My husband and I have deep family roots that reach back to southern Italy, and we love to eat.

But after he and my father both survived heart attacks two decades ago, it forever changed the way we view food. Although we were never fast-food junkies, we could no longer ignore the volume of fat, sugar and sodium in everyday foods.

In the beginning, I took an extreme approach, stripping meals and snacks of every trace of obvious fat. Pork chops? Gone. Meatloaf? Vanished. Rather, our meals consisted of chicken, chicken and more chicken. Delicious food suddenly seemed far beyond our reach.

Luckily, we found a new balance, discovering that such an austere diet only pushed us off the wagon more often. And in that process, we rediscovered the joy of food and a new appreciation for it as a part of our life (la dolce vita!). By poring over cookbooks, magazines and web sites, I’ve learned to prepare lighter meals that my family really wants to eat. (No small feat when my kids were younger and pushing peas under their napkins!) I’ve even found tricks to help me to coax richer flavors from food while reducing the fat and adapt recipes for old favorites.

In this blog, I’d like to share some of the tricks that I’ve learned and link to some of our favorite recipes.

Disclaimer: Please note that this blog is not intended as medical advice. Many factors play a role in heart disease, and all readers should consult their physicians for specific dietary and lifestyle guidelines. 

© Diane Donofrio Angelucci, La Dolce Vita: Our Culinary Journey After Heart Disease, 2009-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Diane Donofrio Angelucci, La Dolce Vita: Our Culinary Journey After Heart Disease, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.