Salad Days

What’s Going On with Your Partner

Physically

Emotionally

What’s Going On with the Baby

It’s going to be a busy first month. About two hours after you had sex, one very lucky sperm will have fertilized the egg, and, voila, you’ve got yourself a zygote. By the end of the day, the zygote will divide into two cells and is now, technically, an embryo. Your tiny bundle of cells will continue to divide, and four to seven days after conception it will implant itself comfortably into the wall of your partner’s uterus, where it’ll stay until birth. By the end of this month, your little embryo will be about one quarter inch long—10,000 times bigger than when it was just a zygote—and will have a heart (but no brain), and tiny arm and leg buds.

Fresh or Frozen
Whether your baby was conceived in a lab or a bed, your future child will develop in the same way. A few days after conception, the embryo—now about eight cells—may be implanted in your partner’s uterus. Some clinics wait a few more days, until the embryo develops into a blastocyst. The reason is that in the wild, fertilization usually takes place in the fallopian tubes and the embryo travels for a few days until arriving in the uterus where it implants in the wall. Not all embryos, however, develop into blastocysts, so waiting until they do gives your fertility doc a better shot at implanting something that has a strong chance of survival.

Ideally, if you’re doing IVF, the lab will fertilize a “fresh” egg—one that has just been retrieved from your partner (or a donor). Fresh embryos result in far more pregnancies and live births than frozen ones. However, fresh isn’t always a possibility (the eggs may have been fertilized before you or your partner went through a medical procedure—like chemotherapy—that could potentially have damaged either her eggs or your sperm. Or the eggs may have been retrieved from a faraway donor). Interestingly, fresh may not always be better. In independent studies, researchers in Finland, the U.S., and Australia all found that while defrosted embryos result in fewer pregnancies, the babies that are produced that way are less likely to be born prematurely, be born underweight, or die soon after birth. No one has any idea why that is.

What’s Going On with You

Thrills
I still have the white bathrobe I was wearing the morning my wife and I found out we were expecting for the first time. I remember standing nervously in the kitchen, the countertop cluttered with vials of colored powders and liquids, droppers, and the small container filled with my wife’s “first morning urine.” (Fortunately, do-it-yourself pregnancy detection kits are a lot less complicated today than they used to be, but I’m not sure they’re anywhere near as much fun.) Feeling like a Nobel Prize–winning chemist on the edge of making a discovery that would alter the course of the entire world, I carefully dropped several drops of the urine into one of the vials of powder. I stirred the mixture with the specially provided swizzle stick, rinsed it, and slowly added the contents of the other vial.

In all honesty, the results we got twenty minutes later weren’t a complete surprise. But that didn’t make it any less thrilling. I’d always wanted to have children, and suddenly it seemed that all my dreams were finally going to come true. It was like hitting the million-dollar jackpot on the nickel slots.

Relief . . . and Pride
The pregnancy test’s positive result filled me with an incredible feeling of relief. Secretly, I’d always been afraid that I was sterile and that I’d have to be

“Young kids today don’t know how good they have it . . .
I remember the old days before home pregnancy tests.”

satisfied with taking someone else’s kids to the circus or the baseball game. I also felt a surge of pride. After all, I was a man, a fully functional man—all right, a stud, even. And by getting my wife pregnant, I’d somehow lived up to my highest potential.

If you’re not the biological father of your child (your partner conceived using donor sperm), you probably won’t have these feelings. But that in no way means that you’re any less manly—or that you’re going to be any less of a dad—than the rest of us.

Many expectant ART dads feel a different kind of relief: all those months and years of infertility treatment—the emotional ups and downs, the optimism and disappointment—are now a thing of the past. Other dads take longer to get to this point, and some never completely shake the infertility mentality.

Irrational Fears
At some point after the initial excitement passes, a surprising number of men find themselves experiencing an irrational fear that the child their partner is carrying is not theirs. Psychologist Jerrold Lee Shapiro interviewed more than two hundred men whose partners were pregnant, and found that 60 percent “acknowledged fleeting thoughts, fantasies, or nagging doubts that they might not really be the biological father of the child.” The majority of these men don’t actually believe their partners are having affairs. Rather, Shapiro writes, these feelings are symptoms of a common type of insecurity: the fear many men have that they simply aren’t capable of doing anything as incredible as creating life, and that someone more potent must have done the job. Most guys get over these feelings pretty quickly.

