small bites [recipes]

coconut water, green tea, whole fruit smoothie recipe

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This might be a great start to your Super Bowl Sunday. With all the overindulgence this day may bring, a good start might be in order. If not a today then Monday this is a sure bet. Because no matter which team you are rooting for, this is a no win day when it comes to your [...]

bourbon 5-spice BBQ ribs [for Memorial Day]

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Wow your neighbors with these one-napkin ribs.  Picture your neighbors grilling up some grocery store standard hotdogs and the scent of these bourbon ribs is wafting over the fence into Joe the Plumber’s backyard and making him oh-so-jealous!  Mmm, I can smell them now. I’ve got a great idea for making ribs an even better [...]

embrace the morning: green smoothie

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I was inspired by a segment I saw on the Today Show yesterday called Beating the Bloat.  I hate that feeling and according to Kimberly Snyder eating fruit on an empty stomach is a way to avoid that problem and to jump start weight loss. She reasons that fruit digests quickly and if you eat [...]

{Cinco de Mayo} pork & cabbage taco recipe

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My friend Claudia is always the hit of any gathering.  She is from Guadalajara, Mexico, and she can cook.  She walks into the party, school function, etc with a bundle of these wrapped up in foil and a freshly cooked salsa then let the swarming begin.  You’d better get there early, because they disappear in [...]

a gluten-free lunch on the fly

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I love fish sticks, it’s true. I do not know how this love developed.  I even like the icky ones made from minced fish parts and who knows what else.  I am a savvy shopper though and I steer clear of those fat laden, nasty bits.  There are some good brands out there that have, [...]

waldorf salad meets 2010

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It is hard to believe that a salad that was made famous by the Waldorf Hotel Restaurant in the 1890′s, now the infamous Waldorf Astoria, has turned into a ho-hum potluck classic.  I have a new version here that will relaunch this into your repertoire.  This is a feel good salad that tingles with bright [...]

baby new potato salad with artisan bacon

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You cannot get more local than your backyard.  There is nothing better than the vegetables that you dig out of your own dirt.  The farmer’s market finds are close, but till fall shy of the flavor of something that you’ve grown. It is amazing that there is anything growing in my backyard this year. The [...]

herbed chèvre {goat cheese}

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There is this great French goat cheese that I absolutely love, Fleur Verte le Chevrefeuille from the Périgord region of France. I have had it only a handful of times but its flavors and texture haunts me.  Reminiscent of cheese cake in texture, but the fragrant herbs within which it is coated lure you in [...]

broccoli soup and ad hoc croutons

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Inspired by Jamie Oliver’s speech on TED.  I have made a simple soup that anyone can make for a quick healthy meal with only a couple ingredients and a few minutes.  It would even make a great substitute for your green beer on St. Patty’s Day.  Green beer, by the way, is a bad idea.  [...]

super sliders two ways and a libation

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What is the definition of a Super Nun? Whatcha makin’ for Superbowl Sunday?  Who is your favorite team?  I have to admit that I have no idea who the teams are that are up for the title this year.  That is no different from any other year though.  Maybe it is because I am married [...]

marinated feta

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I am so taken aback by the outpouring of supporting emails, phone calls, comments of facebook, DMs on twitter, comments on the blog (even the ones that I refused to publish to keep you from being retaliated against).  I had no idea that that many of you cared.  My whole family is deeply touched by [...]