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.

Elderberry syrup has been used in folk remedies for many years. Check out how easy it is to make at home and the many health benefits.

Nut milks are very popular but are they healthy? Budget Friendly? Check out today’s post to learn more and how easy they are to make.

Check out a great recipe using fresh blueberries, zucchini, and those over ripe bananas you might need to use up. The bread makes a great snack.

There are many healthy foods that can be added to our diets, and one of them is lentils. Check out the many health benefits.

Cherry season is here and only lasts a few short months. Check out the health benefits of these tasty treats and ways to add them to your diet.

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.

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.

What in the world is a stewing hen? What is the best way to prepare one? Check out this week’s post to discover all about this nutrient-dense food and how to use it.

Fall is here and the weather is cooler! This time of year often brings us back into our kitchens preparing soups, stews, casseroles, and hotdishes …

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.

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.

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!

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...

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! 

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.

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.

Almonds! They are a great snack, make a wonderful nut butter, and almond flour offers a gluten-free alternative for baking.

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.

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.

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!

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Would you like to learn how to brew your own kombucha at home? Then invite your friends and let’s have a kombucha party (well a workshop anyway).

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.

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.”

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.