Sometimes I ask Vic what he wants for breakfast; and he comes back with “mush.” It is without doubt not a term that entices my appetite. It’s probably one of those terms that are tied to his childhood. But since it’s not tied to my childhood, it sounds, well ….. mushy. A month or so […]

Many of you are striving to increase the frequency of consuming plant-based menus. For some it is a matter of protecting the environment; for others it is based upon health decisions and for a third group, it’s both the environment and health. One food that is probably not being fully utilized by any of these […]

Beans (aka legumes and pulses) likely don’t cause confusion in anyone except me. My confusion is in the fact that people seem to know that beans are inexpensive; for example – “not amounting to a hill of beans.” Where my confusion comes in, is that I read so much about the pinched budgets of families […]

I was just sharing the recognition of the approaching return of oatmeal season with my husband, Vic, this morning at breakfast. We generally only eat two different cereals; shredded wheat mostly while the weather is warm and old-fashioned oats when it’s cooler. If you’ve been reading this blog for many years, you know that Vic […]

Government agencies and public health organizations have loosened the guidelines on eating “safe” fats. An important spinoff of their backing off from earlier recommendations is that value is being found in foods that have good fat. I’ve written recently about nuts (Beyond Snacks: Welcoming Nuts into Your Meals), one beneficiary of the new guidelines. Another […]

We nutritionists and dietitians are often encouraging the consumption of fish; the reason is that it’s generally a very low fat, low calorie source of protein, with an added bonus of omega-3 fatty acids. But because shrimp is so low in total fat, it isn’t a great source for omega-3 fatty acids. But before you […]

Yogurt is an old food; actually it’s one of the oldest known to mankind. I assume that since Greece was one of the early civilizations, that they’ve had plenty of time to practice making extraordinary yogurt. The makers of Greek yogurt use different bacterial cultures than our regular American-style yogurt. Those cultures and the straining […]

Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of my favorite poet/writers said, “The glory of the farmer is that, in the division of labors, it is his part to create.” He goes on to say, “The food which was not, he causes to be.” Emerson, of course, lived in a different time, but I very much believe that […]

You probably know how nutritious dark green leafy veggies are; but are you worried that the children won’t like them, or that you won’t like them? My vegetable garden is bountiful with Swiss chard, which is a big surprise, because the quail that live in our woodsy yard were totally convinced that my first plantings […]

Yesterday, I was at the market picking up a few items, including a few golden beets; and the checker asked what could a person do with beets. So I quickly explained how I like to make them – roasted in the oven. I told her that I cut them from the greens and scrub them […]