Facts Healthy Eating

Blogger Spotlight: The Healthy Cooking Blog

Angela Carlos|

This week, we're proud to feature Holly Clegg of The Healthy Cooking Blog in the Blogger Spotlight. For those new to the column, every Friday, we highlight a member of The Daily Meal's Culinary Content Network, a limited group of bloggers who write about food and drink.

We look to this group of talented food writers for inspiration and participation in The Daily Meal, whether for restaurant recommendations or new recipes to try out for dinner. Our editorial team covers All Things Food and Drink, and we tap the CCN to keep up to speed on what is happening around the country and the world — from fine dining to home cooking.

In addition to blogging at and creating The Healthy Cooking Blog, Holly Clegg is a professionally trained chef, whose interest in the intersection between food and health led her to a successful career as a healthy eating cookbook author.

Dedicated to helping her readers find the balance between foods that taste good and foods that are good for you, Holly's blog hopes to encourage people to cook more and think about what they put into their bodies without compromising on taste.

The Daily Meal: What is the mission of your blog?
Holly Clegg: To inspire, encourage, and motivate today's busy person to cook healthier with my easy, everyday recipes. For those people with diabetes, arthritis, or cancer, I want to give them recipes and information for them to better understand that what they eat can make a difference; but also prove they still can enjoy food with my easy, healthier recipes.

How did you get started with your blog?
After attending the Cordon Bleu Cooking School and being a gourmet cook, I started to believe there was a correlation with what you ate and health, but all the "diet" recipes at that time tasted like cardboard or diet food. I think I was ahead of my time, as I self-published my first trim &TERRIFIC® cookbook in 1993 to show that I could give you "good" food that was "good" for you. I then signed with Random House, Running Press, had spokesperson opportunities from Teflon to Walmart, and appeared on national shows from QVC [to the] Today Show to The 700 Club. Thus, my trim&TERRIFIC° series developed and grew. I also began to focus on more targeted health recipes with my Eating Well series to include diabetes, cancer, and arthritis cookbooks. Today, I have sold over 1 million cookbooks but also have been married 36 years with incredible kids and now grandchildren! I believe in finding a balance between your professional and personal life.

What are some foods you can't live without?

I think avocado should be on anything savory and coconut and pecans on anything sweet. Maybe I should also include pecan pie as I have been known to sliver and eat a whole half of a pie in one sitting! However, it is all trim and terrific!

What are some foods you can't stand?
Canned beets and liver.

What is your proudest blog post?
This post is about my father going through cancer treatment and how I tested recipes on him. He was my inspiration for the Eating Well Through Cancer cookbook.

What is your biggest blog blunder?
Not posting enough pictures. Everyone likes to see what the food looks like in real life! Also, taking time to check for grammatical and spelling mistakes.

What is your most memorable comment from a reader?
"I love your recipes as most of the time I already have all the ingredients in my pantry!" Guess what, there's a reason for this, as I only include mainstream, one-stop shopping ingredients. Also, a man in New York bought my cookbook after my Fox & Friends appearance and he said he had lost weight with my book and loved the recipes but he wished the word "diabetic" wasn't on the cover so more people would understand that a diabetic diet really is just healthy eating.

What's on your cooking playlist?
I'm not so much into music, but I love when my husband and kids and now grandkids are around and I am cooking with them!

What are some food blogs you love?
I think I enjoy Pinterest instead of a blog as the photos are like eye candy [to] an empty stomach! My grocery list always grows after playing on Pinterest for a while.

Favorite food apps?
Of course, my own: Holly Clegg's Mobile Rush-Hour Recipes! I have been cooking for so long now that I honestly never use a phone app for recipes as I remember what I want in the grocery or create a recipe from what I purchase. 

What is the best thing about blogging?

It is exciting and fun for me to be able to share my passion for mainstream, healthier recipes from southern to everyday cooking. Also, equally important for me is to share my diabetic, cancer, and arthritis recipes to help people eat and cook healthier, but still enjoy all their favorites.

Worst thing about blogging?

The only negative about blogging is the time commitment.

What recipe are you currently obsessed with?

I'm obsessed with all things pumpkin... Featured my whole October Monthly Menu Newsletter (sign up on my website) on it! I even have a pumpkin painted like a football to use as a centerpiece.

What would even your most loyal followers be surprised to learn about you?

I have a huge appetite and always clean my plate; and I really love makeup and skin care products.

Five of your all-time favorite posts?  
 

 

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