There are many recipes which can easily be made into much healthier versions without affecting the taste or texture of the food. So whether you are on a healthy eating plan or following a special diet, by using these techniques you should be able to make a healthy eating recipe from any of your old family favorites.

1. Reduce the amount of fat, sugar and sodium in your recipes.

Most recipes will allow a reduction in the amount of fat, sugar and sodium in them without forsaking taste. Just by cutting the amount of fat and sugar you place in your recipe will help to cut the calories. Follow these general guidelines to make the right decision on exactly how much fat, sugar or sodium you can leave out of your recipes.

Fat: Use half the fat that is called for in your recipe and replace the other half with unsweetened applesauce, mashed banana or prune puree instead. If you wish you can use commercially prepared fruit-based fat replacers as well.

Sugar: Again, reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe by about 1/3 to 1/2 and then add such spices as cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, or flavorings such as vanilla extract or almond flavoring. This will help to enhance the sweetness of the food.

Sodium: This should be reduced by 1/2 in baked goods which do not require yeast. For those that do, you should not reduce the amount of salt as it is necessary for the leavening process. If you omit the salt from foods with yeast, they will end up dense and fat. For most main dishes, you can reduce the amount of salt you have by 1/2 or eliminate it completely.

Don’t forget to look at the other ingredients you use in cooking which may contain sugar, fat and sodium. Begin decreasing these as well. If a recipe calls for you a cup of grated cheddar cheese then only use 1/2 a cup in the future.

2. Make Healthy Substitutions.

By “healthy substitutions” we do not just mean reducing the amount of sugar, fat or sodium in your recipes but also look at ways of boosting their nutritional content. So if a recipe calls for whole wheat pasta, replace it with enriched pasta (you will triple the amount of fiber you are having as well as reducing the number of calories). » Read more: How to Easily Create Healthy Eating Recipes From Your Old Favorites

Gardening is great therapy – in all ways and always.

It strengthens the physical frame through:

o Twisting

o Turning

o Bending

o Torqueing

o Stretching

o Rotating

- which in turn affects circulation and improves memory -

‘What’s that?’ you say – ‘How can gardening improve memory?’

Ha ha! – That was simply a throw away line to remind you of one of the most important of all the Laws of Health – UNITY.

o The body works as a whole – all parts work together – that which affects one part, affects all parts.

I like to do my gardening in the early morning – remember, I’m in a sub-tropical / mountain region and the growing season is year long.

I enjoy being able to get outside and soak up the warmth and the life-giving solar radiations from old sol.

Gardening is also one of the best methods of absorbing the complimentary radiations from the earth.

These terrestrial radiations are weak and are best absorbed by our bare feet – in contact with the earth.

Depending upon one’s particular latitude, the effect of these geomagnetic radiations is limited to a short distance from the surface of the earth.

But the greatest reward from gardening comes about -

o the moment that you put a piece of the food that you have grown – into your smiling mouth.

o Knowing that it’s free from chemical poisons, » Read more: When Only the Best Will Do