Food For Thought: What are amino acids and where can you find them?
When I publish articles about the health benefits of different foods, I often mention amino acids. For anyone not in the know, amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. There are roughly 500 amino acids that we know about, but all proteins are formed from 20 of those. Amino acids are required for just […]
Healthy Foods: Lions and tigers and . . . pears? Oh my!
Pears are a wonderful food to add to your fruit repertoire. A perfectly ripe pear is heavenly. So juicy and sweet. Yum! I enjoy pears occasionally in my daily juicing regime . . . I toss them into soups . . . I enjoy them sliced into salads . . . poached as dessert for […]
Healthy Foods: Adios, soy sauce! Hola, Coconut Aminos!
If you’re trying to live a gluten-free lifestyle, no doubt, you’re missing a lot of your favorite foods, including foods that don’t seem like they should contain wheat. Foods like soy sauce. Even if you’re not trying to eat gluten-free, primal, or grain-free, you should be trying to cut out soy from your diet. Now, […]
Dinner Diva: Grow your own lettuce bowl indoors
I don’t know about you, but I have a really hard time buying produce that I can easily grow myself. At my house, we eat a lot of salad. As many of you know, I serve a large green salad with almost every meal that goes on the table. All of those heads of lettuce […]
Food For Thought: Cast your vote for cast iron
If you feel that cooking in cast iron is more your grandmother’s speed than your own, you might want to rethink that outdated belief. Cast iron is an efficient way to cook and it’s a healthy option, too. I think those old-fashioned cast iron skillets deserve a place in even the most modern of kitchens. […]
Eat Brazil nuts . . . but not too many!
Brazil nuts grow on trees in many parts of the Amazon, not just in Brazil as the name of this nut might suggest. Brazil nuts are much larger than hazelnuts and almonds, and they are chock full of nutrients. In fact, a one-ounce serving of Brazil nuts provides 4% of your daily recommended dose of […]
Dinner Diva: How to set a dinner table
In my humble opinion, too many modern families have no idea how to set a proper dinner table. I guess that’s no surprise when we consider the sheer amount of meals that are thrown at children’s mouths before racing to one activity or another, or even worse, eaten in the car. Let’s get back to […]
Food For Thought: For meat you will praise, learn how to braise!
If you always seem to end up with stringy, tough meat that you can’t get a knife through (let alone your teeth), you can only blame the animal and/or the cut for so long! I firmly believe that with the right cooking method, you can turn the most humble of cuts into a star. Braising […]
Why you should please ditch the margarine
A while back, I shared an article giving you the skinny on fats. I gave you an overview of good fats, information about how to use them, and what fats and oils I don’t recommend. Once upon a time (in the 80s and 90s), we were told that butter was evil. We were told that […]