If you're a busy person - and who isn't - then pancakes can make a great meal for you. The options are endless for what can be mixed into a pancake or what can be scattered on top of a pancake. It's a savory and nutritious pancake when you mix in sauteed onions and mushrooms, shredded cheese, or even chopped up Korean kimchi before cooking. It's a mildly sweet and nutritious pancake when you mix in blueberries, raspberries, or a mashed, ripe banana before cooking. Don't forget to sprinkle some herbs and spices into your pancakes, too. You can even get totally funky with pizza pancakes. … [Read more...] about Pancakes Packed with Nutrition
Winter Vegetables Brighten Up Meals
Do you look forward to the vegetables that are in season in winter? It was a nice surprise when I walked into my local produce market in the last week of January. My expectations were low as this is not really the growing season of the year. As I looked at my choices, instead of feeling frustrated and limited, I easily found fresh ingredients that work in my winter, comfort food kitchen. My lesson was this: Embrace each season of the year and buy mostly what's in-season. Left to right in my picture, I bought these vegetables: Parsnips Purple cabbage Golden Beets Red Beets … [Read more...] about Winter Vegetables Brighten Up Meals
How to Plan Meals with Variety and Flavor
One of the most common questions my clients ask me is how to get more variety in their meals. It's so easy to slip into a rut and then cook and eat the same things over and over again - right? For better nutrition, I always nudge clients, and myself, to plan a wide variety of foods into their weekly plan and here's how: List Making Phase With 7 days in one week, there's a neat level of variety that's not too hard to achieve. Try these tips to get your list together: Make a Weekly Favorites List which includes 3 dinner favorites. These can be chicken, beef, pork, tofu, vegetarian, … [Read more...] about How to Plan Meals with Variety and Flavor
Mason Jar Salads
This is a guest blog by Kaylie Chrismon. One of the worst things about packing a healthy lunch is having a soggy salad. When your salad sits in salad dressing all morning, the spinach and lettuce become wilted and you may even throw it out and choose a not-as-healthy option. Putting your salad in a mason jar and layering the toppings appropriately can keep your salad crisp, fresh, and perfect at lunchtime. Mason jars are also convenient and reusable. How to build your mason jar salad from the bottom up: Bottom layer: your dressing – putting dressing in the bottom keeps it from … [Read more...] about Mason Jar Salads
Back-to-School with a Healthier and Cheaper Sandwich!
Are you tired of sandwiches? After the first week of kindergarten, my son came home and said to me, "Mom, I'm tired of sandwiches." Oh boy, I thought, what else can I use as the anchor to his healthy bag lunch? I pulled out all my most creative thoughts and came up with things like whole grain crackers with cheese, bread sticks with peanut butter and honey to dip, and a rolled sandwich on a tortilla. Are you tired of the same old sandwich? Unlike my son, I have always been more-or-less a sandwich lover. But I get tired of the same old sandwich. I vary it between tuna salad, hummus and … [Read more...] about Back-to-School with a Healthier and Cheaper Sandwich!
Mediterranean Meals are Healthy and Satisfying!
Mediterranean Meals Begin with Mediterranean Ingredients I often recommend meals made from Mediterranean ingredients. Why? They are full of flavor, full of nutrition and easy to learn to cook. Also, they use familiar ingredients that you can find quickly and inexpensively at an American supermarket. For a start, look at the ingredients in my photo at the left. More Mediterranean Ingredients To learn more ingredients that are used in the Mediterranean area of the world, think of the flavors of Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, France, North Africa and what grows locally there. The list … [Read more...] about Mediterranean Meals are Healthy and Satisfying!