chocolate peanut butter banana oatmeal smoothie recipe
Most of the time we just call this the Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie.  Mr. Picky says it's his new favorite and he is usually the one to make it.  You should see how many bananas I have to buy to...

savory muffins with spinach, roasted peppers and feta recipe
If you read my last post, you know that we haven't gone out for Mother's Day in several years and this Sunday will be no different.  Truth be told, I couldn't be happier for several already mentioned reasons....

asparagus and artichoke frittata recipe
I was talking to some ladies in one of my classes last week about their plans for Mother's Day.  It turned out to be a really funny conversation and rather interesting to hear how everyone spends the "holiday."  I...

warm coconut millet porridge recipe
I don't know what has taken me so long to share my favorite breakfast with you.  Although I haven't really been holding out on you since I did snap a picture of this delectable millet porridge a few months ago...

tex-mex matzo brei recipe (migas with matzo!)
I used to look forward to Passover when I was a child even though I wasn't Jewish and was never invited to a seder.  But Pathmark and Shop Rite would carry matzo for about 2 weeks around the time...

chocolate banana almond flour muffins with chia seeds recipe (gluten-free & passover friendly)
There's a new (but not really new) diet in town which everyone is talking about called the Paleolithic Diet or Paleo, for short.  Sometimes it's referred to as the Caveman or Hunter-Gatherer Diet and it focuses on the foods...

healthful vegan mint chip smoothie recipe
I quietly went dairy-free recently which made me a little bummed out because I love yogurt and feta and Pecorino Romano cheese.  My acupuncturist was begging me for years to break up with dairy once and for all so...

st. patty’s day pancakes recipe
My favorite green holiday is coming up which is funny since I'm not one iota Irish, I don't drink booze nor do I eat beef.  But I look forward to St. Patrick's Day so I can take all the...

baked berry oatmeal recipe
My favorite thing about the weekends and vacations is lingering over breakfast.  Weekdays are (sadly) so rushed that we don't really have more than 10 minutes to sit down and enjoy our morning meal.  Not only are we lacking...

how to segment citrus fruit
Right now is probably not the most exciting time of the year for fruit, even in Southern California.  Sure, we have amazing citrus coming our of our ears, but that’s pretty much it.  Pomegranates and persimmons just finished.  Even...

even easier homemade almond milk recipe
I know I've already posted a How-to-Make-Almond-Milk-from-Scratch recipe.  In fact, I gave you three different versions!  But my how-to involves slipping the skins off the soaked almonds before blitzing them in your blender which is really no big...

winter fruit salad recipe
Although I'm not 100% strict about it, I do try my best to eat seasonally as well as locally.  This helps to keep our bodies in harmony with nature, and is more healthful for us as well as the...

pumpkin oatmeal recipe
I always thought the strategy stopped once I served Thanksgiving dinner, but I actually think it's just as challenging figuring out how to work efficiently with all the leftovers.  I really detest throwing away food, so I try to...

vanilla and chocolate chia seed pudding recipes
Have you ever bought something that you heard people talking about, that you thought you should start eating and would figure out how to get it into your diet soon but never did, only to have that something sit...

kale, mushroom and brown rice bake recipe
Daughter #1 is my 15-year-old who used to turn her nose at her plate if food groups were touching.  So you can imagine how very satisfying it was for me when she sighed, "I could eat Kale, Mushroom and...

zucchini bread pancakes recipe
A few years ago, someone suggested I teach a class with a breakfast menu.  At first I didn't think it was such a good idea because breakfast seems kind of easy, at least too easy to be taught in...

blueberry spelt muffins with flax recipe
I have to say, so far our family vacation is going really well!  I have to give much of the credit to my husband who enjoys planning and executing trips like this.  Unlike him, I don’t have the knack...

summer garden frittata recipe
While I was away last week, my husband thought it would be a great idea to refinish the cabinets in the kitchen.  No wait, we might as well do all the cabinets in the entire house, he thought to himself.  Why...

acai bowl recipe
  I am a little bit of a skeptic, I'll admit.  When a new food comes onto the scene claiming to save your life, I have to raise an eyebrow.  One food can't do it all.  If you've noticed, I...

how to make almond butter
Why would you need to know how to make almond butter?  After all, you can buy it very easily at the supermarket or even via amazon.  You can pick your pleasure...

no-sugar, no-egg, no-flour breakfast cookie recipe
Most people are not mind readers, so if you have a wish for the perfect Mother's Day, you may need to drop a few hints.  I used to dream of a day where I could relax in my bed...

