Cooking with Coffee

Cooking with Coffee

September 29th, 2021 is National Coffee Day – check out a few ways to use coffee in the kitchen that aren’t in a cup to add some fun flavors to your food.

read more
Spice of Life: Lemon Balm

Spice of Life: Lemon Balm

Herbs and spices not only add flavor to our foods but also many health benefits. Lemon balm has been used for thousands of years both to add flavor and medicinally. Check out this week’s post to discover more about lemon balm plus a simple tea recipe.

read more
Spice of Life: Thyme

Spice of Life: Thyme

Herbs and spices add flavor to our food and nutrition to our bodies. Thyme is easy to grow and add to your culinary creations. Check out today’s post to discover the benefits, uses, and a few recipes that include thyme.

read more
Properly Preparing Foods: Rice

Properly Preparing Foods: Rice

Rice is one of the oldest cereal grains and along with wheat and corn, one of the three leading food crops in the world. It is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population, with 90% of the supply of rice is consumed in Asia. Rice can be a great food to add to your diet; …

read more
Top Posts for 2020

Top Posts for 2020

Well 2020 is coming to a close; I am sure many are glad this year is almost over and looking forward to a New Year. When looking back on a year, I like to share which have been the most popular posts. I am going to share the top three recipes and the three most read posts for the year. If you missed any of these posts, follow the links provided.

read more
How To: Roast Vegetables

How To: Roast Vegetables

I think is a pretty safe bet that most of us struggle to get our recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Fruits are easier for most people to eat on a daily basis, veggies not so much. The recommended daily servings of vegetables is two to three cups a day for most adults. Do you get that many cups a day? Even though I am in the health and wellness field, I sometimes struggle to do this. Many struggle with this; in a 2017 survey, only 1 in 10 adults ate the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables.

read more
Homemade Tomato Soup (GAPS, Grain and Dairy Free)

Homemade Tomato Soup (GAPS, Grain and Dairy Free)

This year I planted a garden after taking about 15 years off of this exercise. Yes, gardening is considered exercise! Prepping, planting, weeding, and harvesting all provide a great opportunity to exercise, grow your own food, and be outdoors. I love tomatoes and homegrown are definitely the best. I planted three different heirloom varieties and now have an abundance of tomatoes. I did plant two zucchini plants and that has provided way too many zucchinis, especially if I don’t get out there every day to check on them. They can become huge in no time at all.

read more
The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen: A Book Review

The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen: A Book Review

Last summer I had the opportunity to teach summer school cooking classes for grades 3 through 6 (cancelled this year due to COVID19). I wanted my classes to be about cooking and healthy food, AND I wanted it to be an experience the kids would remember. Food has a way of bringing people together, I thought it would be fun to learn about different cultures and the foods they eat along with cooking skills. I encourage people to eat local so one of the cultures we learned about was Native American food from the Minnesota area. In doing my research, I came across the book The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman with Beth Dooley. I first found it at our local library, but my mom actually blessed me with my own copy last Christmas.

read more
Gluten-Free Pecan Pancakes!!

Gluten-Free Pecan Pancakes!!

I have been gluten free for close to two years now. There have been ups and downs on this journey, but for me it has improved my overall health. Do I miss bread? Of course, I do; just thinking about the texture of a piece of bread with lots of butter on it can be hard. BUT being healthy is more important to me and for right now that means keeping gluten out of my diet for a while longer. The adventurous part about this gluten-free journey is learning to be creative in the kitchen. Yes, that is my way of keeping it positive.

read more
Pear Sauce

Pear Sauce

Most of us have had applesauce, but other fruits make yummy sauces too! Pears can make a great sauce. Often when I purchase pears, they all get ripe at the same time; once they are ripe, they need to be used or they will become brown and mushy. Making ripe pears into a sauce is a great way to use up them. Making a pear sauce is similar to making an applesauce. The sauce can be eaten plain, with yogurt, or as a pancake topping instead of syrup. I often use homemade fruit sauces instead of syrup on my pancakes.

read more
Top Posts for 2019

Top Posts for 2019

As 2019 comes to a close, I review which blog posts were the most popular. This year, two of the three were recipes. I hope to be adding more recipes in 2020. I am working on taking family favorites and “healthifying” these recipes. If you have a favorite recipe but have removed it from your diet due to health reasons, send me a copy and let’s see if we can “healthify” it!