IVF dads, who actually didn’t do the biological creating, have their own kind of irrational fears. A lot of guys worry that the sperm samples have been switched and that they’ll end up with a child of a different race. Actually, the issue isn’t so much race as physical similarity. Most IVF couples don’t feel the need to make the circumstances of the pregnancy public. And, like any other dads, they hope their children will look like them—at least enough so that they won’t have to deal with the inevitable “Gee, the baby doesn’t look anything like you” comments. They may choose to tell the kids the true story of their birth later on. But that’s a topic we’ll tackle in the sequel to this book, The New Father: A Dad’s Guide to the First Year.

Morning Sickness
Somewhere between half and 90 percent of all pregnant women experience “morning sickness.” Despite the catchy name, the nausea, heartburn, and vomiting can strike at any hour of the day. No one’s quite sure what causes morning sickness. Some suggest that it’s the pregnant woman’s reaction to changing hormone levels, in particular human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is produced by the placenta and is the same stuff that’s picked up by home pregnancy kits. Others, such as researchers Margie Profet, Samuel Flax-man, and Paul Sherman, contend that morning sickness is the body’s natural way of protecting the growing fetus from teratogens (toxins that cause birth defects) and abortifacients (toxins that induce miscarriage). Morning sickness seems to go hand in hand with food aversions, which a lot of pregnant women also have. The most common aversions are to meat, fish, poultry, and eggs—all foods that can spoil quickly and can carry disease.

Whatever the cause, for most women, morning sickness disappears after about the third month. Until then, here are a few things you can do to help your partner cope:

Staying Involved

Exercise
If your partner was already working out regularly before the pregnancy, she probably won’t need any extra encouragement to exercise. And if her doctor approves, she can continue her regular fitness routine, and do pretty much any kind of working out she wants to (see “Workout No-Nos” on page 42 for some exceptions). Be aware, though, that some health clubs—out of fear of getting sued—may ask a pregnant woman to provide a letter from her doctor. If your partner wasn’t physically active before pregnancy, this isn’t the time for her to take up rock climbing or start training to climb Mount Everest. That doesn’t mean, however, that she should spend the entire pregnancy on the sofa. Getting exercise is critical. It will help improve her circulation and keep her energy level high.

Exercising during pregnancy may also help your partner keep her weight gain steady and reasonable, help her sleep better, improve her mood, and reduce some of the normal pregnancy-related discomforts. In addition, it will improve her strength and endurance, both of which will come in very handy during labor and delivery. Researchers James Clapp and Elizabeth Noble found that women who exercise during the pregnancy have shorter labors and give birth to healthier babies. Others have found that exercise may even lessen the chance that your partner will deliver prematurely or need a Cesarean section.

But because pregnancy can make even the buffest woman feel a little run down, she may not always feel like working out. One way to help motivate her to get the exercise she needs is to work out with her. (See below for a list of good activities you can do together.) The most important thing is to start easy and not push her if you see she’s feeling tired or winded. If your budget doesn’t permit joining a gym or health club, you can always buy pregnancy workout DVDs or even download pregnancy exercise apps to your phone.

Whatever you do, remember that you and your partner will get the greatest benefit and least chance of injury if you exercise regularly—thirty minutes on as many days as you can—rather than sporadically. Here are some great ways of exercising together:

Before starting any kind of workout program, discuss the details with your practitioner and get his or her approval. If you’re doing anything that will work up a sweat, be sure to get enough fluids. Both of you should drink a glass or so an hour before starting and another four to eight ounces every fifteen to twenty minutes while you’re working out.

Workout No-Nos

One final word of advice: Do not panic if your partner engaged in any of these activities before you found out she was pregnant. First of all, there’s nothing you can do about it now, and torturing yourselves won’t undo it. Second, the chances are slim that anything she did will have an impact on the baby in any significant way. Just be careful from here on out.

Nutrition
The principles of good nutrition haven’t changed all that much since you learned about the food pyramid (or, if you remember them, the four basic food groups) in sixth grade. But now that your partner is pregnant, she’ll need about 300 more calories a day than before. (Of course, if she was underweight before the pregnancy or is pregnant with multiples, she might need a little more than that. Defer to her doctor on this one.)

