It’s not enough to just lose the pounds, you have to keep them off. There is nothing worse for your body than fad diets or yo-yo dieting. Effective long term weight management strategies should be an integral part of any weight loss program, as should sound nutritional guidelines.

12 corn tortillas
Olive oil
Salt

How to Make It:

Set the oven temperature to 350 degrees and preheat.
Mist 2 large baking sheets with olive oil.
Gently break the tortillas in half and cut each half into 3 triangles.
Spread the tortilla pieces in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets.
Lightly mist the tortillas with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt.
Bake the chips for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 6 servings

Almost all children love tortilla chips and these ware no exception. They are much healthier than store bought chips and the kids can whip them up in no time, which makes them even better. Eat them alone or add a favorite homemade dip or homemade salsa for the perfect snack.

Preparation Time: approximately 20 minutes
Baking Time: approximately 10 minutes
Total Time: approximately 30 minutes

1 1/4 C of cottage cheese
1/2 C of celery, chopped fine
2 tbsp raisins
1 C of pears, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon

How to Make It:

Place the cottage cheese into a bowl.
Stir in the celery and raisins well.
Fold in the pears.
Sprinkle with the cinnamon and stir well.

Makes 4 servings

This delicious little salad is a great beginner’s salad for children to make. At first you might need to do the chopping but it won’t take long and they will be doing it all themselves.

Preparation Time: approximately 10 minutes
Total Time: approximately 10 minutes

1 (12 oz.) can refrigerated flaky biscuits
1 C of pizza sauce
80 pepperoni slices
1 C of mozzarella cheese, shredded

How to Make It:

Spray a cookie sheet with a non stick cooking spray and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Separate the biscuits into 10 individual biscuits and then separate each biscuit into 4 pieces.
Place the biscuits on the prepared cookie sheet.
Spread 1 tsp of pizza sauce over each of the biscuits
Add 2 slices of pepperoni and 2 tsp of cheese to each biscuit.
Bake 8 minutes or until the cheese has melted and tops are golden brown.

Makes 40 mini pizzas

These are a great snack for kids to make if they are having company over. They also work great as a party snack. Let the kids make them with all their favorite toppings or just with cheese if they prefer.

Preparation Time: approximately 20 minutes
Cooking Time: approximately 8 minutes
Total Time: approximately 28 minutes

1 (18 oz.) pkg. refrigerated sugar cookie dough
2 tbsp of sugar
1 qt. of fresh strawberries, washed, stems removed and sliced
1 (3.4 oz.) box of instant vanilla pudding and pie filling
1 C of cold milk
1 1/2 C of frozen whipped topping, thawed

How to Make It:

Allow the oven to preheat to 350 degrees.
Turn two nine inch round cake pans upside down and cover them both with foil.
Remove the foil, turn the pans over and carefully line each pan with the fitted foil.
Remove the cookie dough and cut in half.
Fit the dough pieces into the prepared cake pans and press it out with your fingers to cover the bottom of the pan all the way to the edges.
Sprinkle the sugar evenly over both pieces of dough.
Bake the dough for 20 minutes or until a light golden brown.
Place the pans on a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes.
Carefully remove the baked dough from the pans using the foil as handles.
Place them back on the wire racks and cool for 20 minutes.
Place the pudding mix into a bowl.
Add the milk and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Fold the whipped topping into the mixture well.
Remove the foil from 1 cookie layer and place the cookie layer on a plate.
Spread half of the pudding mixture over the cookie layer.
Top with half of the sliced strawberries.
Repeat the layers again using 1/2 of the remaining pudding mix and all the strawberries.
Top with dollops of the remaining pudding mixture.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Makes 8 servings

This shortcake can be a little messy to make. Be sure to teach your children about being clean in the kitchen. It’s important they learn food handling, washing their hands and keeping a clean working space. Let them fancy up their cake by adding a few whole strawberries as garnish.

Preparation Time: approximately 30 minutes
Baking Time: approximately 20 minutes
Cooling Time: approximately 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: approximately 2 hours 20 minutes