gluten-free oatmeal pancake recipe
I have two things on my mind this week -- eating anything that was forbidden during Passover (like grains) and being mindful of our consumption of limited resources with Earth Day coming up on April 22nd.   "How will...

how to make perfect hard boiled eggs
I imagine many of you are getting ready to boil eggs this week, either to decorate for Easter or to include at a Passover seder.  I loved the annual event of dyeing Easter eggs when I was a child....

spinach and avocado smoothie (aka “leprechaun juice”)
Are you having trouble getting your kids or significant other to eat green food?  If so, your big chance is coming up and I don't want you to miss out. Instead of looking at St. Patrick's Day as a...

cornbread (with quinoa!)
Let me just start out with a disclaimer -- I am not from the South.  I am a Yankee, which means I like my cornbread with half cornmeal and half flour and a drop of sweet and that's that....

overnight steel cut oatmeal recipe
We eat a lot of oatmeal in this house for so many reasons. It is nutritious, filling, inexpensive and incredibly easy to make.  Oatmeal is high in soluble fiber (the kind that helps reduce the absorption of cholesterol by...

building a better breakfast
You probably know that people who eat breakfast generally weigh less and have a lower Body Mass Index than people who don't eat breakfast.  Maybe you've learned from personal experience that when you skip breakfast, you have low...

spinach and feta strata
You know I'm a fan of the do-ahead breakfast for busy (and early) weekday mornings.  But holidays and weekend brunches are also the perfect time to prepare a fabulous breakfast the night before.  On Christmas morning, the kids love...

pumpkin pancakes with sauteed apples
Now that my daughters are teenagers (sigh), I encourage them to invite their girlfriends to have sleepovers at our house on the weekends.  I don't always get my wish, but I do like having them home so I can...

healthy granola bars recipe
Has school started in your neck of the woods?  We're back at it this week.  I get a little bummed when the kids go back to school.  I've really enjoyed spending more time with them and summer is so...

watermelon and tomato salad with feta and mint
This is the time of year when I am furiously trying to maximize my consumption of all things summer.  The seasonal window for some of my favorite foods is just too short, especially tomatoes.  In my classes July through...

zucchini-blueberry bread
Have I warned you about planting mint in your garden?  No?  Ooops, sorry 'bout that.  I know I have told several people to only plant mint in containers since its root system will go crazy and you'll never be...

watermelon agua fresca
We just dropped Mr. Picky off at the bus to take him to sleepaway camp for two weeks.  The goodbye was a tearful one.  The tears were all mine and my husband's, of course.  He couldn't wait to be...

do-it-yourself almond milk — 3 versions
You saw from my Alternative Milk Guide that these non-dairy beverages are basically nuts/seeds/grains pureed with water and strained.  Although Mr. Picky drinks raw milk regularly, the rest of us don't and the non-dairy milk that is used...

iced blended mocha
If you opened this post with glee and thought I actually put a recipe on my site for a real iced blended mocha, well then, you don't know me well at all, do you?  But if you clicked on the...

muesli
My husband and I have a division of labor approach to managing our home, kids and life. For example, he is in charge of sports, car issues, and electronics, and I handle meal preparation, communication with teachers and writing...

granola
I started making my own granola when I realized how much money I was spending to buy it at my local natural foods store.  $8 for a little container?  Ouch!  But the price wasn't the only deterrent.  There's also...

swiss chard frittata recipe
The conversation went like this:  Daughter #1, "I don't like eggs." Me, "Did you change your name to Sam-I-Am?  You do like eggs." Daughter #1, "You're not funny.  No, I don't."  Me, "You like frittatas, so you like eggs." Daughter #1, "That's different." Really?...

whole grain buttermilk pancakes
Packaged pancake mixes confuse me.  The idea behind packaged food is to provide the consumer convenience.  That is, it should be more convenient for you to use a boxed pancake mix than to make pancakes from scratch.  But let's think...

date-sweetened banana bread
One of my pet peeves is when people label a dessert as "healthy," and not because that is grammatically incorrect, but rather because desserts have sugar of some form and that will never be "good" for you no matter how...

healthy brown rice pudding recipe
Brown rice is a staple in my home.  A simple bowl of steamed brown rice, whether it is short-grain, long-grain, basmati or jasmine is utterly satisfying to me.  I love the nuttiness and wholesomeness of brown over white.  Keeping...

whole wheat pumpkin muffins
I prefer not to encourage too many desserts and sweets on this site.  There are so many reasons that sugar and refined sweeteners are bad for your health that I will devote an entire post to the subject in the...