. So tonight I just decided to make up my own sun tea by throwing a bunch of stuff into a glass jar (or large measuring cup because that was all I could find in the cupboard) I had some left over mint sprigs and lemon from my dinner so that is what I used.

Traditionally, you throw your herbs into a jar, fill it with cold water and let it sit in a sunny window to brew all day. At the end of the day you pop it into the fridge to cool for a few hours before you serve it in a tall glass with a few cubes of ice. Other sites I came across suggested speeding up the process by adding boiling water to the jar instead of cold and placing it in the fridge as soon as it cooled down a little. I went with speedy version. If you want to read a more detailed post about sun tea visit the Design Sponge blog by clicking here.

The end result...it was good. I was not blown away but it was different way to enjoy a refreshing glass of water. I actually diluted it with a little more cold water to tame it down a little. It would even be nice with a splash of vodka (not that alcohol is allowed on the GI Diet)

SERVED WITH: This would be a nice accompaniment to any meal.

TIPS: When you boil the water and add it to the herbs it discolours them a little so they are not as pretty to look at. I imagine if you made it the traditional way the herbs would maintain their bright green appearance.

RATING:7. I think if I experiment with some different flavours I could come up with a mixture that I would really enjoy.

Chicken Fried Rice made with leftover Coffee and Spice Rubbed Chicken

I have had this post sitting as a draft for quite a while. I just haven't gotten around to writing it out.

So basically what I did one time way back when I made some coffee and spice rubbed chicken was use my leftover chicken to create a new meal. I simple took some left over chicken and brown rice and fried it up with some peas, carrots, and low sodium soya sauce. Just when it was about ready to serve (once the veggies were tender and hot) I stirred in a whisked egg. This is my version of homemade chicken fried rice.

SERVED WITH: Nothing at all. I make this when I have leftover chicken and am not in the mood to spend 30 minutes in the kitchen.

COOKING TIPS: Throw in whatever veggies you want. Celery, bok choy, and even white beans or chick peas would taste good.

RATING: 7. It's an average meal for a night when you want something speedy.

Black Bean Burritos

I am getting hungry just looking at the pictures above. These black bean burritos are yummy and hearty. This is another one of those vegetarian GI Diet meals that you would swear has meat in it. Not because of the flavor but because of how delicious and filling it is. I did however have a hard time finding a soft tortilla shell that I would consider to be healthy and ended up with a pasty version that hardened quickly after being heated up. But despite my tortilla fiasco I still enjoyed this dish and would certainly make it again. If I find a better shell the next time I will definitely let you know.

SERVED WITH: Feeling lazy that night I served them all on their own. But they would have been nice with a healthy garden salad.

COOKING TIPS: Heat up your tortilla shells as you eat them. No matter the variety of shell they will go hard if left to sit to long after being heated up.

RATING: 8. Imagining I made them with better shells.

Lemon Linguine with Smoked Salmon

I was saving this dish for a friend of mine. I had a feeling she would enjoy it so I waited to make it on a night she and her husband could come over for dinner. I am not a huge huge fan of smoked salmon or green peas but this dish was quite pleasant. The tangy lemon flavor was particularly suitable for the warm summer evening we enjoyed it on.

SERVED WITH: You could serve this meal with a side salad but I found it filling all on it's own, it is pasta after all.

COOKING TIPS: It is so super simple to make. The shape of the linguine was a nice change from traditional spaghetti noodles.

RATING: 8. It was enjoyable to eat and was simple and quick to make. The perfect dish for entertaining.

Quick Strawberry Jam

OK so this recipe is definitely not from the GI Diet cookbook but I thought I would share it anyways. I have been feeling like a home body lately and into experimenting in the kitchen and I decided I wanted to learn how to make jam. I was browsing through some old magazines and I came across this recipe for "Quick Strawberry Jam" . This is not jam in the traditional sense but if you want to whip up a tasty treat it will do the trick.

This recipe has a lot of SUGAR! so be warned. The next time I make it I am going to experiment a little more and cut the sugar in half and then try it without any sugar at all. After all fruit is usually sweet enough on its own so it may work out. Although sugar sometimes adds to the texture of the finished product. I will let you know once I polish off this jar by having it on my toast every morning. So much for completely getting back on the GI Diet

SERVED WITH: Toast and tea

COOKING TIPS: If you don't mind using Splenda or another sugar substitute I am sure you can make this jam a sugar free treat. This jam is quick and easy to make.

RATING: 7. It is a little to sweet for my liking.