PEARS MELBA (serves 4) 3 cups water 3" cinnamon stick 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 TBL fresh lemon juice, reserving 1/2 tsp One 1x3" piece of lemon zest 4 large pears, stems intact, peeled, halved & cored 1 TBL cornstarch 10 oz frozen raspberries, thawed, drained, reserve juice 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese 2 tsp sugar Mint leaves In large skillet combine water, cinnamon stick, vanilla, 1 TBL lemon juice & zest. Bring water to high simmer; add pears & poach, covered, 10 minutes. (Can be prepared up to this point, covered & chilled overnight.) Add cornstarch to reserved raspberry juice; heat until slightly thickenened. Add berries: cool. Puree cottage cheese, reserved lemon juice & sugar until smooth & creamy. Matching halves, fill each pear half with 2 TBL cheese mixture; stand upright on plate & press halves together. Level bottom, if necessary by cutting off thin slice. Spoon 2 TBL rasberry sauce over each pear. Place mint leaf at each stem. May chill several hours.~~Sounds Delicious FRESH AUTUMN PEAR BREAD (1 loaf) 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg 1/4 cup buttermilk or yogurt 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh ripe pears, skin left on Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9" loaf pan. In a large bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add the eggs & vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing gently but thoroughly. Gently stir in the pears. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.~~More than a Tea Party PEAR CRISP (serves 6) 6 ripe pears, peeled, cored & sliced 1 TBL lemon juice 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats 1/2 cup brown sugar Place pears in a greased 2 qt baking dish. Toss pears w/lemon juice, cinnamon & nutmeg. In a bowl, combine flour & butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Add oats & brown sugar. Stir well; sprinkle over pears. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 20-25 minutes or until browned & pears are tender. Serve w/ice cream or whipped cream.~~Food for Thought

We are living low carb and I have to disagree with Salena. We stay away from any starches even the whole wheat. Many fruits are high in carbs as well. The best things to be eating is eggs, cheese, meats and green veges. If you are doing it for a diet, train your mind to a new way of life. My dh has lost over 50 lbs since the beginning of the year, I have only lost 16 but am pregnant so I don't count:) Good luck. Go to your local library and check out a low carb book. Though we don't aren't a supporter of Dr. Atkins, he does have a good recipe book out. You can also buy them off ebay. I have a few if you want to email me sometime. Good Luck. Christie

Go to any used bookstore, yard sales or even half.com. I am always buying cookbooks but need to use them more :) Dottie's weight loss zone on the internet has recipes too for Weight Watchers but they are usually low fat. Same with Bootcamp buddies. Another tip - did you know some ground beef is lower in calories than ground turkey? Unless you use ground turkey breast (it specifically says that) you are getting higher fat dark meat and anything else they might put in there. Good luck and just remember because it is low fat does not mean it is low calorie! Kathy_PA

My Dad has the same problems as your Dad. You should make your own bread. Bread has lots of sodium and you can make it sodium free. Milk has lots of sodium. You can buy soy or other grain milks but they have lots of sodium also. But, you can make rice milk real easy and not add salt and either drink or use it in your receipes and it is sodium free. If a salad dressing calls for oil, use water and thicken with cornstarch or arrowroot. I use Fetherweight Baking powder (no sodium), EnerG egg replacer (0 fat, 0 cholesterol, 5 mg. sodium), EnerG baking soda (no sodium). I create my own receipes for my Dad. I gave him a low sodium cookbook (uses less than 500 mg. sodium in a days meals). I cannot remember the name of it. E-mail me and I will let you know.