read more
Almond Flour Raisin Cookies

Almond Flour Raisin Cookies

Eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor or treats. I have set out to healthify recipes that have been family favorites over the years. My own health journey altered the foods that are health promoting for me. Gluten is one food that has...

read more
December In-Season Produce

December In-Season Produce

Wow, December is here and we are in the midst of the holiday season. Here in Minnesota, we just received our first major snowfall. I have been working on a good attitude shoveling the snow – it can be a great full body workout! 

read more
October In-Season Produce

October In-Season Produce

October brings the end of Minnesota’s growing season and the farmer’s markets are done. This year I frequented our local farmer’s market pretty much every week. It worked better than a CSA this year for our family. I did plant a small straw bale garden so we were able to harvest from it also. We had snow this week so my garden is done for the year, too. Enjoy the in-season produce for the month of October.

read more
Healing Teas for Cold and Flu Season

Healing Teas for Cold and Flu Season

Fall weather can be beautiful; it is my favorite season. The color, the cooler weather, and the smell of the season is the best. Unfortunately, it also brings us closer to cold and flu season which begins in October/November and then peaks between December and February. This season I could do without!

read more
Small Group Workshops

Small Group Workshops

Are you looking to improve your health through food, sharpen your culinary skills, or maybe bring a small group of people together?

Starting this fall, I am offering several hands-on culinary classes as part of my “Small Group Workshop” service. The Small Group Workshops will accommodate 3 to 8 participants in the comfort of your home. These workshops are a great way to bring friends, family, colleagues, or connect groups together while sharing health-promoting, from-scratch cooking. Think book club, girl’s night out, mom’s night out, bride’s maid event, or date night of 2 to 4 couples; any of these would be great opportunities to gather together, enjoy a fun event, and some great food.

read more
September In-Season Produce

September In-Season Produce

As the days get shorter, here in Minnesota the leaves are beginning to turn color! Even though I love fall, it signals that we are nearing the end of our growing season. Here is a short list of some of the foods that are in season during the month of September.

read more
August In-Season Produce

August In-Season Produce

Summer is now half over! Soon back-to-school preparations will begin; I know the stores are stocking the shelves with the supplies already. August is also when the farmer’s markets are booming with the produce of their labors. Last week, one vendor had sweet corn; there was a line to snatch up what he had available. Fresh sweet corn is such a treat in the summer.

read more
July-in-Season Produce

July-in-Season Produce

Half of 2019 has gone by. It does seem the older I get, the faster time seems to move. Here is a list of some of the July in-season produce. I hope you are able to enjoy fresh, local produce where ever you are.

read more
Avocado Bites

Avocado Bites

Summer is on its way along with gatherings with family and friends. Appetizers are a wonderful dish to bring to these gatherings, but they don’t need to be complicated. This recipe is super easy, tasty, and healthy. Avocado Bites are sure to please everyone – even my hubby who doesn’t really care for avocados liked these!

read more
May In-Season Produce

May In-Season Produce

Wow, it is already May! Many gardeners in some areas are probably planting their gardens already. Here in Minnesota, some cold season vegetables can be planted, but most must wait a few more weeks in case we have a frost. Anyway, back to May’s list of in-season produce. A new one for this month is mango which is such a treat for us. Growing up, I had never had mango, but once I tried it as an adult, I just love their taste. How about you?

read more
April In-Season Produce

April In-Season Produce

Wow, it is already April, spring is definitely in the air, and so are some new produce items that are in-season. Check out the list and give some of the recipes a try. I would love any feedback on the recipes, too.

read more
Asian Meatballs with Sauteed Cabbage

Asian Meatballs with Sauteed Cabbage

Many Asian cultures have a unique approach to food and eating – to create wellness. Food should nourish our bodies, but it should also be tasty. It definitely is no fun to eat something that is “good” for us but doesn’t taste good, right? There are other aspects of Asian dining that can be healthful, too.

read more
Ferments: Water Kefir

Ferments: Water Kefir

There has been much information about the importance of consuming fermented foods in the news lately, but you may be wondering where do I start? A great place to start is fermented drinks; they are tasty, can be sweet or sour, and provide beneficial bacteria and yeast to your system. Yes, we need beneficial bacteria and yeast to keep the pathogenic ones under control. Now for this post I am not talking about wine or beer even though they are fermented! One of the easier fermented drinks to make at home is water kefir.

read more
Honey Ginger Tea

Honey Ginger Tea

It is the end of January and here in Minnesota we are enjoying extremely cold temps. Yes, I said “enjoying” because it is all in our attitude right? Anyways, it is cold outside and we may need to warm up on our insides.

