If you've recently subscribed to this newsletter, I'd like to welcome you aboard. I hope you enjoy the "read" and find the recipes I include here helpful. If you've received this as a forward from a friend, please consider subscribing to the ezine now.

We have a winner in the subscription contest that we launched two months ago. Drumroll please.....and the winner is....Rita of Denmark.

Thanks go out to Rita for being the first to enlist five new subscribers to this newsletter. She will receive (via snail mail) an original cartoon drawing by Omri (our in-house artist). Congratulations!

In this issue you will find:

1. This month's recipe selections--Healthy New Year Salads

2. A cartoon by my son, Omri (our resident "starving artist")

January is almost over, so it's time to check where we stand with the resolutions we made at the very beginning of the month. For those of us who "forgot" to make any, or who have "fallen off" the resolution "horse", I'm here to tell you that there's still time to remount and forge ahead. In other words, don't beat yourself up if you haven't followed through or fulfilled your resolutions to the "nth" degree. Every day is a new opportunity to start again!

My personal New Year's resolution is to exercise more and lose at least 5 pounds by May! So far, I've only watched my exercise tape (without having actually done the exercises....) and okay.....so I had a couple of extra cookies today. But like I said, tomorrow is a new day, and I promise myself that I'll do better.

In order to "help" myself jump back on the diet and exercise bandwagon, I've decided to include a few "healthy" strawberry recipes in this January issue of "Susie's Strawberry Jammin' E-zine. For those of you who can relate to what I'm going through, I hope you'll join me in preparing these easy salad recipes. ENJOY!

Strawberry Almond Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup nonfat or light sour cream
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 pint (2 cups) fresh strawberries
1/2 pint (1 cup) fresh raspberries
1/2 pint (1 cup) fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds, dry roasted

Instructions:

In a food processor, process the cottage cheese until smooth.
Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for 8 hours or until firm.
Place the cottage cheese in a bowl; gently fold in sour cream, honey, and almond extract.
At serving time, slice the strawberries and gently combine with the other berries.
Spoon about 1/3 cup of the berry mixture into individual dessert dishes. Top each serving with 2 tablespoons of the cream mixture.
Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Nutritional information: Calories 94, Protein 5g, Carbohydrate 14g, Cholesterol 3 mg, Total fat 2.5mg (saturated 0.5 g, polyunsaturated 0.5g, monosaturated 1.5g, Fiber 2g, Sodium 21 mg.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite size pieces
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the spinach and strawberries. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds and poppy seeds.
Pour over salad, toss until well mixed and serve.
6 servings.

Get Healthy the Strawberry Way

That wraps it up for this edition of Susie's Strawberry Jammin' Ezine. Here's hoping that we succeed in all our personal goals this year. In the meantime, don't forget to log on to easy-strawberry-recipes.com , your one-stop source for all things strawberry.

"See" you next month when we'll be "romancing the strawberry." Be on the lookout...Cupid's about to strike!

ENJOY!