Here you’ll find everything I’m preparing in my kitchen - from veggies, to leftovers and pasta. I eat simply, and I cook for one, but love cooking for others. And no matter what, I always pause to plate pretty.
Most of my meals are often times the result of freestyle recipe free ingredient riffing and a trip to the vegetable market. Produce is my passion, and I hope that you won’t simply come here for a recipe - but that you’ll read, cook and create a new story of your own.
I believe there’s power in a stocked pantry and freezer. From traditional Italian dishes to alternative sweets, vegan and vegetarian swaps - there’s something for everyone.
At 11:35am I made myself a hummus and almond bread sandwich with a cucumber and tomato salad on the side. Lunch doesn't get any simpler than hummus and veggies. Packed with fiber, protein and pleasing texture thanks to Trader Joe's Everything But The Bagel Seasoning.
My tip: this is a traditional hummus, but not as strong with the lemon. I use only the juice from 1/2 a lemon, a little bit of zest and a shake of cumin as I don't want the lemon and cumin competing with the Everything Seasoning.
Yesterday I met a 5 year old who now eats a few bananas a day because Minions eat bananas and he wants to be funny and strong like a Minion. Thank you my new small friend for making me laugh and sharing in a love for bananas. While he loves bananas because of Minions, I love bananas because they are another vehicle to get chocolate into my mouth. I go wild for Trader Joe’s Gone Bananas, you know, those dark chocolate dipped frozen banana wedges? If you haven’t had them 1) you’re missing out 2) I’ve go you covered 3) don't tell me you do not like bananas, my new buddy will be very disappointed in you!
Listen, I know most folks want gourmet meals prepared and chicken cordon bleu on Tuesday nights - but I've reframed meals to mean anything that satisfies me and hits my vegetable quotient for the day. Perhaps you're rolling your eyes, more vegetables, and I say - the more veggies and simple food you eat, the more you actually crave them.
A good bean or veggie based dip can be used to top off your grain bowls, salads and roasted veggies. It can get smeared on bread
I'm not paleo or gluten free. I'm a champion for delicious, simple food and getting in the kitchen. The bread is no fuss, with 5 ingredients total (6 if you count the squeeze of honey I add to the batter). No flour mess, one spin in the food processor, an easy bake - and you're done.
There are many reasons I cook, health is an absolute. The others have more to do with tradition and what’s come to truly be a plain old dirty love for cooking. I love getting dirty, wiping my hands on my pants, cutting all crooked because I have zero knife skills. I love plating food and when I’m not feeling beautiful it helps me to see that I can put something beautiful into my body and my mind for that matter. Then, when I add music into the equation, shit gets next level. I fall in love with the process, I dance like a lunatic, I think I’m Shakira, I believe I’m Shakira and I cook with every part of me. My hips don’t lie. They can’t.
When I got too lazy during my carrot cake bite experiment (one lady can only roll so many balls and eat so many on her own), I decided to take the remaining batter, refrigerate it and save it for later use.
By adding the remaining carrots I grated, along with 2 eggs, some coconut oil, a splash of vanilla extract and some baking powder - I created a new batter that was fit for PANCAKE OR MUFFIN making.
The base for these here truffles is the great cacao nib, chock full of REAL HEALTH benefits. It's not your over processed, sugar and chemical laden grocery store chocolate, no no no. And the cacao nib health realness surpasses that of the dark chocolate bar (even those of the fancy fair trade variety). Cacao comes from the seeds of the fruit of the cacao tree. It's chocolate in its realest and purest state.
And since I'm all for eating to feel good and to look good, let's be real people - eating real food makes ya skin glow like a lightbulb, brings clarity to those peepers,
In an effort to get more families and singles in the kitchen, I'm always tryin' to think up ways to consolidate what I know and learned about cooking into a functional tool. So cooking and baking aren't seen as repetitive or boring but creative and useful.
