Carrot dogs! Saute whole carrots in butter and brown sugar for a few minutes, to cook the outside, leave inside crunchy. Serve in hot dog bun with mustard, relish, onions, or wrap up in a romaine leaf.

I’m not someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen. Maybe because I worked from home for so long that I got in the habit of eating most of my meals out.  That was before I knew how much hidden fat I was getting in restaurant food.  (A popular national steakhouse chain restaurant bakes their potatoes with bacon wrapped around them!)  I have a handful of favorite dishes I cook for myself and for friends and one of my favorite things to cook is soup. Sometimes I do this in a structured manner, like deciding on split pea soup and buying just those ingredients, but most often I find myself in the store looking at a juicy stalk of fennel next to a fat leek and the ideas start to flow. If I have no direction in mind, I can just let the fresh vegetables of the day direct me. Continue reading →

Brown one pound of lean ground turkey with the spices in 2 tbsp of a good olive oil, then add the chopped veggies. When golden, add the stock and tomatoes, cover and let simmer about 20 minutes.  You can also cook the sauce down until it’s very thick and rich.  These spices will give you high flavor without high heat.  Serve over rice or in a tortilla. Continue reading →

White Vegetable Lasagna Cupcakes

Emily Bites writes: These little lasagnas are stuffed with creamy, cheesy flavor and the different vegetables provide great texture. I love broccoli, zucchini and carrots, but you could use what you prefer/have on hand. I recommend the Classico brand light Alfredo sauce. I doubt anyone trying one of these “cupcakes” would ever dream they’re light. These are man-approved, kid-friendly, and they’d even work great as a side dish. Vegetarians and carnivores rejoice! These wonton cupcakes are for everyone. Continue reading →

Sometimes I get tired of eating so many salads, so I have to switch it up.  The past six months I’ve been eating mostly spinach as my daily greens, so I’m over spinach.  Before I go back to romaine and kale, I’m dancing with parsley this week. A salad I like includes chopped parsley, chopped red onion, chopped tomato, chopped black olives, chopped raw garlic, salt and pepper, lots of lemon juice.  I can add turkey or chicken to it and even mix with a little mayo or veg spread and eat it on a cracker or toasted tortilla.

Drinking  water at certain time  maximizes its effectiveness on the  body:
2  glasses of water after waking up – helps  activate internal organs
1  glass of water 30 minutes before a meal – helps  digestion
1 glass of water before taking  a bath – helps lower blood pressure
1  glass of water ( with one, half strength aspirin) before going to bed helps avoid  stroke or heart attack. Continue reading →

I love the Indian spice palette of freshly ground seeds: coriander, cumin, yellow mustard.  I enjoy the exotic taste of the spices: turmeric, garam masala, homemade curry powders. Here’s my Indian spiced vegetable curry recipe.

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This makes half a cup of curry powder.  I grind the seeds fresh when I have them.  This is a much better curry powder than what’s bottled in the stores. Continue reading →

My newest staple is sauteed onions and peppers, sometimes mushrooms, sometimes chicken or fish, piled into a warmed corn tortilla with a dab of salsa and sometimes a slice of smoked provolone flavored soy cheese.