Mindful or Mindless: The anatomy of nutritious snacks

As Americans, we are notorious snackers. It is part of our culture and ingrained into our heads that we need to snack, and if we don’t, we may starve. The rest of the world doesn’t snack and it is not part of their culture. Americans fear hunger, and that is something to address. When I was in university in Paris, my friend’s kids would come home from school and have a yogurt or fruit.  I,  on the other hand, was ...

Seven spices you are probably not eating but should be

Spices are healing foods. They not only enhance flavors, but they strengthen the nutritional potency of any culinary creation.    I began to embrace spices while living in India. A spice box with a rainbow of colors and flavors was always beside the stove of the best Home Cooks and Chefs. My Southern Indian landlord taught me how and why to use each spice while considering both the taste and the medicinal effects; much like a doctor might prescribe medication. A world ...

How to read a label

Food labels and packaging can be very confusing. They don’t have to be. True story: Years before Whole Foods, I was diagnosed with “chronic label reading.” It was suggested to me by my fancy Upper East Side shrink that I limit my health food shop visits to 20 minutes or less. As health food shops and now Whole Foods are my Happy Place, I rebelled. I was determined to master the art of label reading and I did—in all seven ...

Portable, practical healthy living . . . AND a GIVEAWAY!

Do you ever wonder how to port your healthy-living habits along when you are running around or traveling? It is so easy! It just takes a bit of streamlining and finding new tricks. I was just at Expo West, the Mac Daddy of all natural product shows and my idea of falling into a fluffy organic pillow of shopping heaven—thousands upon thousands of natural and organic products to discover and investigate. Food shopping and natural food shops have been a ...

Quick healthy snacks? The Jicama.

Is there such thing as a quick healthy snack? Of course there is! Jicama is a refreshing water-based, somewhat sweet vegetable. I often find that people don’t know what it is or how to eat it. Let me show you how to eat jicama – Peel the jicama with a small knife instead of a vegetable peeler. I find the peeler too difficult for thick skin root vegetables like these.  Cut the veggie in sticks and dip like carrot or ...

How to make flawless veggie soup

What if I told you that you could make flawless smooth veggie soup in less than five steps – every time. Smooth veggie soup seems time consuming and daunting to make… Guess what? It’s NOT. The key to making a perfect veggie soup is following a simple formula that is easy to replicate time and time again.   My favorite thing about a smooth veggie soup is that it is highly convertible. Meaning— one if I make one soup, freeze ...

The Perfect Raw Kale Salad

The key to the perfect raw kale salad is to make sure you soften it first. Kale has become the popular leaf lately, but it can be difficult to eat, bitter tasting and even more difficult to digest. It doesn’t have to be…. Soften raw kale in less than 15 minutes with out even touching it. When I was living in Paris, I longed for dark leafy greens more than you can even imagine. Parisians have spinach, but kale and collards ...

10 Tips for a clean start…

One question I am asked repeatedly at the beginning of each new year is “how can I detox or get healthy?”. After all of the parties, the dinners and holiday indulgences, everyone wants a fresh start.

Egg Nog Lattes

I love the holiday season. Though the warm Florida sunshine doesn’t bellow that the Christmas season is upon us, it’s the sudden flood of tourists, the Christmas music on the radio and the arrival of the Starbucks Egg Nog Latte that say it best. I thought a lot about the Egg Nog Lattes this year. I’m often drawn to order the Latte but never have and most likely never will. I’ve always wanted to like Egg Nog, as it sounds ...

Avocados and Travel

We have been traveling a lot lately. Four flights in 2 weeks. I love traveling, but often it’s the food and the snacks that create a dilemma, what to bring?!  Personally, I find solace in the avocado as it is one of my favorite foods and highly portable. My sweet husband looked at me cross eyed the first time he saw me pull one out of my bag on an airplane. But the avocado is the perfect snack to toss in ...