Carrots can be roasted as a side or made in to a soup. Used in stir fry, curry and noodle dishes. We all know you can bake cake with 'em and here you'll learn how to make some fun no bake bites with a recipe you can adapt into pancakes and muffins. Made with real ingredients, here’s a natural path to breakfast, sweet treats and a feel good way to get the kids involved and in the kitchen
After 4 days alone and quarantined in my apartment, I've been living on homemade chicken soup. It's times like these I know I'll get by because there's always stock in my home to make something. No desperate soup orders for this woman, only the finest thighs from the back of the freezer.
The simplicity of a bowl of soup is comfort, ease and happiness and it does the same thing for me when I'm sick - minus hugs from my mom.
I'll be going out to lunch today so I wanted a breakfast that would sustain my energy and give me a boost for the long walk I plan on taking. I know my body and I know it'll be feeding time at the zoo well before 1pm, so I've got my snack bag packed so I'm not skipping and then dipping into whatever looks good to feast on at 1pm.
Having breakfast at 7:30am and waiting 5.5 hours to eat lunch is a NO GO in my book and kinda in everyone else's. Checking in on hunger can be tricky, but building a habit out of it is how you recognize it. Here's how.
Roasting a spaghetti squash on a Sunday along with making a pot of sauce is one work around to weeknight meals. You can even bake spaghetti squash in the oven with sauce and a good honk of mozz for a one pan meal that'll keep on giving.
Imagine a world in which you weren't always wondering what's for breakfast or grabbing on the go, Imagine a world in which you weren't always wondering what's for breakfast or grabbing on the go, which ends up costing more money and time in the long run. A little planning always gives back the gift of time on the back end. It takes longer to scramble in a moment and wait for deliveries or on deli lines than it does to simply be prepared. Preparation and having choices leads to health, so make it a habit starting today.
A few tweaks to this Sunday bolognese make it not so traditional, but lighter and quick to make. Sure we're losing the pork and beef, substituting for turkey, but we've still got a healthy pour of red wine and finish with a splash of half and half to cut some of the acid and cream up this sauce - all without the ritual of cooking for 2-3 hours.
An open face omelette can be stuffed with any topping, leftover, vegetable, meat, you name it. WAY QUICKER than my favorite, the frittata, this is a quick morning, evening or weekend way to make a pretty bite. Why do I say make a pretty bite? It's because we are first fed with our eyes. Similar to attraction, stares from across a room, the look over the shoulder and glance back, the bend and snap for those Legally Blonde Fans
A big bodacious salad is the easiest way to stick a bunch of goodies into one bowl and have a taste bud party. Growing up we had a no waste rule in our home and we also had no money. There was no Seamless or Uber Eats, so I took what I was taught and crafted my eating and living philosophy around that.
Want a quick holiday side that you can make ahead? 2 words rainbow carrots.
Rainbow carrots will fill your holiday table or family salad with color. Simple to prepare and a gift that keeps on giving they're deliciously sweet when roasted. Plain roasting has always been my thing, that way I can make a veggie sing afterwards.
Aren't vegetables pretty? Part of learning to eat well is making the time to get curious and grocery shop, from farmers markets to your local store. Notice I wrote making the time to get curious. Feeling well, learning to shop and cook 1 or 2 things (as I always recommend having a beginners mindset - start by roasting a tray of vegetables on a Sunday) can change your eating in no time. Sure, it takes some effort, it takes committing and it's not always easy - but we make time for what we want. Sit with that thought for a moment. Do you want to feel good about the food you put in your body?
Now, hear me out, waking up and making homemade pancakes isn't everyone's jam nor would I expect it to be. I'm a fool who loves cooking, experimenting, freestyling recipes and bringing them to you. And a lot of folks who are on their own personal journey to cook and feel well may be intimidated by all this cooking I do ... but I don't want you to be. Not for one minute because I've got you.
Anyone who says a salad isn't a meal has been 1) shopping incorrectly their whole life 2) ordering out all wrong 3) missing serious green lovin' big time.
Please note I'm not talking about fried chicken cutlet salads bathed in ranch dressing, which are cool when you're in like Phoenix, Arizona and the options are limited - I've been there
