I shared a US written recipe to a friend in Sweden and realized that I did so without thinking. They, more than likely, use the metric system and the US system uses something else entirely. When I lived in Germany, I dealt with this every day. After two years of living there, I started to think of my recipes in terms of kilos, grams, liters, and milliliters and it took me a while to get used to the US system again after moving back.

Making conversions became so natural, I stopped thinking about it. I tried to explain it but realized that there had to be an easier way.  So there are a few ways you can go about making the conversions. The first, is to commit all the measurement conversions to memory. For example, 30 grams is roughly 1 ounce and 250 ml is roughly 1 liquid cup.

If that’s too cumbersome or math frustrates you, you can try using a conversion calculator such as this one which I found on the Southern Food site at About.com. Since I was confronted with the need to make the conversions nearly every day, I found it easier to commit everything to memory.

Another great tip is to use a scale such as the one pictured here . This one has both kilograms and pounds so you can make the accurate conversion automatically. I use this method sometimes as I have a good scale on hand.

It’s not hard to eat well when there’s good food around. For me, weight loss success has a lot to do with my options. If I turn my weight loss efforts into a culinary adventure, it is a strong motivator for me to stick with it. Buckwheat pancakes and fruit compote for breakfast. Lentil soup, a piece of crusty bread, and a small salad for lunch. Snacking on fruit, hummus, tzatziki, whole grain crackers, peanut butter.

There are so many healthy food options, who would even desire to eat junk?

I used to think that coffee was part of a good food diet, same with chocolate. But I’ve elminated caffeine because of my adrenal glands and I miss neither.  My endocrine system, I’ve decided, is currently out of balance and is hurting my efforts to lose pounds.

So how am I doing? The scale is, quite literarly, stuck. I’ve lost a few pounds and now I can’t tell if my weight is haywire again because of my hormones or if those few pounds of weight loss have stuck. Meanwhile, I am still working on building my healthy habits.

Over the course of my healthy eating journey, I’ve discovered that there are some flavors I like, and others I don’t care for. Today, for example, I really wanted a tuna fish sandwich. Instead of making one, I bought one that had Asian ingredients mixed in (wasabi and ginger). I was excited at the prospect of trying something new. I couldn’t finish it. The flavors, as it turns out, do not translate well to tuna salad.

So what healthy foods have I really been enjoying? Here’s a list:

• Dark chocolate - It needs to be at least 75% - but 85% is even better.

• Spaghetti tonno - I always use this recipe (or rather, my own unmeasured version of it).

• The olive bar at Whole Foods - I always seem to get a combination of olives and lupini beans. Today I decided to try the marinated mushrooms, too.

• Dolmades - I love my own version but it’s time consuming. Whole Foods has a great version in the freezer case. It’s lemony and uses whole grain rice.

• Fresh baked bread - The other day I rediscovered the joys of making my own and making it look pretty. A fresh baked loaf from the baker is almost as good.

• Plain Greek yogurt - At first I thought I prefered the whole fat version. In fact, I do - but the 2% fat one is still tasty. I can eat this yogurt plain and enjoy the creamy tartness. Once I lose the weight, I think I’ll switch back to the full fat.

• Soup - My favorites lately are minestrone, potato leek, lentil, creamy mushroom, and the Tomato Red Pepper Bisque at Trader Joe’s

• Fruit salad - I can’t help that I like fruit salad this way - I take all manner of fruits and cut them up into small pieces. I put them into a dessert glass and pour a little cream over it. Better than ice cream or cake because it is rich in minerals. But it’s still a treat that I don’t indulge in often.

In the coming weeks, I know this list will grow as I get back in touch with my favorite healthy foods. Cravings for junky sugar are diminishing as I replace them with these delicious offerings.

I made two loaves of bread today. One was from a mix - all I needed to add was water and yeast. The second was loosely based on this recipe. Both breads ended up looking (and tasting) beautiful. I felt like I had a breakthrough.

You see, I always thought bread needed to go in a bread pan. Without thinking I’d spray the pan with cooking spray or grease it and then plop the dough in. The end result didn’t have much of a crust- and I LOVE crusty bread.

I did something a little different today. Instead of putting the dough in a pan, I formed it into a rounded loaf and placed it on a baking sheet. I applied an egg wash (just with egg whites because I had some in the fridge in a carton) with a pastry brush. On one bread I then sprinkled corn meal. I left the multigrain bread plain. Both have a great crust and a nice professional look.

So the next time you bake bread, think twice before you put it in a loaf pan. Try doing an egg wash and forming it into a rounded loaf shape. You can put cornmeal, too. That would work best for white loaves. You’ll be amazed at how professional it looks.

One of the best cooking tips that I know is to always keep a container of pesto in the house. You can either make your own or buy it - I get mine from either Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s - both are excellent. There’s so much you can do with pesto. I love making salad dressings or last minute pasta dishes out of it.  So, I thought I’d share with all of you some of the many things you can do with pesto.

• Make salad dressing. Stir together 2 tbs olive oil, 1 tbs vinegar, and one teaspoon of pesto for a delicious salad dressing.

• Use it as a marinade. You can prepare the dressing, above, and actually use it to marinate meat or chicken. You can also spread the pesto on chicken, seafood such as salmon, or steak before grilling or baking.

• Quick pasta dish. Toss pesto in with some pasta. I like using ziti or rotini but you can use anything. Sometimes I mix in a small amount of tomato sauce and cream.

• Roasted vegetables. Roast vegetables such zucchini and eggplant. (Sprinkle vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them out on a baking sheet, and bake for 45 minutes.) When vegetables are done, transfer to a serving bowl and toss with pesto.

• Spread for crackers and bread. This is much tastier than butter! I like to spread the pesto directly onto those Wasa crackers or on a piece of whole wheat bread.

• Pesto Cheese Dip. You can mix 2 tbs of pesto with 8 ounces cream cheese for a quick cheese dip.

Do you have any ideas for things you can do with pesto? Share them in the comments!

Sometimes, there just isn’t time to make a healthy supper from scratch. So, I need to raid the pantry or freezer. There are plenty of canned soups and prepackaged, frozen meals that are healthy. But, they always seem to be missing something. To me, they’re bland. They lack that personalized touch that makes home cooking so great.

My way of getting past that is to put the food on a pretty dish or bowl and garnish it or add extra ingredients to give it a homemade feel. Here’s a few examples of what I mean:

• Canned Soups. To spice up canned soups, I heat the soups up in a saucepan. While it’s warming, I take some time to chop up some fresh herbs. My favorites are chives and parsley (but I never use both). I also like to use scallions. Pour the soup in a bowl when it’s down and garnish with the fresh herbs.
• Frozen Meals. Warm up the meal according to the package directions. Remove food from the tray and place in a plate or bowl. Garnish with chopped, fresh herbs.
• Mac and Cheese. I once helped my sister make her packaged mac and cheese seem homemade. So, we cut up some scallions and mixed it in after the it was all prepared.

You can make anything seem homemade by garnishing with fresh herbs. You can also add extra ingredients. For example, you can add cooked chicken to a canned vegetable soup or extra cheddar cheese to a packaged mac and cheese.