JoAnna Lund

I started by reading HELP by JoAnna Lund.  She claimed to be a Professional Dieter, to which I giggled because that makes me a professional dieter as well.  I could have purchased my dream car out right with what I have spent on diets over the years.  Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, Keto, Xyngular, Optavia, WonderSlim, Slim-Fast, etc.  I have the 1987 as well as the 1994 Deal-A-Meal and Food Mover systems, both manual and electronic, resistance bands, Dvds, Videos and every pill imaginable.   I took Fenfen before it was found to be extremely dangerous, most recently I purchased the Amazing KETO cut from Shark Tank, did NOTHING!!    I read Gwen Shamblin's book on how to lose weight and keep it off forever, Weigh Down where you wait for true hunger before you eat then you priortize the foods into top, middle and last, eating them in that order, even if that means dessert first.  Then you turn to God, read your scriptures, pray then pray some more.

I have purchased every one of JoAnna Lund's books.  She was quite the cookbook author in her time and she uses real food.  She cuts the fat and sugar when she can and uses products that I have actually had a little bit of a hard time finding here in Small Town, Texas.  But, lite sour cream instead of fat free sour cream will have to do.  Most of her books were published in 1990s so maybe companies decided that the products actually needed a little bit of fat after all.  The Healthy Request soups line by Campbell's no longer exists but have been replaced for the most part by 98% fat free soups.  I think I can make HELP work.  

What is HELP?  Healthy Exchanges Lifetime Plan, because if you don't look at it as a lifetime plan or lifelong choice, then it is really just another diet.  And, those don't work!!  Since I have had experience, not success, but experience with SO many diets over the years I could tell that right off the bat her exchanges were very much like Richard Simmons' Deal-A-Meal and Food Mover systems.  You are allotted an amount of items at the beginning of the day, for use during that day.  Now JoAnna was a woman after my own heart, she insisted on having dessert every single night.  Girl, I can work with you!  To make meal planning even easier, she also provided several menus in each cookbook.  Here is an example from The Open Road Cookbook:  "Safe from the Storm" Cozy Candlelight Dinner.  Corn and Chicken Noodle Soup; Honey Mustard Chicken-Potato Bake; Unbelievably Good Green Beans; Chocolate Velvet Ribbon Dessert.

Why not give this menu a try just to see?  What do you have to lose?

Corn and Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 4 (1 1/4 cups)

1 (5oz) can Hormel 97% Fat Free Breast of Chicken, packed in water, drained and flaked

1 (16 oz) can Healthy Request Chicken Broth

1 cup water

3/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 (8oz) can cream-style corn

scant 1 cup (1 1/2 oz) uncooked noodles

2 tsp dried parsley flakes

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

in a medium saucepan, combine chicken, chicken broth, water, celery, and onion.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  stir in corn, uncooked noodles, parsley flakes and black pepper.  Cover and continue simmering for 15 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally.

Each Serving Equals:

HE:  1 1/4 protein, 1 bread, 1/2 vegetable, 16 optional calories

176 calories, 4gm fat, 12 gm protein, 23gm carbohydrate, 624, mg sodium, 24 mg calcium, 2 gm fiber.

Diabetic Exchanges:  1 1/2 starch, 1 meat

Honey Mustard Chicken-Potato Bake

Serves 4

3 cups (10 oz) shredded loose-packed frozen potatoes

1 cup chopped onion

16 oz skinned and boned uncooked chicken breast, cut into 4 pieces

1/2 cup Kraft Fat Free Honey Mustard Dressing

Preheat oven to 400F.  Spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with butter flavored cooking spray.  Layer potatoes and onion in prepared dish.  evenly arrange chicken pieces over top.  Drizzle 2 TBSP Honey Mustard dressing over each pieces of chicken.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover and continue baking for 15 minutes.  Place baking dish on a wire rack and let set for 5 minutes.  divide into 4 equal servings.

Each serving equals:

HE:  3 Protein; 1/2 Bread; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Slider; 10 optional calories

236 calories; 4 gm fat; 26 gm protein; 24 gm carbohydrate; 415 mg sodium; 21 mg calcium; 3 gm fiber

Diabetic Exchanges:  3 Meat; 1 Starch; 1/2 Vegetable

Unbelievably Good Green Beans

serves 4 (1 cup)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 (16oz) cans cut green beans, drained and rinsed

1 (2oz) jar chopped pimiento, undrained

1/2 cup Kraft Classic Caesar Dressing

1/4 cup (3/4oz) Kraft Reduced Fat Parmesan Style Grated Topping

2 TBSP Hormel Bacon Bits

In a large skillet sprayed with butter flavored cooking spray, saute onion for 5 minutes.  Stir in green beans and undrained pimiento.  Add Caesar dressing, Parmesan cheese, and bacon bits.  mix well to combine.  Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Each Serving Equals:

HE:  1 1/4 Vegetable; 1/4 Protein; 3/4 Slider; 3 Optional Calories

122 caloreis; 6 gm fat; 4 mg protein; 13 gm carbohydrates; 537 mg sodium; 30 mg calcium; 2 gm fiber

Diabetic Exchanges:  1 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Starch; 1/2 Fat

Chocolate Velvet Ribbon Dessert

Serves 8

12 (2 1/2 inch) Chocolate Graham cracker squares

1 (4 serving) pkg JELL-O sugar-free instant chocolate fudge pudding mix

2 cups Carnation nonfat dry milk powder

3 1/4 cups water

1 (4 serving) pkg JELL-O sugar-free instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup Cool Whip free

1 (4 serving) pkg JELL-O sugar-free instant white chocolate pudding mix

Arrange 9 graham crackers in a 9x9-inch cake pan, breaking as necessary to fit.  In a large bowl, combine dry fudge pudding mix, 2/3 cup dry milk powder, and 1 1/4 cups water.  mix well using a wire whisk.  carefully spoon mixture evenly over crackers.  refrigerate while preparing next layer.  In same bowl, combine chocolate dry pudding mix, another 2/3 cup dry milk powder and 1 cup water.  mix well, using wire whisk.  Blend in 1/2 cup Cool Whip Free.  spread mixture evenly over set fudge layer.  refrigerate while preparing next  layer.  In a clean bowl, combine dry white chocolate pudding mix, remaining 2/3 cup dry milk powder and remaining 1 cup water.  Mix well with wire whisk.  blend in remaining 1/2 cup Cool Whip Free.  Spread mixture evenly over chocolate layer.  Crush remaining 3 graham crackers and evenly sprinkle crumbs over top.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Cut into 8 squares.

Each Serving Equals:

HE:  3/4 fat free milk; 1/2 bread; 3/4 slider; 5 optional calories

145 calories; 1 gm fat; 7 gm protein; 27 gm carbohydrate; 627 mg sodium; 209 mg calcium; 0 gm fiber

Diabetic Exchanges:  1 1/2 Starch; 1/2 Fat Free Milk

Give this menu a try and let me know what you think.  Doable?  Take this journey with me!  Let's all have a Healthy Lifetime Plan!