recipes

Do you want to naturally support your body in staying cool during the hot summer months?  If so, eat more cucumbers.

If you’re looking for an easy way to have a delicious, healthy, homemade dessert, I’ve got the scoop for you. And although it’s not exactly ice cream, its flavor lets it stand on its own. 

One of my favorite summer fruits is the beloved and magical fig. My grandmother had a huge fig tree in her backyard and every summer we would make fig and ginger jam. I cannot even begin to describe how delicious this jam was. And how wonderful the smell of the cooking jam was. I used to eat it on toast and straight out of the jar by the spoonfuls. 

As a young girl, I just enjoyed the delicious flavor of figs and had no idea how healthy figs are for you.

Thanks to the refrigerator and humans’ propensity for fresh, crisp fruit and vegetables, it might seem likely that all produce should be stored in the fridge. If you’re used to putting your corn, tomatoes, and garlic in the fridge though, think again. Here’s the (scientific) way to keep your food nutritious and tasty for days at a time.

Almond Milk

I know very few people who dislike almond milk. This is definitely one of the most common nut milks, but that doesn't mean it isn't fantastic! It's loaded with flavor and makes a fantastic milk substitute. This is my go-to milk, and I'm sure it will be yours too. 

Ingredients: 

Summer is in full swing and so are the squash plants in the garden. By now, most of us have an abundance of summer squash and all of our neighbors and friends have loads of squash as well.

What to do with all of the lovely summer squash fruit?

One way to utilize squash is to harvest and eat the flowers! Squash blossoms, generally used from the zucchini plant, are a delicacy that has been cooked for centuries by many different cultures. 

Tofu.  The very word instills disgust in the mouths of many omnivores, and even in some who abstain from meat products.  And with good reason!  Since the 1960s, the idea of “tofu” has been used in U.S. media to conjure up images of gross, weird, vegetarian and vegan food – in the collective psyche, it’s almost a four-letter word, one that’s practically synonymous with vegetarianism itself.

If you are trying to get healthier, inside out, the first thing you need to focus on is home-cooked meals. It's important to get organized well enough to be able to cook those healthy meals at home. Here’s some help…

Many years ago, after a few hours on a sweltering beach, my friend and I gathered ourselves and climbed the dunes to a restaurant. It was on the patio there that we two tired, over-sunned young girls were brought back to life by generous bowls of cool, hearty, earthy gazpacho. Every summer since, when the temperatures soar, I think: soup.  And although I love a good tomato gazpacho, it’s just the beginning.

I have to admit: I didn’t think I missed banana pudding until I made this recipe.

I used to eat banana pudding periodically as a child – it wasn’t my favorite, but it made a regular appearance at buffets and church potlucks, so I was no snob to it, either.  It was often simply vanilla pudding served with slices of bananas and those little vanilla wafers; occasionally it was “real” banana-flavored pudding.  I’m pretty sure all of it was made with a little packet of gelatin, though.  And that’s why (before this recipe) I hadn’t eaten it in years.