If she was overweight before getting pregnant, this is not the time to go on a diet. At the same time, the fact that she’s “eating for two” is not a license to eat anything she wants. Her practitioner will undoubtedly suggest a diet for your partner to follow, but here are a few important nutritional basics to keep in mind:

PROTEIN
The average woman needs 45 grams of protein a day, but your pregnant partner should take in 70–80 grams per day. If she’s pregnant with twins, however, she’ll need to up her protein intake by another 20–25 grams a day, but not until she’s in the fourth or fifth month. When the fetus is eight weeks old, it has about 125,000 brain-cell neurons. But then production goes into hyperdrive—one thousand new neurons every second—so by the end of the nineteenth week, there are more than twenty-five billion, the most your child will ever have.

Many nutritionists believe that a high-protein diet—especially during the first nineteen weeks of pregnancy—supports this surge in brain-cell growth in the baby. Fortunately, most women already eat plenty of protein, so you shouldn’t have to pay too much attention. But if you feel you need to be involved, lean proteins are always the best bet. Low-fat milk is one of the easiest sources of protein: one glass has about 8 grams. (Drinking milk may have other benefits as well. Dr. Fariba Mirzaei of the Harvard School of Public Health found that daughters of mothers who drank four glasses of milk per day while pregnant, were 56 percent less likely to develop multiple sclerosis than daughters of women who drank less than three glass per month. If your partner can’t drink milk, high doses of vitamin D produced similar results. But check with her practitioner before she takes any supplements.) Other good sources are skinless chicken, lean meats, low-fat cheese, tofu (soybean curd), peanut butter, and cooked fish (but be careful with fish; see “Nutritional and Chemical No-Nos” on pages 48–51). Eggs (cooked, not raw) are another excellent choice; hard-boiled, they travel well and make a handy between-meal snack.

IRON
If your partner doesn’t get enough iron, she may become anemic and begin to feel exhausted. She should try to get three servings of iron-rich foods per day. Spinach, dried fruits, beef, fortified cereals, and legumes are all good sources, but since a lot of your partner’s iron intake is being used to manufacture the fetus’s blood, she may need still more than she can possibly get from food alone. If so, her doctor will prescribe some over-the-counter supplements, but probably not until sometime after the third month. ( The doctor may also have her take prenatal vitamins, which contain some extra iron.) If possible, your partner should take the tablets with a glass of orange juice—it (along with other sources of vitamin C) will help her body absorb the iron. One warning: iron supplements frequently cause constipation.

CITRUS FRUIT (AND OTHER FOODS HIGH IN VITAMIN C)
Vitamin C is critical to the body’s manufacture of collagen, the stuff that holds tissue together. It also helps ensure the baby’s bone and tooth development. Your partner should have a total of at least seven servings a day of fruits and vegetables.

CALCIUM
Calcium is critical to the manufacture of the baby’s bones. And since so much of your partner’s calcium intake goes directly to the baby, she needs to make sure there’s enough left over for herself—1,200 to 1,500 mg per day. If not, the growing fetus will leach it from your partner’s bones, potentially increasing her risk of developing osteoporosis later in life. The best sources of calcium are milk and other dairy products. But if your partner is allergic to milk or is lactose intolerant (a condition that affects as many as fifty million Americans), many doctors will advise her to stay away from it—especially if she’s planning to breastfeed (her milk allergy could be passed to the baby). Good alternate sources of calcium include pink salmon (canned, with soft bones, is okay), tofu, broccoli, calcium-fortified orange juice, eggs, oyster-shell calcium tablets, and TUMS 500s.

GREEN AND YELLOW VEGGIES
Besides helping form red blood cells, green and yellow vegetables (which, strangely enough, include cantaloupe and mango) are excellent sources of iron and vitamins A and B, which will help your partner’s body absorb all that extra protein she’ll be eating. Vitamin A may also help prevent bladder and kidney infections. In addition, these vegetables are an excellent source of folic acid, which can help reduce the incidence of brain and spinal cord defects, especially in the early months of the pregnancy. The prenatal vitamins your partner is probably taking will help augment the folic acid she’s getting from her food. The darker the green, the better it is for your partner; she should try to have a serving or two per day. And hey, it wouldn’t do you any harm to do the same.

GRAINS AND OTHER COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES
Grains (including breads and cereals) are basically fuel for your partner’s body, and she should have at least four servings a day. Since her body will burn the fuel first, if she doesn’t get enough there may not be enough for the baby. Grains are generally low in calories and high in zinc, selenium, chromium, and magnesium—all essential nutrients. They’re also high in fiber, which will help your partner combat the constipating effect of iron supplements. Good sources includes whole-grain breads (keep her away from white bread for a few months if you can), brown rice, fresh potatoes, peas, dried beans, and quinoa.

