Happy Day 4... To A New You!

Today was a whorl wind and it's only getting windier... I just got home from my client's house at 9pm having to write this post (scratch that) wanting to write this post and my camera is acting up... Anyway, today was a perfect example of the inspiration for todays topic...

How to have healthy food in your fridge all the time, that you only have to prep on Sunday, or whatever day works for you.  Making it super easy for you to just grab and reheat a healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner.
So, I had 3 hours between coming home from teaching classes at the gym and going to Marin to cook for clients in their home, to create, cook and photograph the 3 meals.

Not to mention I'm on 4 hours of sleep!  That Italian meetup happy hour I went to last night was a blast!  After 3 hours and 3 glasses of wine my Italian was flowin like a native and I ended up at an Italian restaurant in North Beach with 8 bello Italian men :) So far I'm  LOVIN meetup!

Roasted Eggplant and Tomatoes

I feel as though the only recipes I post are sweet/dessert recipes...which is not a good representation of the foods I really love and enjoy.
So I am going to start making a conscious effort to post what I really eat, on the day-to-day, the healthy whole veggies and grains!
We'll start with a couple of eggplant dishes.  I love cooking with eggplant because there are a lot of different options, roast, stuff, puree...

Nori Rolls with a Raw Almond and Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

Get creative with the fillings.  Really anything works in Nori Rolls.  I used quinoa to make this a full protein lunch and a raw almond and sun-dried tomato spread to add healthy fats, protein and flavor.
Once you get the hang of rolling and assembling you'll be amazed at how easy it is and wonder why you don't make them more often

Broccoli, Beans and Pesto Rice with Pine Nuts and Parmesan

Like most of the things I make, they're inspired by what ever happens to be in my fridge and the ingredients can easily be changed and adjusted to your liking

ingrained in your memory...your Basic Grain Pilaf

Actually, there is not even a recipe for this post!

The point is, we need to always keep cooked whole grains on-hand in our fridge!

The first step to eating healthy:

Stock your fridge with healthy,  pre-made (by you) foods!

Miso Cod and Japanese Eggplant over Sesame Cabbage Rice

a winner for sure

I'm asked repeatedly by clients to make this

Acorn Squash Risotto

I just read that It is possible to make risotto in a dutch oven! Wow, talk about much simpler and less hands on time.

Butternut Squash with Brown Butter, Crispy Sage, Pecan & Quinoa Pilaf...

...It's a mouth full- Literally!

'tis the season to eat SQUASH

breakfast, lunch, side dish or dinner...

bake, roast, steam, stuff or mash...

The possibilities are endless

Ball of Fire!

Like Power Bars, they're Power Balls!

I've recently been experimenting with making healthy, whole, full protein, gluten free workout snacks...and these I think are a winner. Just one will sustain your energy for at least 2 hour workout.

Mushroom and Barley

This dish goes very well with many fall recipes. If you are gluten sensitive, try using rice or buckwheat in place on barley.

Winter Citrus Salad

This Saturday at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market I saw something  I had never seen before.  Red Walnuts!  They are so pretty, almost too pretty to eat.

Gloomy Day in SF Soup!

Today's lunch was inspired by nothing else other than the bad weather...

San Francisco is known as the "Fog City," which actually is not fair to say because we usually have very mild, beautiful weather :)  

But I willl admit, today was a particularly grey day.

Simone's Amazing Rice Medley

My cousin Simone has a big heart and an even bigger appreciation for healthy cooking and living!

Buttenut Squash & Bulger

Butternut squash is fantastic this time of year. Not only is it full of vitamins and minerals but it's tasty and beautiful too. Walnuts, browned butter and sage go nicely with butternut squash too! I then decided to go with bulger as my grain to pull it all together- yum yum!