February is a heart-centric month. Valentine’s Day reminds us to nourish our relationships. And February is American Heart Month, reminding us that we also need to nourish and support our physical heart in healthy, loving ways. Unfortunately, heart disease remains the #1 cause of death in the U.S, accounting for 659,000 deaths annually, as well […]
Celebrate Love with Healthy, Homemade Valentine’s Day Treats
What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to give someone you love—including yourself—healthy, home-baked treats. Valentine’s Day is synonymous with chocolate. However, when you bake for someone else—romantic partner, friend or family member(s)—don’t assume that they want chocolate just because it’s Valentine’s Day! As a die-hard dark chocolate lover, myself, I learned the hard […]
11 Gluten-Free Baking Tips
If you’re a newcomer to gluten-free baking, you’ll want to review the following tips before you start baking anything. Unlike cooking, where you can easily swap out one ingredient for another, baking is precise and less amenable to substitutions. Gluten-free baking requires even more attention to detail. For a happy and delicious outcome, be mindful […]
10 Essential Self-Care Tips
Happy. New. YOU! (This is the goal for 2021!) I think that we can all agree that 2020 was a rough, rough year. And if there is anything that 2020 has driven home, it is that self-care must be a priority. Snapshot of Our Collective “Health” For decades, Americans have been conditioned to outsource their […]
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Almond Cookies Adapted from Elizabeth Barbone’s Gluten-Free Baking Yield: 16 cookies 2 cups finely ground almond flour, sifted (8 ounces) 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/3 cup dark maple syrup (it will be labeled Grade A, dark color with robust taste) 2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract 2 tablespoons unsweetened chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350°F. Adjust oven rack to the middle position. Line […]
Lemon-Ginger Almond Cookies
Imagine coming home on a cold, snowy winter day—or any day really—and finding a plate of just-baked lemon-ginger almond cookies waiting for you! That’s baked love…! In my humble opinion, the combination of lemon and ginger are a match made in foodie heaven! Grated organic lemon zest and fresh minced ginger root are a sprightly […]
How EMFs Can Affect Our Health (and How to Limit Exposure)
Every day, we are bombarded by a toxic smog of EMFs (electric magnetic fields), disguised as modern day conveniences—WiFi, our wireless devices, household appliances—that we cannot imagine living without! In order to understand how overexposure to EMFs can adversely affect our health, it is important to understand what EMFs are. What are EMFs? EMF stands […]
Greek-Style Stewed White Fish with Horta
Horta is Greek for “greens”. And Greece is home to over 300 varieties of wild edible greens, including chicories, arugula, dandelion, golden thistle, mustard greens, purslane, wild fennel, chard, spinach and various other greens in the cabbage family, as well as herbs, like nettles and sorrel. This is my riff on this Greek home-style dish. […]
Bitter Beauty: Radicchio
Radicchio is one of my favorite cold weather vegetables. It is also known as Cichorium intybus and Italian chicory, and it belongs to the Asteraceae (daisy) family that includes other chicory vegetables, like Belgian endive. Radicchio has a distinct bitter flavor. You can eat it raw, but I prefer it cooked, preferably braised with garlic and […]
Stress, COVID-19 and Weight Gain
If you have gained unwanted weight over the last seven months…you are NOT alone! These have been unbelievably stressful, unprecedented times. I get it. I hear you—and I feel you—100%. That said, word of advice: it behooves you to start working towards a healthy weight NOW—rather than wait until January 1st or “later”. Another virus […]