Cookbooks Offer Dieters Simple Rules

For 28 years, JoAnna Lund was a professional dieter.

“For every product, drink or program that promised instant weight loss, I was first in line, no matter what it cost my health or my pocketbook,” laughs Lund. “If they said lose 5 pounds in five days, boy, they had me.”

Over that time, Lund doubled her weight to 300 pounds. She had low self-esteem, gout of the big toe, and dangerously high triglycerides (which, like cholesterol, are a risk factor for heart disease). She existed on either carrot sticks with a diet soda as a chaser or ate the whole casserole, the whole pie, the whole bag of donuts.

Then her three children were called up for service in the Persian Gulf. Lund came back from the airport a “woman intent,” with the goal of recapturing her health.

She developed her own program and her own recipes. She lost 130 pounds, which she’s kept off. Now she has several cookbooks, a newsletter, a spice line, her own restaurant and 28 employees.

Lund’s cookbooks follow four basic recipe rules:

If it takes longer to cook it than eat it, forget it.

It must be low in fat and sugar, and moderately low in sodium.

It must satisfy the hungry appetite of my truck-drivin’ husband, Cliff.

If I can’t go find the ingredients in my local market in DeWitt, Iowa, then it doesn’t go in the book.

Here’s a recipe from Lund’s latest book that uses an unusual combination of ingredients to create a fantastic chicken dish.

Chicken Breasts With Raspberry Sauce From “HELP: Healthy Exchanges Lifetime Plan” by JoAnna Lund (G.P. Putnam’s Sons).

2 teaspoons reduced-calorie margarine

1 pound skinless and boneless chicken breast, cut into 4 pieces 1/2 cup Diet Mountain Dew

1/4 cup raspberry spreadable fruit

In a large skillet, melt margarine. Place chicken pieces in skillet and brown on both sides. Lower heat. Reserve 1 tablespoon Diet Mountain Dew. Pour remaining Diet Mountain Dew over chicken. Cover and simmer 14 minutes or until chicken is tender.

In a small bowl, combine remaining 1 tablespoon Diet Mountain Dew and raspberry spreadable fruit spread. Evenly drizzle over chicken pieces. Continue cooking 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce is warmed.

To serve, place 1 piece of chicken on each plate and evenly drizzle any remaining sauce over top.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 170 calories, 2 grams fat (11 percent fat calories), 26 grams protein, 12 grams carbohydrate, 88 milligrams sodium.

, DataTimes MEMO: The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

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