WATER
As if she doesn’t have enough to do already, your partner should try to drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water (or unsweetened, non-caffeinated fluids) a day—more if she’s doing a lot of exercise or if she’s pregnant during the summer. This will help her to replace the water she loses when she perspires (which she’ll do more during pregnancy) and to carry away waste products. Keep in mind that at any given moment, about half of the population is walking around somewhat dehydrated, which puts them at increased risk of developing all sorts of problems, including kidney stones and urinary tract cancers.

FATTY FOODS
Despite all the hype about low- or no-fat diets, the fact is that your partner, like everyone else in the world, needs to consume at least some fat. She’ll probably be getting most of what she needs in the other things she’s eating during the day. But no more than 30 percent of her total caloric intake should come from fat. A diet too rich in fatty foods isn’t good for her or your growing baby-to-be. Monounsaturated fats (avocado, peanuts, olive oil, canola oil) are best, followed by polyunsaturated fats (margarine, mayonnaise, walnuts). The worst kind are saturated fats (bacon, lard, butter) and trans fats—basically anything that has the words “partially hydrogenated” or “hydrogenated” on the ingredients panel.

“Is it organic?”

Going Organic
Grocery store shelves are filled with organic everything. But how much of this craze is hype, just another excuse to mark things up even more? Well, there’s no way to give you an exact statistic, but it just seems to make sense that we should try to minimize the amount of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and other nasty gunk that shows up in our food. The Environmental Working Group estimates that you can reduce your exposure by as much as 80 percent by avoiding the worst fresh fruits and veggies. They’ve got a complete list (foodnews.org/fullest.php) of the produce items that you and your partner should avoid, as well as the ones that pose little or no danger (meaning there’s no sense paying extra for organic). I’ve included the ten worst and the ten best below. If you can’t stay away from the bad ones, at least wash them very, very carefully.

NO NEED TO BUY ORGANIC
Onion
Avocado
Sweet
Corn
Pineapple
Mangos
Sweet
Peas
Asparagus

Kiwi Cabbage
Eggplant

DEFINITELY BUY ORGANIC
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Blueberries
Nectarines
Bell
Peppers
Spinach
Kale
Cherries

Nutritional and Chemical No-Nos
Here’s the deal. Generally speaking, if your partner eats it, drinks it, breathes it, or smells it, so does your growing baby.

Here’s a great example of what happens when people get something only half right. Remember what I said about smoking causing low-birth-weight babies? Well, in Great Britain, smoking during pregnancy—especially among teen girls—is disturbingly common. These young girls somehow got the idea into their head that having a smaller baby would make labor and delivery less painful. What they didn’t understand was that low birth weight is only the beginning. Smoking also increases the odds of miscarriage, birth defects, stillbirth, and premature birth. Babies born too soon have a higher risk of all sorts of problems later in life: respiratory illness, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and heart problems, just to name a few. And they often go through nicotine withdrawal right after birth, just like crack babies. It also affects the mom, by increasing her risk of developing placental previa (where the placenta covers the opening to the uterus) and placenta abruption (where the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus before delivery), as well as of going into labor prematurely. Am I scaring you? I sure as hell hope so.

You can get a comprehensive listing of domestic eco-hazards online from www.greenhome.com. Contact information is in the Resources section.

A WORD ABOUT A VEGETARIAN DIET
If your partner is a vegetarian, there’s no reason why she and the baby can’t get the nutrition they need—especially if she eats eggs and milk. But if she’s a strict vegan, you should check with your doctor or a good nutritionist for special guidance.

A FINAL NOTE ON NUTRITION

Helping your partner eat right is one of the best things you can do to ensure that you’ll have a healthy, happy baby (and a healthy, happy partner). But don’t be too hard on her. Being pregnant is tough enough without having someone standing over her shoulder criticizing every choice she makes. While she’d undoubtedly be better off eating nothing but healthy foods all the time, an occasional order of fries or a candy bar isn’t going to do any long-term damage. Finally, be supportive. This means that you should try to eat as healthily as she does. If you absolutely must have a banana split and you’re not planning to share, do it on your own time (and don’t brag about it).

A Special Note for Adoptive and ART Dads
If you’re one of the many expectant adoptive parents who has met your future baby’s birth mother, or you’ve hired a surrogate, do whatever you can to support her pregnancy without being annoying. Encourage her to exercise, stop smoking, eat right, take her prenatal vitamins, go to her regularly scheduled medical appointments, and so on.

