My husband I were recently discussing the fact that food has become boring, that we’re both sick of the same old stuff.

Perfect timing for me to receive a new cookbook.

Now my husband isn’t much for eating healthy, I have to trick him to get him to try new food- the last I tell him is that it’s healthy. But he loves seafood and coconut and wouldn’t you know it The Best of Clean Eating is full of recipes featuring one or the other. I’m not much for fish but I do love shrimp so there’s even recipes that both of us can enjoy. Especially the desserts.

The desserts are something hubby and I can both whole heartedly agree on - like on page 152, you get the healthy sweet snacks Power Yogurt for One and Coconut Balls- both recipes sound delicious. But it’s the real desserts that will make you crave healthy decadence. On page 232 I am seriously drooling over the Molten Lava Cakes made with cocoa powder. On page 230 I see a cake I am going to make for my chocolate and coconut loving husband- Coconut Chai Chocolate Cake. Wow it sounds so yummy my stomach is grumbling in sweet anticipation.

For those of you who love carrot cake you have to check out page 226 the recipe for Slow Cooker Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Honey Drizzle will make non carrot cake lovers drool. Then there’s Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and Orange Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake…On page 214 I spy the ultimate apple pie recipe- it’s a pairing of two of my favorite things- vanilla and apples. The Vanilla Bean Spiked Autumn Apple Pie is going on my Thanksgiving menu.

After going through this cookbook you’ll never ever again think that eating healthy is eating bland.

The full color photos are enough to inspire you into exploring new culinary delights then you read through the ingredients and your mouth will start to water.

So far I’ve only spoken of sweet delights but there’s so much more in The Best of Clean Eating, for both die hard foodies and those who simply love food or are looking to try something new.

Throughout the book you’ll find a huge assortment of recipes- gingery roasted squash, roasted cauliflower leek and garlic soup, golden mashed potatoes, apple grilled cheese, yummy hummus, clean eating tortilla chips, sweet potato spread, garlic bruschetta…is your stomach growling yet? Because mine is.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts…you’ll find clean eating recipes for it in this book.

My husband and I are currently marking pages and making a shopping list for all the amazing recipes we are going to try. I can’t wait- I’m actually excited about food again.

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This past Hanukkah, I made the conscious and unpopular decision to veto sugar cookies.  Although my past efforts included a healthier non-hydrogenated margarine, I still felt uneasy giving my kids a cookie with all that concentrated fat and white flour.  The sad, puppy dog countenances along with the heart stabbing comments  such as, “But making Hanukkah cookies is our special tradition,” made me re-think my hasty decision to ban the beloved sugar cookies.  As I reflected on how my son already felt singled out due to his egg and nut allergies, I felt a surprising stab of guilt.  However, as I looked at those sticks of margarine thawing on my counter, I decided that I was going to make sugar cookie history.  Below are my results of a kinder, gentler cookie that not only tastes great, it is actually kid approved.  Enjoy. (continue reading…)

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If you have decided to opt for a vegetarian diet and you may wonder how are you going to substitute the meat with vegetarian diet, but you have ample of options available. You don’t have to worry about how you are going to prepare for the feast on Thanksgiving without meat. There are many meat substitutes available in the market which will not only give you enough nutrients but also make tasty recipes, helping your transition from a meat eater to a vegetarian easily. In addition the soy-food has cholesterol reducing properties, which in turn reduces the risk of heart diseases and high blood pressure related problems. You can welcome your guests with healthy and vegetarian food on this thanksgiving.

Here is a guide to some of these food that you may experiment with: (continue reading…)

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In addition to being a featured player on the autumn decorating scene, pumpkins are chock full of nutrition. However, pumpkin is most commonly used in pies and other baked goods that are loaded down with sugar and unhealthy levels of fats. Pumpkin flour allows you to slip the nutrition of pumpkin into more healthy recipes and reduce the amount of grain flour consumed. While it doesn’t have many of the properties of grains that allow them to form the foundations of breads, pumpkin flour can substitute for part of the flour in most recipes.

Pumpkins sold for Halloween have been bred for appearance, at the expense of flavor. That also makes them ideal for pumpkin flour, especially if you catch the day-after-Halloween jack-o-lantern pumpkin clearance at the supermarket. (continue reading…)

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I finally dug out of the bushel and a half of pears, and am letting the groundhog-in-residence have the rest. Now, those ten tomato plants are starting to look less and less like a good idea as I’m eating tomatoes breakfast, lunch and dinner, and still have leftovers to freeze and dehydrate. In fact, the only produce I’m not drowning in is zucchini, oddly enough. The vegetable with the prolific reputation is one of the few that I’ve never been able to get to grow decently.

Whether you have a garden or a CSA share, late summer and early fall are the feast times, and it’s easy to let the produce get ahead of you, leaving you with wilted greens, bendy celery and slightly mushy fruits and veggies. These don’t have the peak amount of vitamins, but they’re still salvageable, and the fiber and carbohydrates are still good, unless your fruit is starting to smell a little like hard cider or vinegar. That means the carbs have fermented. Food preservation instructions caution against canning damaged or off-peak produce, but that doesn’t mean that the slightly past-peak fruits and veggies are destined for the compost bin. If they’re a little old, but still look edible, try these tricks. (continue reading…)

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Earlier, I discussed the benefits of and misconceptions behind whole foods. The basic idea of eating whole foods is to minimize the amount of processing, which ultimately translates into more cooking from scratch. “Scratch” doesn’t need to be time-consuming or complicated, though. Dessert of yogurt topped with berries? That’s cooking from scratch. Basic pancakes and waffles are almost as easy to make from flour and leavening as from a mix. Cooking from scratch isn’t as intimidating as it sounds if you take baby steps out of the world of convenience foods and takeout.

Theme and Variations

I cook dinner at home pretty much every night, but I really only cook about four dishes. Except for special occasions, my kitchen produces tossed salad, legume soup, vegetable soup or sauteed veggies with protein. They turn out differently with variation on the seasoning or types of vegetables and protein, but the preparation and basic set of ingredients is the same. For example, sauteed veggies with protein can end up being stir fry, with soy sauce, ginger and tofu and served over brown rice; or it might be fajitas with some hot pepper flakes, cumin, salsa and tortillas. I add any legume - lentils, black beans, split peas or mixed beans - to the same base of broth, shredded carrot, celery, onion, garlic and summer squash for a slow-cooker soup, and just mix up the spices to suit the particular legume and my mood. The vegetable soup is almost the same thing, only with larger chunks of vegetables and no beans. (continue reading…)

As a vegetarian (and a female) I pay a lot of attention to my protein and iron intake since I can’t just eat a hunk of red meat and call it a day. Blacks beans are an excellent and inexpensive source of protein, iron, and fiber as well as folate and manganese.

While it’s nice to have a can of beans in the pantry, I find them to have a metallic taste and too much salt. In addition, most brands of packaged beans (the notable exception being Eden Foods) have BPA in the lining of their cans. To avoid all of these problems I like to cook a huge pot of dried beans at once then keep some in the refrigerator and some in the freezer. There are many variations on quick-soaking methods, crockpot beans, and pressure cookers. Here is my preferred and simple method using only a bowl, a pot, and the stove. (continue reading…)