~ wellness, wonder, words ~
I’m practicing.
If I were to go by today’s weather I would be making you iced tea with a sprig or two of fresh rosemary while sporting a bikini but that’s not happening because I’m practicing — practicing and preparing for El Niño.
We’ve been promised (again mind you) a long wet winter here in drought-ravaged California and I’m getting ready with some warming comfort food worthy of a proper fall. …
We’ve been doing some collaborative cooking in our home lately.
Last week our youngest made this dish ~ a fairly detailed and somewhat laborious recipe for a young cook and I was happy to partake in both the result and the journey. He managed it with quiet confidence and persistence working through each of the steps and even made a second trip back to the store on his bike when he realized we didn’t have sour cream (I suggested Greek yogurt but was overruled – he made the right call). I have to admit I enjoyed the mom break ~ so nice to have someone else prepping food for a change but more than that, it was one of those satisfying moments when you see your child’s culinary prowess expand beyond spreading peanut butter (although we all know peanut butter sandwiches are tough to beat). …
Summer officially begins on Friday in this home.
It’s the boys last week of school and we are cruising through it with the usual mix of chaos and excitement.
Just beyond the end-of-semester projects, presentations and ceremonies, await the pool parties, UEFA Champions League finals and midnight chip runs to CVS. Yup, the first week of summer is about to descend on us in all of its glory and the boys can literally taste it.
The tradition at our sons’ school, like many others, is for the parents of the Grade 11 class to prepare the food for the Grade 12 graduation reception — (I say this with a huge lump in my throat knowing that next year, we will have our own Grade 12 graduate and it will no longer be possible for me to keep denying the inevitable. Please tell me I am not the only mom who has trouble with this…)….
This year marked our first spring planting season at our new home.
I was intent on growing herbs and getting a vegetable or two into the ground. So with a deep breath and a huge leap of faith, I kept my ambitions low, stayed focused and started small.
My husband built me two wood boxes and with that, our adventure was underway. …
March has finally arrived and I know that comes as a great relief to many.
Spring buds, longer sunlit days and warmer temperatures on the way to caress those weary winter bones (and not a moment too soon if I’m reading the collective temperament right)….
I’m finding my groove after some time away in the quiet mountains of the Lake Tahoe region.
It’s a strange thing harvesting lemons from your backyard one moment, and then finding yourself at a 9000 foot elevation surrounded by snow the next. Strange as in unfamiliar, but certainly not unwelcome….
Well I can’t very well move on from summer without sharing the story of the season.
I feel a bit bad spinning it into a story because it does have an unfortunate outcome but if there’s anyone I know who can take a situation like this and turn it on its head, it’s this guy.
Our budding actor was back in action this summer with a great program out of Palo Alto offering ‘professional training for serious young artists’. All was going along tickety-boo until one day our young Robert De Niro decided to have a Raging Bull moment and take his acting career to a whole new level (the movie buffs among you know exactly where I’m going with this…)….
Whenever I find myself running behind on my writing commitments and the pressure starts to mount, I paint my fingernails red.
A strange cure for writer’s block perhaps but it works for me. Red is one of those colors that just won’t be denied. Bold and energizing, it’s an accelerator and mood changer. And it turns out that it doesn’t endure procrastination very well either.
As soon as I see those bright red chiclets moving across the keypad in a trail of fire, it’s like a call to action. Suddenly I’m transported out of the doldrums of my languid mind and into a place of movement and activity, whether I want to or not.
I don’t think it would work on any kind of regular basis, and I wouldn’t care to have my hands ablaze more than a few times a year, but every now and again, seeing red is where it’s at.
Does color change you?
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I know I should be moving on to back-to-school themes and fall givings and such but you’ll forgive me for holding off on the pumpkin posts for now.
It is still August after all and I’m really not in a rush to abandon summer especially while mother nature continues to turn out such gorgeous late summer produce.
And speaking of spoils, we received another generous haul of garden tomatoes and basil from our neighbors this past weekend. In fact, we got the full tour of their plantation (so inspiring) and this time, I decided to make a roasted marinara sauce from their givings.
Instead of serving the Italian sauce with a conventional grain-based pasta, I decided to switch things up a little and work with zucchini – another abundant vegetable right now.
Some of you might remember this handy dandy shredding tool from this post that allowed me to make short work of my green papaya. That is the same tool I used to make the zucchini pasta threads. You could also use a spiralizer (I don’t own one but I understand they are quite versatile and will produce a noodle like shape).
