About Donna

 

Hi, I’m Donna and welcome to my little corner of the world, my kitchen.

A little about me -I am married to a wonderful man Don, and mother to 3 awesome kids, (well adults now) and a soon to be first time grandmother.  I am so excited!!

As the eldest of five children it was my job after school to get supper started for the family.  So began my life-long passion for food and cooking.  Throughout the years as my passion for cooking increased, unfortunately so did my weight.  In my earlier years I went on every “diet” that was out there and grew to despise the word.  I was so committed to losing weight and helping others lose weight that I owned two professional weight loss centres which I operated for over 10 years, helping hundreds of people lose thousands of pounds.  I know that losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight is a never ending battle!

I love creating and cooking healthy meals and experimenting with new foods and flavors.  I try to live a healthy balanced life and also try to maintain the 80/20 rule.  80% clean-healthy eating, and 20% sanity-keeping splurges.  I am after all human, and on a bad day it could be 60/40.

I was inspired by clients, family and friends to start this blog and share with you my healthified versions of old family favorites and new recipes that I love to create.   I also have a number of favorites that are not necessarily “healthy foods”, but if eaten in moderation I believe that the “bad” foods can be part of a well-balanced diet.  Most of the recipes you will find here include fresh ingredients, very limited canned goods or prepared foods.  I like to use butter, not margarine (margarine shares many of the same ingredients found in paint), and sugar or stevia, not aspartame.  Lots of green vegetables, fresh fruit and herbs are also found in my recipes as I love to grow my own vegetables and herbs and store them in the freezer or can them for winter use. I use a wide variety of protein sources such as meat, cheese, beans, quinoa and wild rice.

Besides cooking, I love to spend time at our lake home at beautiful Candle Lake SK, gardening, travel during the winter, especially to Mexico, read and collect inspiring quotes.

Thank you for stopping by my kitchen.  I’d love to hear from you.  You can contact me at donna@dhaggarty.com 
I also love supporting and helping people lose weight.  Please feel free to join my support group at
A HEALTHY NEW U