cooking

Energy Bites–The Perfect Snack for Kids

I’ve got two teen boys in the house (ages 15 and 17) and we are at that point in their lives where I struggle to keep food in the fridge. My old weekly grocery shopping habits don’t hold up anymore. The way I shopped for […]

beef stir fry

  I think that every home cook should have a few meals up their sleeve that they can put together without a recipe. I am a very recipe-driven cook–I sometimes still check the recipe for meals that I have made for years, but when I sit […]

the humblest of meals

the humblest of meals

  My dad dropped in unexpectedly this week. And what I mean by that is that he lives in Idaho, and I live in Southern California–and he called me at 1 pm to say that he would be there by dinner. That’s the way my […]

meal plan monday

When I sat down with the calendar on Sunday to create a meal plan for the week, I realized that this is a very busy week: soccer, music, play rehearsals and performances. Still, we need to get dinner on the table every night, busy or not. Here is […]

meal plan monday

I’m not sure how everyone else gets dinner on the table every night, but for me it wouldn’t happen without meal planning. I would be a wreck at 4pm every day if I didn’t know in advance what we were eating and that we had […]

a whole food kickstart

  I am enjoying Heather’s Whole Food Kitchen again this year. I’ve participated in many of her workshops over the years, and many of her recipes have been added to my personal repertoire. Almond milk, granola, wheatberry salad, and chai lattes, just to name a […]

chai lattes in the morning

I have been absolutely addicted to Heather’s chai lattes lately. I’ve been simmering up a batch of concentrate at the beginning of the week and enjoying them almost every day, as a midmorning break. I love to make it with black tea, but the wonderful […]

playing catch up

Working part-time and writing a book has taken a toll on my homemaking routine. I work a marketing job three days a week and loved having my Tuesdays and Thursdays available to really do the business of running my home. Cleaning, shopping, errands, making and […]

banana muffins

I always feel like a good mom when my kids come home to a homemade, freshly baked and (reasonably healthy) treat after school. These banana muffins from an old Cooking Light recipe fit the bill perfectly. I’ve adapted the recipe over the years, moving away from […]

this week in my kitchen

Not too many pictures this week, but here is what I was able to capture. Pulled Pork in the crockpot, which was nice because I was able to keep the oven off and the house cool. I’m not a big crockpot fan, but this one was […]