The Hunger Campaign
One of the things I constantly underestimated while my wife was pregnant was how incredibly hungry she would get, and how quickly it would happen. Even though she might have had a snack before leaving the office, by the time she got home she’d be ravenous again.

If you’ve been doing most of the cooking at your house, things probably won’t change much during the pregnancy. But if your partner has been making the meals, there are a few things you can do to simplify her life significantly:

Stocking Up
If you keep the following items on hand, you or your partner should be able to throw together a healthy meal or snack anytime.

Recipes

Power Shake
½ cup skim milk
1 banana
12 strawberries
juice of 2 oranges

Combine ingredients in a blender or food processor and serve over crushed ice or straight up chilled.

Basic Quick Snacks

Open-Face Mexican Omelet
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cilantro, finely chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
¼ cup green and/or red pepper, chopped
¼ cup red onion, diced
black pepper to taste

If eating the egg yolks aggravates your partner’s morning sickness, use only the whites. Whisk eggs in a bowl or measuring cup and pour into a medium nonstick frying pan. Turn heat on low. As eggs begin to cook, add all other ingredients. Simmer until egg becomes firm, and slide omelet onto plate for serving.

Microwave Oatmeal
¹⁄3 cup oats (you can use 1-minute, 5-minute, quick, or regular)
2⁄3 cup water
½ banana, sliced
dash cinnamon
¹⁄8 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk
1 tablespoon wheat germ

Put the oats in a 1-quart microwave-safe bowl. Stir in the water, banana, cinnamon, and vanilla. Microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the concoction starts steaming or bubbling. Take out and stir again. Add milk to taste. Sprinkle with wheat germ for extra vitamins and protein.

Chocolate Banana Pancakes
½ cup white flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt
½ tablespoon white sugar
½ tablespoon brown sugar (if you’re missing either kind of sugar, just use a whole tablespoon of the one you have)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, but great)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
a bit less than 1 cup milk
½ cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
3 bananas, sliced

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the egg, vanilla, oil, and milk. Mix into a smooth batter. Add the chocolate chips and mix again. Melt the butter on a heated griddle. Pour the batter onto the griddle in large spoonfuls. Then quickly place several banana slices on each pancake. When the bubbles that form on the surface of the pancakes pop, flip them over. Cook until the second side is as brown as the first, and remove from griddle.

Reading the Small Print
Getting healthy food isn’t always as easy as it might seem, and even though labeling requirements are getting more stringent, most food manufacturers aren’t about to do you any favors. So as you’re pushing your cart around the grocery store, be sure to read the labels carefully. In particular, watch out for the following:

Any of the following salads can be served as a main course for lunch or as a side dish for dinner.

Tomato and Basil Salad
The combination of these two ingredients makes a refreshing salad. When available, use fresh basil and local tomatoes for the best flavor.

2 vine-ripened tomatoes
6 to 8 basil leaves
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Slice tomatoes and arrange on serving plate. Shred basil leaves and sprinkle over tomatoes. Cover with the vinegar and oil. Add freshly ground pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator a half hour before serving.

Mixed Green Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Combining different types of greens, such as Boston, red leaf, radicchio, arugula, and endive, makes a green salad more interesting. Raw cucumbers, snow peas, French beans, shredded carrots, and cooked beets also add to the flavor, color, and nutrition of a mixed salad. Stay away from croutons, which are high in calories and low in nutrition.

Thoroughly wash and dry greens, place each serving on a plate, and arrange whatever selection of vegetables you like on top. Just before serving, pour about three tablespoons of balsamic vinaigrette dressing (see recipe below) over each salad.

BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE
2 cloves crushed garlic
2⁄3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard ½ teaspoon chopped parsley
½ teaspoon chopped chives
½ teaspoon chopped basil
¹⁄3 cup oil
salt and pepper

Mix garlic, vinegar, mustard, and herbs together. Whisk oil into the vinegar mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cucumber Salad
2 large cucumbers, sliced
1 medium Bermuda onion, diced
1 cup cider vinegar
½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped

If the cucumbers are not waxy, leave the skin on. Slice the cucumbers thinly (a food processor does the job best). Combine the diced onion with the cucumber slices in a large bowl that can be refrigerated. Pour the vinegar and yogurt over the mixture, cover, and leave in the refrigerator overnight. Serve cold as a side dish, garnished with the dill.

