The holidays may be over but I love entertaining this time of year!  Game Days, Valentines Day, and cozy dinners in are all my jam.  I hosted a birthday luncheon for a good friend this week and it was a gluten-free and vegan menu (because she is GF and vegan) and wow!  If you didn’t catch the details on Instagram stories, I will be sharing it all in this Monday’s newsletter with all the recipes and prep ahead tips. If you don’t subscribe to my free newsletter, you can sign up here. Thanks for all your great feedback!  Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

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I am finally back in town after being away for over two weeks and the thing I missed most of all was my KITCHEN. What I missed second to most was my way of eating.  I am actually tired of overeating.  Pasta, bread, and desserts have lost their appeal for the time being.  I need a salad for lunch and a bowl of soup for dinner for a week straight please.  I am also looking to get back to finishing dinner at an early hour, like 6:30. I sleep better and my digestion is happier!  In other news, my new January cooking class is UP.  Reminder, I have no plans to return to in-person cooking classes, so this is it! My monthly classes are great – 1 video with 5 all-new recipes (which I do not publish for at least a year) peppered with product advice, techniques, substitution suggestions, and nutrition information. Plus I offer live “office hours” every month for additional support.  There are two ways to participate – $29 for the class + access to the entire library of classes or $25 for the single class.  Join me and I’ll make you a better, healthier cook!  Here’s your dinner planner for the week: Continue reading

Happy New Year!  I hope your new year is off to a good start! My January class will be up soon.  The last couple years I have done a “Dry January” theme, ie NO dessert recipe!  It’s not a punishment, but instead I try to get back to eating desserts in moderation and not twice a day like I may have done in the last week (or two.) The menu for this month’s class is Blistered Green Beans, Firecracker Tofu, Hot and Sour Soup, Shrimp Lo Mein, and Spicy Salmon Sushi Bake. Here’s your dinner planner for the week: Continue reading

Christmas week is always full of cookies and extra helpings at lunch and dinner. We have enjoyed some foods in New York that we don’t eat often in LA (mostly of the Italian variety.) I am hoping that in Utah next week we can get outside and be a little more active. Other than on New Years Eve, we are planning to cook our dinners at home. I have to be a bit more conscientious than I used to be about eating my way through the holidays. Now I am more focused on how I will sleep that night and how will I feel afterwards.  I am trying to find a balance between enjoying holiday foods but not regretting it later!  Here’s your dinner planner for the week: Continue reading

What a week – it’s Hanukkah AND Christmas!  Last week’s dinner planner had some Hanukkah ideas since Sunday is the first night. We’ll be at my mom’s this week with all the kids, so I can barely contain my excitement. My mom and my sisters and I will cook together. We try to keep things easy and we make grocery runs every other day (since we can’t store everything we need for the entire week.) Follow along on Instagram to see it all unfold. I’ve packed my matcha! Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

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Happy Weekend!  I am celebrating my nephew’s bar mitzvah this weekend, so we have a lot of family events. Hubs and I are hosting a brunch at our home on Sunday. I am breaking it all down in Monday’s newsletter.  Subscribe here if you don’t already.  For my monthly online cooking class subscribers, I am doing a live zoom “office hours” on Wednesday at 5:00 pm PT. Check your email for the link!  Here’s your dinner planner for the week: Continue reading

This is always a hectic time of year, between two major holidays, lots of gifts to buy, and so many events being squeezed in before school breaks for the holidays.  My advice to myself right now is to not run myself ragged, stay hydrated and pumped up with extra vegetables and fruit, and get adequate sleep.  If I can’t get it all done, so be it. In December, I tend to cook once and eat twice. What that means is a pot of soup on Sunday is the same meal on Monday, and a roasted chicken is eaten two days in a row, but one day simply with sides and the next reheated with taco seasonings and served with tortillas.  I prefer to eat homemade food as much as possible, but this time of year I am not looking to win awards for creativity!

I am traveling this weekend through Tuesday, so I will miss Instagram live on Monday night but Hubs and I will return to our regular Monday live at 5 on 12/12.  It will be a GOOD one!

If you don’t subscribe to my newsletter, do it!  I have an epic gift guide coming in this Monday’s newsletter!

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I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!  I honestly did not care as much about the food, even though I certainly spent time planning and cooking.  I was overjoyed to have two of my kids home with us for the whole week and for Thanksgiving. There is truly nothing better in my opinion.  One of my turkeys turned out amazing and one cooked much faster than I anticipated and had to rest for way too long, and I thought ended up slightly dry.  But I truly did not get the least flustered because I was enjoying the day so much.  I typed up all my notes and things I learned and I am sharing it all in this Monday’s newsletter!  If you aren’t signed up for my free newsletter, you are missing out! Here’s your dinner planner for the week: Continue reading