If you can see past the smog, keep your sanity in traffic, avoid gangs, and don’t mind earthquakes then southern California is a pretty great place to live.  Not only do we have amazing weather but in our smallish town, we have almost two Trader Joe’s (I say almost because one is being built), multiple [...]

So I’m a little late to the game. Pumpkins are so like last October.  Duh. But this evening while trying to organize my photos I came across these pictures and remembered how much I had enjoyed this dish.  Then I looked in my recipe notebook and saw I had actually scribbled something that resembled written [...]

One of my favorite foods is stuffed grape leaves or dolmas.  Problem is I don’t get grape leaves in my CSA box but I do get collards.  A lot of collards.  Which leads to my second problem,  I’m not crazy about collards.  Which leaves me with two options throw them out or get creative.  I scored [...]

I don’t often post “this is what I did today” type of posts but this year Christmas felt so special that I can’t help but want to share it and capture it to keep in my memory.  Even if it was two days ago. There was nothing extraordinary about this particular Christmas.  Maybe it felt [...]

Just because I can’t make cookies don’t eat many sweets around the holidays doesn’t mean I don’t indulge.   Oh no. This is one of my favorite indulgences.  Not just because it taste so good but it couldn’t be any easier to make.  Me procrastinate? Brent has been making this dip as an appetizer for [...]

Did you know there are two types of persimmons?  I didn’t until a few weeks ago when my husband saw that one of our friends on Facebook had gotten more persimmons than she could use from her CSA.  Brent quickly commented telling her how much I looooove persimmons and a few hours later we had [...]

I’ve not kept it secret that I enjoy the taste of junk food, especially pizza. I’ve also shared my food ideals and reality.  Most days, I pass on junk food including traditional pizza.  However, deprivation isn’t any fun (and can lead to a binge) so to satisfy my junk food cravings I make healthier substitutes.  Not long [...]

I’ve mentioned it before but I’m not crazy about vegetables.  I like vegetables and will choose to choke down a plate of plain swiss chard because I know it’s good for me.  However, if I didn’t know the things I know about food, I’d probably eat things like fish & chips or pizza (and I’m [...]

Like motivation, inspiration comes and goes. Sometimes, I go weeks eating the same thing day after day. Then suddenly, I’m inspired and spend the next 3 weeks experimenting and creating new recipes all crazy like Willie Wonka…but without the sugar…and the top hat. Here is one of my newest recipes.  It’s easy and healthy.  I’m [...]

Over the years, I’ve moved away from the regular use of protein powder.  I still use it for the occasional bowl of “cookie dough” or a shake but, overall, I make the effort to get my nutrition from whole foods. Recently, I put together this simple power breakfast (or pre-workout meal) when I was training [...]