Low-Calorie Pizza
Create your own combination of toppings, including artichokes, olives, and squash, and use an assortment of cheeses, such as blue, cheddar, Swiss, and even low-fat cottage cheese.

4 soft tortillas (found in grocery freezer)
2 fresh plum tomatoes, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 cup mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
1 medium onion, chopped and sautéed
6 teaspoons fresh herbs (oregano, thyme, and basil), minced (or 3 teaspoons dried)
½ cup shredded cheese or low-fat cottage cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place tortillas on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cover with tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms, onions, and herbs. Add cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until tortilla is crisp. Serve hot.

Low-Calorie Cream of Zucchini Soup
This recipe can be varied by substituting carrots, potatoes, or celery for zucchini.

3 medium-size zucchini, seeded and cut into ¼-inch slices
1 medium white onion, diced
1 small chicken bouillon cube (optional; bouillon cubes usually contain MSG)
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh dill
salt and pepper

Put zucchini, onion, and bouillon cube in a saucepan. Add just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until soft (about 10 minutes). Let cool. Transfer to a blender or food processor, add yogurt and dill, and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Quick and Easy Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce
2 large onions, chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
½ pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 16-ounce jars meatless spaghetti sauce
2 14.5-ounce cans stewed tomatoes
1 4-ounce can tomato paste
1 pound tofu, diced into ½-inch cubes
1½ teaspoons dried basil
a generous pinch of cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

In a saucepan, sauté onions in the olive oil over medium heat until they’re translucent. Add mushrooms, and sauté for 5 more minutes (until the mushrooms begin to release their liquid). Add all the other ingredients and simmer for 40 minutes. If sauce won’t be used immediately, let cool, pour into two serving containers, and store in freezer. Defrost as needed.

Spa Potato Chips
3 baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
nonstick cooking spray
paprika to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice potatoes as thinly as possible (a food processor is best). Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Spread out potatoes evenly in pan. Sprinkle with paprika and bake for about 15 minutes, or until crisp.

Spicy Peanut Butter Pasta
1 pound angel-hair pasta
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 generous pinch (¹⁄8 teaspoon) red pepper flakes
10 scallions, thinly sliced
½ cup creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
6 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons white sugar
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced (optional)
cilantro to taste (optional)

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain and drizzle with the sesame oil. Set aside. Sauté garlic and pepper flakes in the peanut or safflower oil in a large frying pan. Add scallions. Turn heat to high and stir for one minute. Remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients and use a wire whisk to thoroughly mix into a thick sauce. Pour over pasta while sauce is still warm. Garnish with cucumber and/or cilantro, if desired.

Garlic Roasted Chicken
1 roasting chicken (3 to 4 pounds)
5 garlic cloves
1 carrot, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
4 small white onions
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ cup white wine (optional)
¼ cup water

Preheat oven to 450°F. Clean chicken and rinse thoroughly with water. Pat dry. Using fingers, make pockets under skin and stuff with garlic cloves. Place chicken in a deep baking dish. Stuff cavity of chicken with carrot and celery slices and onions. Drizzle olive oil on top of chicken. Pour wine and water over chicken. Bake chicken at 450°F for ten minutes to sear. Then reduce heat to 350°F and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a fork.

Rack of Lamb
A festive, delicious dish that is easy to prepare.

¼ cup bread crumbs
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 rack of lamb (ask the butcher to crack the rack, remove excess fat, and French-cut the ribs)
5 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 450°F. In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper. Place rack of lamb in a baking pan, meat side up. Spread mustard on top and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Using a fork, press the bread-crumb mixture into mustard, reduce heat to 350°F, and cook for about 20 more minutes, or until medium rare.

Fruit Salad with Creamy Yogurt Dressing
A refreshing, low-calorie dish for breakfast, lunch, or dessert. As a side dish or dessert, this recipe serves four. As a main course for lunch, it serves two.

1 green apple, cored and diced
1 banana, sliced
juice of 1 lime
1 small bunch of red or green seedless grapes
5 strawberries, halved
1 seedless navel orange (or other citrus fruit), sectioned
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt (or nonfat plain yogurt)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup shredded coconut (optional)
4 to 8 fresh mint leaves (optional)

In a large mixing bowl combine banana and apple, pour lime juice over them, and mix. Add remaining fruit and mix again. In a separate bowl combine yogurt and cinnamon. Just before serving, mix the yogurt dressing and coconut into the fruit. If fresh mint is available, garnish each serving with one or two leaves.