Does watching your weight mean saying goodbye to the foods you love and convincing yourself a handful of carrots makes you feel full? Jane Kennedy says no.

In her new cookbook, Fabulous Food, Minus the Boombah, Jane brings her love of food, cooking and healthy eating together in recipes which she describes as "Australian", with influences from all over the world. "Greek, Italian, Moroccan, Asian ... Japanese, Thai, Chinese ... variety," Jane says. "More Asian influence, if anything, but I'm open to all kinds."

Jane credits a trip to the personal trainer with her revelation moment, or the first step on her "road to perdition". "The road of realising that some people just can't eat a lot of carbohydrates." she says. "I mean the highly processed, white, crappy carbohydrates. Most people probably shouldn't eat them because there's not a lot of nutritional value in them. But I was doing a lot of them."

"A lot" includes a big bowl of steamed white rice with vegetables and some bottled sauce, which Jane says was all wrong. "The sauce was high in sugar, the bowl was too big and too high in calories."

Looking at the petite, pretty and stylish mother-of-five children with husband Rob Sitch, it's hard to believe Jane's ever had a problem with weight — or has had five children — but both are true. For years Jane says was on the fad-diet merry-go-round, trying a range of weird and not-so-wonderful diets to shift the extra weight, including the ketosis-inducing Scarsdale diet, the four-foods in eight days Israeli Army diet, and the coffee and cigarette diet which she says turned her into a "superbitch".

Jane says making recipes healthy is all about balance. "It's not about cutting out all the fat, it's about cutting out too much of the bad things," she says. "Too much butter and cream, too much carbohydrate, too much of anything. It's about making something lower in calories and higher in flavour."

Her beef vindaloo recipe is the perfect example. Refusing to accept one of her favourite Indian dishes could no longer be a part of her world, Jane looked at about 30 different recipes and deconstructed them — teasing out the key ingredients to determine what made it such a "boombah" meal.

"Instead of adding ghee [clarified butter] and a truckload of oil, I decided to leave that out," Jane says. "To give it a bit more body I added a tin of tomatoes, which gives it a nice richness, a nice flavour. All the other flavours just come from dry roasting spices and the traditional Indian base, which is ginger, chilli and garlic."

This is one of the recipes Jane is most proud of because aside from tasting fantastic and like beef vindaloo should taste, it has got the "thumbs up" health-wise, being found to have half the fat and cholesterol, and only 60 percent of the kilojoules when compared to five commercial versions.

Food and cooking have always been a big part of Jane's life and since the age of 10 she has loved being in the kitchen, and fantasised about having her own cooking show. Jamie Oliver is one of her favourite celebrity chefs, not just for his delicious recipes (one of which she has included in her book), but because of the way he has taken the fear-factor out of cooking.

"Jamie Oliver has revolutionised the way we cook," she says. "Especially for guys, I think he's made it cool for guys to get in the kitchen. He just shows how simple it is to put a pan on, put food in, add a bit of salad and it's just great."

Jane's tip for keeping the temptation of takeaway at bay is to be organised. "Organisation is the key. It's really no big deal to have a few chicken fillets in the freezer, or steak or fish in the freezer. To always have some rocket, in your crisper, or lettuce, red onion, and tomatoes."

Tomatoes, Jane is quick to point out, belong on the bench, not in the fridge. "We don't want them in the fridge." Other must-have basics are fresh chilli, garlic and ginger.

There are no pre-made sauces in Jane's cupboard, which she says is rather bare. "The sauces I allow myself to use are light soy or tamari and oils. Like a sesame oil, which is other great flavour enhancer — just a few drops because it's powerful — and extra-virgin olive oil."

Jane says you don't need to go for the most expensive olive oil for everyday cooking and is a big fan of buying the cheaper versions in bulk and keeping a handy amount in a glass bottle from the $2 shop. "I have it on the kitchen bench all the time, ready to go," she says.

Another "ready to cook" kitchen ingredient is kaffir lime leaves. "They will be your new best friend. It gives food that missing taste that you get in takeaway food. Easy to store, keeps really well in the freezer," Jane says.

"Plus, you need a great non-stick frying pan and a frying pan you can put into the oven as well, just to finish off a dish, which the chefs do all the time," Jane adds.

Jane isn't a fan of counting kilojoules, she just balances her kilojoules and weighs things up. "You have to walk about 5km to walk off a skinny latte. So you go, hmm, is it really worth it or should I just have a cup of tea?" Or a glass of wine with dinner, perhaps.

"Food is all about texture," Jane says. "People tend to go for textures; crunchy, creamy or a combination. It's about replacing the unhealthy things with healthy options." Jane recommends her parmesan crisps as a great alternative to chips or crackers.

Fabulous Food, Minus the Boombah is Jane's first cookbook. It looks the way her recipes taste — crisp and fresh. With easy-to-follow and easy-to-make recipes and big, beautiful and glossy pictures, it's a pleasure to read, but don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting to rush to the supermarket immediately if not sooner to start creating them for yourself.

YOUR SAY: How do you cut the kilojoules and fat out of your favourite recipes? What's your favourite recipe? Share your tips below.