CHAPTER TWELVE

Level Two: Keep on Cookin’!

Level Two is all about maintaining your weight, which means straying from Level One guidelines only as much as your body can handle. Enjoy any of the Level One dishes from the previous section but try preparing them in the Level Two variations.

Additionally, in this section, I have included a few special recipes that are specific to Level Two. Many of them are Carbo and Veggies recipes in which there is some added fat. These include delicious meals like Whole Wheat Pasta with Pine Nuts, White Bean Garden Salad, and my stunning-looking and -tasting “Candied” Tomato Tart. (But you still won’t find a potato in the batch.)

I’ve also included a number of Level Two desserts. These are perfectly suitable for company and taste lavish without creating as much of an imbalance in your system as their conventional counterparts. For example, my Decadent Chocolate Cake is fudgy and rich, made with dark chocolate, eggs, butter, cream, and a touch of whole wheat flour and sugar. It’s not health food, but it’s much better for Somersizing purposes than a boxed cake mix, loaded with sugar, white flour, and chemicals. The desserts in this book are made with whole wheat flour and a reduced amount of sugar without affecting flavor.

This isn’t to say, however, that you should sit down and polish off a whole Decadent Chocolate Cake. The key to maintaining your weight is moderation. When I want to have dessert, I usually eat a Level One meal and then enjoy a luscious treat.

Have fun in Level Two. Soon you’ll be creating your own recipes and sharing them with your friends. I hope you’ll send me a copy, too!