read more
Lemon Pepper Turmeric Salmon Cakes

Lemon Pepper Turmeric Salmon Cakes

Are you trying to improve your diet and eat healthier? I know on my health journey, I wanted to make so many changes. One of them was to add more fish to my diet. For some this may be easy, but for me it was a challenge as I did not eat a lot of fish growing up (and if I did, it was fried in vegetable oil with a saltine cracker batter which doesn’t exactly scream healthy). I did not know where to start as I don’t like fishy tasting stuff.

read more
Fire-Roasted Salsa

Fire-Roasted Salsa

We are entering the peak of the growing season in Minnesota; my CSA box has had an abundance of produce. Tomatoes are starting to show up in the box, and need to be used! This salsa has the deep flavors of restaurant style salsa, and it is super easy to make.

read more
Parsley and Quinoa Salad

Parsley and Quinoa Salad

Farmer’s Markets and grocery stores are starting to show the bounty of spring and summer produce. Herbs are one of those awesome produce items. Did you know there is great value in adding a variety of herbs to your food?

read more
Fruit Salsa with Apple Cinnamon Chips

Fruit Salsa with Apple Cinnamon Chips

This recipe is super fast, easy, and yummy. You can use any fruit: choose what works for you, what is in season, or what you have on hand. One reason I like it so much is that no matter what type of diet you are on (paleo, AIP), you most likely can have this treat. Since the salsa is served with apple chips instead of crackers, it is gluten free.

read more
The Healing Power of Bone Broth

The Healing Power of Bone Broth

Bone broth has been touted as a “cure-all” and the most recent “superfood”. It has a long-standing history as a comforting and healing food that I believe most could benefit adding to their diet. It is one part of an Eating for Health diet.

Four reasons to consider adding bone broth to your diet:

Bioavailable collagen
Bioavailable nutrients
Less waste, good for your budget
Healthy flavor enhancer

read more
Ways to Enjoy Protein Powder

Ways to Enjoy Protein Powder

In a previous post, I shared about the different types of protein powders. Check out the previous post here. For many years I had a smoothie almost every day; it had mostly fruit so I am sure I was getting way too much sugar. I actually had so many smoothies that I have a hard time enjoying them anymore. I still wanted to occasionally incorporate protein powder in my diet so I have found other recipes for protein powder. In this post, I thought I would share a few ways to add protein powder into your diet besides smoothies or shakes.

read more
Turmeric: A Powerful Spice

Turmeric: A Powerful Spice

Turmeric is a member of the ginger family and is cultivated in India, China, Indonesia, and other tropical countries. Turmeric is mildly aromatic and has scents of orange or ginger. It has a pungent, bitter flavor.

The name turmeric derives from the Latin word terra merita (meritorious earth), referring to the color of ground turmeric, which resembles a mineral pigment. Because of its brilliant yellow color, it is also known as “Indian saffron.”

read more
Fermented Foods: Curtido

Fermented Foods: Curtido

Fermented foods are among humans oldest attempt to preserve food. There has been a resurgence of fermenting vegetables due to the numerous health benefits. Sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) was mentioned in early Roman writings; it has a long history. Sauerkraut contains high levels of dietary fiber, as well as significant levels of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, and various B vitamins. It is a good source of iron, manganese, copper, sodium, magnesium, and calcium.

read more
Heart-Healthy Fudge Recipe

Heart-Healthy Fudge Recipe

This is a simple recipe for some heart “healthy” fudge. I know you are thinking “how can fudge be healthy”, right? Let’s take a look at some of the healthy ingredients in this fudge.

read more
Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

We all like to have something sweet once in a while, right? The challenge can be keeping it healthy. This Apple Cinnamon Muffin recipe is gluten free and has no granulated sugar. The sweetness comes from the apples and organic maple syrup. There are only 4 grams of sugar per muffin compared to at least 16 grams in most muffins. To keep the recipe grain free, I used coconut flour.

read more
Seeds: Planting Health In To Your Body

Seeds: Planting Health In To Your Body

I don’t know about you, but changing my eating to a more healthy plan has been a process over time. I have found that doing small changes has worked well for me. One addition to my diet is seeds. Seeds may be tiny, but they are nutritional powerhouses loaded with healthy fats, essential fatty acids, fiber, protein, minerals, vitamin E, and other life-enhancing nutrients.

read more