The DIY Diet

I had never made chicken pot pie before I ran across the Kraft Foods recipe for Gram’s Chicken Pot Pie Updated.

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I don’t buy commercially prepared meals that contain chicken in any kind of sauce, so when I eat chicken in a sauce, I make it myself. I also didn’t think Chicken Pot Pie would be low enough in calories for me to include in my diet. I was wrong.

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In preparation for the Christmas meal I was going to prepare for my family, I was wandering around my local grocery store checking out all the interesting products.

In the freezer compartment I spotted the bin containing Jennie-O Oven Ready Turkey Breast. I checked the instructions on the bag, and couldn’t believe my eyes. The instructions stated that the product went directly from the freezer to the oven to the dinner table!

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It’s name alone sounds elegant and royal - Beef Stroganoff. It’s a satisfying, comforting meal that takes away the chill when the winter wind turns cold and snow flurries fill the air.

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Quiche isn’t as popular as it once was. I don’t remember when I last saw it on a restaurant menu.

To me, it is one of the most elegant fall lunch or brunch entrées you can prepare.

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I learned to make fried rice from my Okinawan-heritage sister-in-law.

She taught me to start with sautéing the vegetables requiring the longest cooking time.

I always had trouble in the end when all the ingredients were at last in the large frying pan.

When I tried to stir the mixture, the rice, meat, and vegetables would fall over the edge of the pan onto the stove. I had to figure out a better way for me to do it because I love homemade fried rice. This recipe is the technique I developed.

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My meatballs and meatloaf recipes are essentially the same.

The meatball recipe I include here is the one I make when I use my homemade spaghetti sauce, or you may wish to use your favorite store-bought brand.

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The tomatoes at our family garden began producing more luscious, ripe tomatoes than we could possibly eat fresh, so my sister-in-law and I are busy preserving them in various ways.

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Several years ago I watched TV personality-gourmet cook Ina Garten make this recipe on her Barefoot Contessa Food Network show and have enjoyed watching repeats of the show several times since then.

I love shrimp and I love this recipe. I’ve modified it slightly to meet my needs. When I invite friends for lunch I often make this entrée. It is easy and quick to make, and is an elegant dish to serve.

I admit, when I have friends for lunch, I will likely go over even the 700 calorie dinner goal, but I will cut back on the other food I eat during that day.

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I’ll bet you never thought you’d be eating a twice baked potato on a diet. As I told you, on the DIY Diet we eat everything because we calculate the number of calories in our food so that we know what we’re eating. I like twice baked potatoes, so it was one of the first foods for which I calculated the calorie count.

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Fall means back to school, and how I loved school!

From the moment I walked into my Northern Minnesota kindergarten classroom filled with large, colorful caricatures drawn on the many blackboard walls by our talented teacher, to the child-size playhouse containing kid-size kitchen appliances and fun furniture for future homemakers to enjoy, the large sandbox filled with trucks and graders and bulldozers, to the many instruments on which we tried to make music, I loved going to school.

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