Creamy Sweet Potato Bowl

This creamy sweet potato bowl is the most comforting bowl of creaminess ever… and it’s great for your digestion!

It’s Monday and it’s the first day of spring! So, happy spring… I know, the weather report says there’s another snow storm coming this week here in New York… but outside today it actually smells a little like the warmer weather might actually be on its way. Yup, even here in the city I can smell it. I can tell. I swear. It’s going to be spring soon. Fingers crossed.

Right before this past weekend, I was trying to step over one of my dogs who was sprawled out on the floor, and I got my toe caught on a chair leg in my living room and now it’s broken. Oh my, have you ever broken a toe? It’s really painful and you really do see stars. And there’s not much …

Healthy Homemade Ketchup

I’m a condiment freak — I like to dip everything. So, this healthy homemade ketchup is a must in my house!

It’s true. We are a condiments-all-the-time household. We can find a reason to dip everything in something. A few years ago it started to bother me that so much of our fridge was filled with jars and bottles that had ingredients that I would normally never use when I cooked . So, I started making my own. OMG — we are so much better off. This ketchup is especially delicious, and it doesn’t have all of the sugar that commercial ketchup has. And yes, I too used to be a Heinz lover… but now we really do all love this healthy homemade ketchup. Try it… you’ll love it too.

One day, when Steve was slathering his food with ketchup, as was his usual M.O., I had that light-bulb-over-head moment …

Baked Eggplant Chickpea Skillet

I was craving veggies, but also comfort food… so I made this baked eggplant chickpea skillet for dinner. It’s like a cross between eggplant parm and a Moroccan chickpea stew and it hits all the right spots!

I’m not sure why, but every time I see a food described as a “skillet” I think it must be awesome. I’m a sucker for any type of breakfast skillet on any menu anywhere. So, when I have the chance to actually describe one of my dishes as a skillet, you can be sure I’m going to go for it. So, here’s my baked eggplant chickpea skillet.

People always ask me: “What are you?” in terms of my diet. I’m not sure what to answer anymore except that “I’m whatever is good for me at the time.” Last week I was on a meat kick and I made a huge meatloaf and a …

Vegetable Noodle Lo Mein

I think vegetable noodles — of all kinds — are the new kale. Remember last year when kale was everywhere and in everything in every form? This year it’s veggie noodles. There are sweet potato noodles, zucchini noodles, squash noodles, beet noodles, carrot noodles and every other type of vegetable noodles you can imagine. To me, this is a great development. I can’t even look at a pasta recipe without mentally replacing the pasta with some type of veggie noodle or faux pasta. And I LOVE pasta… so my grain-free self is very happy. And, this vegetable noodle lo mein is the perfect recipe to try out your favorite type of veggie noodle. You can even mix it up and use a few different kinds here.

Confession time. My all-time favorite thing to do when I’m home alone for dinner is to order way too much Chinese food, sit on …

Birthday Cake Chia Pudding

Do you have any descriptive food words that make your mouth water? For me, if I see the words “birthday cake” or “cake batter” I have kind of a drooling, mouth watering response. I don’t know what it is about those words, but for me, when I see them, I have to have whatever it is immediately. So, when I started seeing recipes for chia puddings that were described this way, I was all in. I have to give a big thank you to Macy at Paleo Crumbs because her awesome recipe was the one that made me run to the store to buy the ingredients and make this birthday cake chia pudding.

I don’t know what mornings are like in your house, but here in my house we are kind of laid back. It wasn’t always that way. We used to run around, grab whatever we could to eat, …

Baked Lemon Cod

I used to cook fish all of the time. I knew the fish monger by name, and we had an understanding — he let me smell the fish before I bought it, he always told me which variety was the freshest, and I in turn would tell him great ways to cook the different types of seafood. Then I moved. Ugh. Now I don’t make my beloved fish recipes as much anymore because I haven’t developed a relationship like that yet. When I do buy fish, I make it as simple as possible (because sometimes the more complex recipes make my apartment smell like fish a tad too much…) and I’m finding that sometimes I end up loving these new simple recipe creations as much as I used to love my old recipes. This recipe for Baked Lemon Cod is really simple and it’s a winner!

You would think since …

Pumpkin Turmeric Latte

I have never been a “winter” person. I just hate the cold. But, over the years as I have learned to practice gratitude on a daily basis, I have found many things I love about winter. Don’t get me wrong — I still prefer a beach to a snowy mountain, but there are so many reasons to truly be happy about winter. And one of those things is a steaming cuppa… And this cuppa pumpkin turmeric latte is really something to make you smile, no matter how frigid the temp outside may be. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr….

Other than steaming favorful lattes, some of the things I now truly feel grateful for about winter are:

* Watching huge snowflakes fall from the sky (okay, so a lot of the time, I’m inside watching them, but still grateful) * Christmas music (all the way from Thanksgiving to New Years) * Fuzzy boots * Big …

Shaved Brussels Sprouts & Apple Salad

Shaved Brussels sprouts are awesome. I’ve been using them for everything. My true favorite thing to make with them is Caesar salad. Yes, it sounds weird, but don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. I like to mix these shaved sprouts with kale or Romaine lettuce, slather them in my fav Caesar dressing and I’m a happy camper. This recipe for shaved Brussels sprouts & apple salad is a kicked-up version of my traditional Caesar recipe. I say kicked up because it also has apples and bacon in it. Really, what could be bad?

Obviously this recipe is not vegan, because…. well… umm… I’ve used bacon in it. But, I can honestly tell you that I’ve eaten this so many times, in so many ways, and there is so bad version. You can leave out the bacon or use a vegan bacon or a smoky mushroom to easily veganize this …

Zoodles With Creamy Avocado Pesto

Pasta is my favorite food in the world. Give me a big bowl of spaghetti, and just leave me alone. But, I feel so much better when I don’t eat grains. Ugh.  Now there are some awesome grain-free faux pastas available today I am sooooooo happy. BUT, when people tell me that zucchini noodles/zoodles or spaghetti squash noodles or any vegetable that’s been turned into noodles will satisfy my pasta craving, I think they are crazy. That being said, these zoodles with creamy avocado pesto are really awesome…

I know, now I’ve kind of talked you out of making them. I really stink at marketing sometimes. But, I am honest — sometimes to a fault. Really, what I should have done is compared these to other vegetable recipes, not to my beloved pastas. Because — and this is so true — this is one of the best vegetable recipes around. …

Raw Chocolate Pomegranate Tart

I was going to a friend’s house for dinner the other night and I wanted to bring a dessert. If you know me, you know that while I can cook just about anything, I am not a great baker. And that’s saying it very kindly… I’ve been known to burn slice and bake cookies. So, when I tell you that this raw chocolate pomegranate tart is the best dessert I ever made, that’s another way for saying this recipe is idiot-proof.

One of the reasons — and I can’t stress how important this reason is — that I was able to achieve such perfection with this dessert is because the original recipe is just genius. All of that genius-credit goes to Joscelyn at Wife Mama Foodie. I just love when I can take an existing recipe and have it come out perfect the first time, so a big thanks to …