A serving of the pilaf on a platter

Instant Pot Vegetable Pulao (Indian Pilaf)

Pulao is a common dish from India – it is basically rice cooked with vegetables and a protein. Making this dish in an Instant Pot makes for an easy one-pot meal. Growing up, I was only exposed to white rice and the traditional pulao recipe uses this rice as well. I have yet to experiment […]

A crock pot with the chicken recipe started

Meal Prep Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken

Lately, I have been trying to dedicate time each Sunday to meal prep for the week ahead. The level of meal prep may vary from week to week and some weeks I may only be able to chop a few vegetables and throw a salad together for my lunches. But, I have found that even […]

A metal water bottle with a blue and white pattern

Is your water bottle making you sick?

The “green” trend of folks having a refillable water bottle as opposed to drinking so many disposable bottles of water is great. Less plastic bottles in the landfill. However, I recently sat in a meeting beside a water table and watched people refill their bottles all day. I was horrified to count the number of […]

sheet pan meal

Dinner in a Flash: 6 Steps to Make a Sheet Pan Meal

Sheet pan meals are one of our team’s go-to weeknight dinners. They are called sheet pan meals because the whole meal is made on the same pan at the same time – talk about easy! Sheet pan meals can be made up of a combination of vegetables and meat. This is not a traditional recipe, […]

a child reaching up to get a strawberry off of the counter

Children Eating Healthy in NC

Convincing young children to try and eat fresh fruits and vegetables can be challenging. However, Kiddie Academy, a child care center in New Hanover County, has found a way to get its children and staff to not only try a variety of fruits and vegetables, but to expect and demand them at the breakfast and […]

Weights and bands to use for at-home exercising

How Can I Exercise Without Going to the Gym?

During the winter months I tend to lose interest in going to the gym. I don’t want to de-ice my windshield at 5am for an early morning workout and in the evenings I’m either busy with other activities or I just want to be home and out of traffic. This is always the perfect time […]

Meal Planning 101: An Easy Step-by-Step Guide

Meal planning is not a new concept, but it has been a hot topic for years in the health and wellness world. And for good reason! Meal planning can help you to prioritize your health goals and food choices as well as save time and money. There are many ways to meal plan, but I […]

Vegetables for Breakfast – Avocado Tomato Salad

I love a non-recipe recipe. A recipe that really is just a very simple prep technique with a few ingredients. No need to measure. I recently had a breakfast for our department and wanted to serve one vegetable dish. Not an easy feat for a Westerners that usually don’t eat vegetables at breakfast. We had […]

A woman demonstrating lunges

9 Strength Training Exercises You Can Do at Home

I get a daily newsletter from the New York Times and shortly after January 1st I saw a section about strength training. I think their article is really nice because it has pictures and videos of how to do the exercises as well as modifications and challenges. I also really like their recommendations because this […]

A serving of muesli in a bowl

Muesli by any other name is cold oatmeal – and it rocks

Whenever I travel to Europe, especially when on a cruise, one of the things I look forward to is the Muesli. When we see in Muesli the stores here it is a cold ready to eat cereal like granola. While this is technically muesli, the kind I crave is very different. It is a cold […]