Tag: Healthy Eats

Cooking or Exercising? Ideally Both!

IMG_5056The conundrum on how we best spend our time continues. A recent meta data analysis determined that exercise is less important than diet if our goal is to lose weight. And as we at Come and Cook with Us aren’t really focused on eating to slim the waist, we want to point out that while regular exercise is really really good for our muscles, joints, heart, lungs, and mental wellbeing, we aren’t told often enough that making time for a home-cooked meal is just as important, if not more. We know it’s hard to fit it all in, but a little can go a long way so this summer we invite you all to try a few new habits. Come and cook with us!

Maybe there isn’t anyone getting rich by telling us this simple truth. Or maybe we are told, but with little impact given the competing multi-million dollar marketing budgets focused on getting us into the gym, dressed in our best athletic outfits and enticing us to follow each and every move with digital wearables like fitbit. Our public service announcement is pretty simple: Let’s try to find a healthy lifestyle that incorporates both exercise and nutritious food. Here are a few suggestions on how to implement it:

  • Keep it simple.
  • Start with one meal, like breakfast, if you feel overwhelmed.
  • Make it a family effort giving kids a role in choosing, shopping for and preparing the meal.
  • Always add a salad.
  • Switch out the ice cream for water melon, peaches, apricots, cherries and more fresh fruits that are in season right now.
  • Reach for the water and skip the soda.
  • Remember what your ideal plate looks like: 1/2 plate fresh produce, 1/4 whole grain and 1/4 protein.
  • Visit the farmers market and talk to the farmers.
  • Make it social by asking your friends for their go-to-recipes. You’ll have a wide repertoire of new ideas when fall comes around.

Regular exercise is indeed an excellent way to boost your mood and get in great shape. And so is cooking. This summer, spend a little less time letting other people tell you what will make you happy, healthy and wise, and instead listen to what your own body is telling you. Here’s to a good summer! Below are links to some of our favorite summer dishes that are easy to make and delicious to eat. Come and cook with us!

Greek Salad
Bircher Muesli and Refrigerated Oatmeal
Oven Baguette
Mediterranean Poached Chicken Salad
Lone Pine Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Fennel, Avocado and Orange Salad
Salad Dressings

Make Space for Quinoa Pizza Crusts

_DSC0619It usually happens in one of two ways. Either, a recipe jumps at me out of a cook book or magazine and I go home with the urge to immediately experiment with it, or it grows on me over time until I finally try it. Quinoa pizza falls into this latter category. I’ve heard of it, I’ve seen it, I meant to try it, but when my friend Karyn praised it, I just had to see what the hype was all about. And boy, do I understand it now. And if you give this quinoa pizza crust a try, so will you. Come and cook with us!

The recipe seems easy enough if a little time consuming as the quinoa needs to soak for about 8 hours. So we prepare it in the morning if we want pizza for dinner. After the soak, the quinoa gets blended with water, spices and herbs until it forms a pancake batter. Pour it, bake it, top it and you have yourself a delicious gluten free pizza that surprisingly doesn’t really taste like quinoa at all.

Next up will be cauliflower pizza crusts. In the meantime, let me know what you think of the quinoa option. We love it. Come and cook with us!

Quinoa Pizza Crust

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Cheering for Cherries

_DSC0546I can hardly believe that we’re already in June. That means the school year is coming to an end, June gloom is dictating the temperatures in SF and, of course, it’s cherry season! The farmer’s market stands are crowded with all kinds of stone fruits including peaches, nectarines, plums, pluots, apricots and cherries. Get your filling while it lasts. As far as I’m concerned, I can’t have enough cherries. The best way to eat these little juicy gems is probably right off the tree or at least by popping them into your mouth and letting the sweetness run down your chin. However, if you want to eat cherries in a more mannered way, and without messing up your clothes, we suggest you try this estival quinoa salad. Who says you can’t dress a fruit salad. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Cheering for Cherries”

Wellness: From the Inside Out

IMG_0335When it comes to the blog, we most often focus on the How to cook. Sometimes, we also want to talk about the Why. Last week, I attended a wellness workshop held at The Hivery in Sausalito and conceived by Mill Valley’s very own Juice Girl, Melora Johnson. The panel included Dr. Josefa Rangel, an Integrative doctor with a practice in Marin, Jason Way, a Naturopathic Doctor in Mill Valley, and Clean Eat Nutrition, run by Eris Cushner and Sandrine Ghosh, two nutritionists. The interactive panel discussion offered ideas, recipes and information on promoting wellness from the inside out. Here are my key take-aways. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Wellness: From the Inside Out”

My Cabbage is Alive: How to Make Sauerkraut

IMG_7709There are certain foods that come and go, others have been around for a long time and are here to stay. Or at least, they should be. Be honest, how often have we heard that including fermented foods like yogurt, miso, kefir, kimchi and sauerkraut are nutritious and have healing powers benefiting our overall health? Well, it’s time to step up the game by learning how to make simple sauerkraut. While some readers might be well versed in the art of fermentation – such as my parents – we invite others to dip their tow into fermented foods by following this simple recipe of sauerkraut. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “My Cabbage is Alive: How to Make Sauerkraut”