If you make this recipe expecting your great-aunt Angioletta’s pasta, well, this is not it. On the other hand, you may be surprised to discover just how appetizing this dish is in its own right without comparison. A warm and savory roasted marinara sauce mingled with sautéed mushroom and chicken over a bed of light and delicious zucchini. You might just like it. A lot.
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If you follow Inspired Edibles on Facebook, you may have caught a sneak peek of the inspiration for this post.
This past weekend, our new neighbors delighted us with the most welcome housewarming gifts.
An array of garden delights including: little gem lettuce (soft and buttery), firm and crunchy cucumber, fragrant basil and the sweetest, freshest tomatoes we’ve ever tasted! The tomatoes were so good in fact that we ate the first few solo and unseasoned, swooning over every bite (sometimes it’s the simple things…). We then went on to enjoy the ingredients in sandwiches, with drizzled balsamic and in a tossed salad that evening.
Since the givings were so generous, I had plenty of tomatoes leftover and wanted to make the best of them while they were still in their prime. I had the idea of rounding up some of the best of the late summer harvest and presenting it in these zucchini boats. Open faced melt style.
If you haven’t tasted baked zucchini yet, you’re in for a treat! Soft, savory and full of comfort, you could almost (almost) mistake these stuffed lovelies for pizza ~ and, bonus, they deliver a better long term investment.
This a very simple recipe that involves baking the zucchinis with olive oil and sea salt and then filling them with black beans and veggies and a sprinkling of cheese (of course, you can use whatever toppings you like).
We enjoyed these molten zucchini boats with a side of quinoa and a tossed green salad. A light and delicious vegetarian summer meal the whole family enjoyed.
Directions:Heat oven to 350 F
The boys start school on Monday.
I know.
Seems cruel and unusual to me too.
And yet, they feel good about it, so who am I to say.
My eldest says he likes being in school with his friends when the weather is still so nice ~ (like it turns dramatically here in CA – wink) ~ everyone is full of energy and good spirits and there is a ball to kick or throw at every break. Even though they don’t live far apart, plans don’t seem to get made quite as often during the summer break so school remains the great joinder.
We squeezed in all the mandatory pre-school appointments in the earlier part of the week ~ the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker ~ and this morning I dropped my youngest off at his High School orientation. Yup, two boys in high school now. I’ll admit I lingered a bit longer than I needed to. Catching those last glimpses of boyhood before it all changes, again.
So here I sit in a new home surrounded by boxes and to-do lists and yet, a warm cup of tea and this quiet space seems just about right.
These last few weeks have swooshed by in a blur and I’m feeling grateful for the pause.
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Today I’m talking about breakfast and sharing some of my favorite ways to start the day.
I am often asked in my nutrition practice what the ideal breakfast is and my answer is always the same: it depends. And it does. Age, stage, level of activity, work/sleep schedules, response to food, goals and objectives. In short, while there are certainly guiding principles, there is no one size accommodates all when it comes to nutrition.
We are all biochemically unique and each of us has the ability and responsibility, in my view, to experiment and learn what works best for us.
For myself, the composition and ratio of micronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrate) will vary depending on whether I am preparing for work (sedentary) or exercise. It may also vary with the seasons as my digestive vitality and food preferences are not the same in the grueling heat as they are in cooler temperatures.
Prior to exercise, I prefer easily and quickly digesting food sources such as whole grain oatmeal with ground seeds, a few pieces of sliced banana and milk. A nourishing and easily digested meal that provides me with just the right amount of energy I need to have a productive workout session. If I eat this type of breakfast sometime around 7:30 am and workout sometime around 9:00 am, I am usually looking for a more concentrated protein source by 10:30 – 11:00 am.
On the days when I am not working out in the morning, I might opt for a more substantive breakfast with greater staying power (satiety) such as this nourishing breakfast bowl which contains a variety of food elements in more concentrated forms. A simple and delicious meal bowl made up of protein (found in the eggs, nuts, cheese and quinoa), fat (found in the avocado, nuts and cheese) and carbohydrate (found in the quinoa and sprouts) complete with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Although packed with goodness, this quinoa breakfast bowl is easy on the system and does not leave me feeling bloated, tired and grumpy the way more popular breakfast assortments of the carbohydrate family can (ie: toast, pancakes, waffles, muffins, sugary cereals, etc) ~ pretty much the opposite of how you want to feel starting out the day.
Be sure to have a look at the Nutriton & Cooking Notes I prepared for more information on the role of protein, fat and carbohydrates in the body as well as nourishing food sources of these macronutrients.
Enjoy experimenting with different combinations and remember, nobody ever said you couldn’t eat lentils or steak for breakfast. Do what works for you!
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