When I was a kid, my grandmother had a bowl of fake, rubbery bunches of grapes, along with their plastic vines and leaves, as a decoration on her coffee table. My sister and I liked to give them a little squeeze when she wasn’t looking. If you would have asked…
High protein. Great taste. Some of us (ahem) eat peanut butter straight out of the jar. Peanut butter can be a cover or a carrier for other ingredients. Cover your toast, English muffin or banana. Carry some jam, apples, or raisins on it. We mix it in cookie dough, brownie…
My son asked for an English muffin with peanut butter for breakfast. He still prefers Jif. And when it’s a food with straight up PB, like the English muffin or apples and peanut butter, I’ve been letting it slide. But when there’s peanut butter as an ingredient IN something, like…
Carrots. Until about two years ago, carrots were on my Do Not Even Bother list of foods. I just couldn’t get into them. My husband and daughter are fans so I’d steam baby carrots and slap on some butter, salt and brown sugar. And I’d eat two. They say to…
Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much. This is Michael Pollan’s mantra. I first saw Michael Pollan’s name when his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma was front and center on the best seller rack at Barnes and Noble. The title caught my eye, but since I was homeschooling two young children at…
We had book club at Heather’s house last night. I met Heather about a year ago at a free wellness talk. About gracefully surviving menopause. (It seems this is actually possible.) Heather is one of those people who radiates calm. She teaches yoga, cleans her house with essential oils, eats…
Cinnamon Chickpea (!) Blondies adapted from One Green Planet. I’m about as skeptical as they come concerning beans as a base ingredient for sweets. But, wow, these are so sweet and moist! Not a hint of bean taste anywhere. I left out the nuts and used peanut butter instead of…
I use this recipe as a sort of canvas for a variety of mix-ins. Sometimes we like to add seeds like sunflower, flax, or pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds). Granola typically has nuts like pecans, almonds, and walnuts. (We’re a tree nut free house.) Dried fruit is good too. Try raisins,…
If you follow the Real Food Movement you may come across names like journalist and activist Michael Pollan, journalist and filmmaker Eric Schlosser, urban farmer Will Allen, and cookbook author Lisa Leake. You probably won’t come across my daughter’s name. Not yet, anyway! Natalie started helping me in the garden…
You like Chicken Satay at the Thai restaurant, right? Well this soup from Emeril tastes like a warm and wonderful bowl of that satay dipping sauce. You wanted to lick that little bowl anyway! Adjust the seasonings to your taste. I went heavy on the curry powder because I love…
