1. When you started your blog on healthy food, you were a professional in a different field. What made you to start your blog?

I started documenting my Thanksgiving meal on my original mom blog, A Mama's Rant, back in November 2004. I was messing around in my blogging program (TypePad) and realized I could start another blog for free! That motivated me to create This Mama Cooks!  It didn't become a healthy food blog until June 2007 when Alana Kellogg of "A Veggie Venture" inspired me to turn my food blog into a diet and healthy eating blog.

2. You have various diet cooking recipes in your blog. How do you design them?

Sometimes the recipes are a reflection of whatever diet plan I'm trying, though I mostly stay on the Weight Watchers POINTS plan. Now I'm trying to incorporate more whole foods, high ORAC value foods, while staying away from processed, convenience foods. Then there's all the venison and fish that is filling up my freezer. (Did I mention my husband likes to fish and hunt?) If all that ground deer isn't an incentive to create new recipes, I don't know what is. Finally, I "healthify" other's recipes by reducing the fat content, using substitutes like non-fat plain Greek yogurt for sour cream, using lean meats and adding lots of vegetables.

3. How can your readers know whether your healthy family meals are really nutritious?

Whenever possible I try to include nutritional information and Weight Watchers POINTS. I also try to feature recipes that are low in fat, are high in protein and fiber and use whole grains and vegetables.

4. How do you keep your desserts healthy and nutritious?

This is the hardest thing to do because even though I believe in clean, whole foods, I go "off the wagon" with prepared treats like Vitatop brownies. Still I try to stick to "natural" and high ORAC value goodies like dark chocolate and berries, and use Stevia and agave nectar to sweeten pies and other desserts. One of my favorite sweet treats is non-fat plain or Greek yogurt sweetened with stevia and flavored with a big dose of cinnamon.

5.  How do you incorporate regular exercise into your Diet Cooking recipes?

I get up every morning at 5:30 am to work out for 45 minutes. I'm recovering from a back injury so I'm keeping it low impact. I do arm weights and use the stationary bike. I'm doing Pilates physical therapy twice a week and stretching exercises, too.

6. Do you incorporate elements of the organic food movement in your healthy family meals? How do you do it?

I try to use organic produce, meat, milk, and food products whenever possible. My local grocery stores carry a good variety of organic produce and as does Super Target, Natural Grocers, Super Walmart and Costco. Unfortunately the nearest Trader Joes is seven hours away in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Luckily, here in Colorado we have many local farmers growing organic produce and organically raising chickens and cows. And since my husband hunts and we grow our own berries and produce in the summer, we eat organically that way, too.

7. How do you involve your family in cooking? How important is such involvement for family harmony?

My husband is the one who gets the kids cooking. Every time he hands the kids a knife to cut up a piece of fruit, I freak out and have to leave the room. I only come back when it's time to clean up. Still, my kids enjoy cooking with their dad. My oldest child, Nathan, who is 10, occasionally makes us breakfast on weekend mornings. He's a master chef when it comes to scrambled eggs and omelettes. I'm glad my kids are learning to cook. So many people don't and have to rely on take out and processed food. The lack of cooking skills is why so many people eat in such an unhealthy manner. British chef Jaime Oliver is trying to fix this both in the US and the UK, and I think it's wonderful.