I Love to Eat and Play My Tricks

Many of you have asked me, “How can I stay on Dr. Oz’s plan when I have a family or a significant other to shop and cook for as well?” You say they won’t eat the healthy stuff, and I say all you have to do is cheat for them and play tricks on them! (hehe)

Below I will list some easy ways to trick them along with an awesome family recipe that used to be bad for us, but I changed it without them even knowing.  I cheated and turned it into a healthy homemade meatloaf complete with a very healthy topping – and to this day they still don’t know!

My Cheat Tips (Remember, don’t tell them!)

1. Anything that walks on 4 legs you should only eat once per week, so anything you’d normally use ground beef in, switch it to ground turkey breast. Make sure it’s the breast.
2. If you buy spaghetti sauce in a jar because it’s easier, buy the lowest-sodium brands available (400mgs or less). The trick is to add a can or 2 of no-sodium crushed tomatoes to make it even healthier.
3. Change your white pastas to whole-wheat pastas. They won’t even know the difference.
4. Cut up all different fresh fruits, arrange them nicely on a platter and stick it in the frig. Don’t tell them it’s there, wait until they ask, “Can I have some of this or did you make it for a special occasion?” This is one of my favorite tricks! You can do this with veggies too!
5. When making scrambled eggs or omelets, use 1 egg and 2 egg whites.
6. If they insist on drinking powdered drinks that call for a whole cup of sugar, only make it with half a cup. Put a nice pitcher of water next to it in the fridge. Eventually they’ll be pouring a glass of water instead – and you just tricked them out of a sugary drink!
7. Never cook with salt. Use fresh herbs for flavor.
8. Lead by example. Don’t salt your food; don’t even bring salt to the table. Fresh ground pepper and red pepper flakes are a great replacement.
9. If they like to bake (or you do once in a while) use organic, unsweetened applesauce instead of oil. Use egg whites instead of the whole egg.
10. Marinate your chicken breast in a tasty low sodium marinade, so that you can keep dishes tasting fresh and new – and they won’t say, “Chicken again?”

Healthy Meatloaf Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds ground turkey breast (or 1 pound of the leanest ground beef you can find mixed with 1 pound of ground turkey breast (PS—I make my burgers this way, too.)

1/2 cup of old-fashioned uncooked oatmeal

3/4 cup of Jen’s Heart Healthy sauce and topping (see below)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion 

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder and/or fresh chopped garlic

Directions

Mix all ingredients together, put it in a loaf pan and top it with an additional 1/2 to 3/4 cup of Jen’s Heart Healthy sauce and topping. Bake at 375 degrees for about 40-50 minutes or until the middle is cooked through. Instead of gravy, top their meatloaf with my Heart Healthy sauce. (Remember you are tricking them! So don’t tell them it’s healthy. It’s OK to cheat when it’s good for their health!)

Slice up the leftovers, brush lightly with my special sauce and grill them up they make great sandwiches the next day! Again, you can use my topping on your sandwich instead of mayo.

Jen’s Heart Healthy Sauce and Topping

Ingredients

1 can low-sodium (400 mgs or less) tomato soup. Do not add water.

1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup of sugar substitute

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 cup grated onion

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 tbsp low-sodium Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Place all ingredients in blender and blend. This will keep for months in the refrigerator.