The Nourish Blog is Moving! Be sure you move with us...

I have one teensy task for you to do today - it will take 30 seconds so please don't put it off. In fact, you'll be able to check one thing off your to-do list right away - and won't that feel good?

The Nourish Blog is MOVING so you'll no longer find updates on this Blogger site.

I've moved all the old posts and will do all new posts straight from my new brand website at www.NourishYourself.com.

Here's what to do to continue to read the Nourish Blog in the way you choose:

1 -To subscribe to receive our blog posts by email, go to the sidebar of the page found at this link and enter your email address. You'll immediately receive a verification email which you'll need to open in order to complete the subscription process. (Even if you already subscribe by email you'll need to RESUBSCRIBE by following this step).

2 - To follow us by RSS, click the RSS icon on the sidebar of this page. (Even if you already subscribe by RSS you'll need to redirect your feed by doing this).

3 - If you currently come directly to this site to check for updates, you'll need to bookmark a new page. It is http://NourishYourself.com/category/all-posts/

Okay, now off to do your 30 second task...as an incentive, if you subscribe by email or RSS by March 31st, you'll be entered to win a Nourish Goodie Bag full of really fun things to support your wellness journey! We'll see you on the new site, and thank you so much for continuing to follow the Nourish Blog!

Begin Making Tiny Movements - A bit of yoga Inspiration

At the end of each yoga class, our instructor settles us into "savasana"(alternately spelled shavasana), a pose in which we lie flat on our backs, perfectly still, for a few minutes of meditative silence. With nothing but a fan whirring overhead or (if we're lucky) birds chirping outside, it's the quietest moment of my day. It's a period of complete rest, no matter how short-lived. When it's time to end savasana, the instructor asks us to "begin making tiny movements with our fingers and toes" before we raise ourselves to a seated position and end the class with a single "om". 

That phrase "begin making tiny movements" has stuck with me for several weeks now. It seems to be a choicefully selected phrase, notable for its specificity. Not big movements. Not "okay, sit up now." But "Begin making tiny movements..." For a room full of women who've just been completely at rest, tiny movements are about all we want to muster.

Then, this week, I read this little nugget on the Peace & Projects blog written by  Melissa Gorzelanczyk, and I thought "Aha!" 

I'll include it here so you can read it for yourself.

"Focus on tiny movements. That’s all it takes to change your life. If you want to quit smoking, you can stop putting a cigarette in your mouth and lighting the end. Once you master the way you move, you can do anything. You can decide to write instead of go out to lunch. You can put away the beer and go to bed early. You can feel your feet on the ground for a run. Movements, no matter how small, shape your entire life. How you go through the motions is up to you."

So true. Change is simply a series of tiny movements strung together. It's making "the next right choice" and every moment is a new chance to get it right.  I've blogged before about momentum and how it can be a helpful force if you are on the right track. But if you find yourself on the wrong track, one that doesn't serve your goals, then perhaps the best thing you can do is to still yourself.  Completely.  Stop everything.  Find your own Savasana. And when you're ready, begin making tiny movements... strung together, they'll change your life.

Guest Post: Create Time to Change Your Life

With permission, I am reposting this blogpost written by Leo Babauta of the ZenHabits blog. It's excellent advice, in his own style and own words, and requires no embellishment from me. Read on.

Create Time to Change Your Life

Post written by Leo Babauta of ZenHabits blog

When I decided to change my life a little over 5 years ago, I had a very common problem: I didn’t have the time.

I wanted to exercise and find time for my family and eat healthier (instead of the fast-food junk I’d been eating) and read more and write and be more productive and increase my income.

Unfortunately there are only 24 hours in a day, and we sleep for about 8 of them. Subtract the hours we spend eating (3), showering and dressing and fixing up (1), cleaning and running errands (1), driving (2), working (8) … and you’re left with an hour or two at most. Often less.

Eventually I figured out how to do all the things I wanted to do. I’ve achieved all of that and more, and in fact I have more leisure time now than ever. But first I had to figure out the fundamental problem: how could I find the time to change my life?

I know many of you face the same problem — you’ve told me as much. So I thought I’d share some of what I did in the beginning, in hopes that it’ll help. 

The First Step

You must make a commitment. You have to decide that you really want to make a change, and that it’s more important than almost anything else.

For me, only my family was more important — and in fact I was making these change for my family as well as for myself. So these changes I was making were really my top priority in life.

It has to be that urgent for you. Think of this not as “improving your life” but saving it. The changes I made saved my life — I am so much healthier, my marriage is better, my relationships with my kids have improved, I am happier rather than depressed. If you don’t feel you’re saving your life then you won’t make the tough changes needed. 

Next Steps

Once I made the mental commitment, I took small steps to give myself a little wiggle room to breathe and move:

• Cut out TV. I watched less TV than ever before (eventually I watched none, though now I watch a few shows a week over the Internet). For many people this one change will free up a couple hours or more.
• Read less junk. I used to read a lot of things on the Internet that were just entertainment. Same with magazines. I cut that stuff out early so I could focus on what was more important.
• Go out less. I used to go to a lot of movies and to dinner and drinking. I cut that out (mostly) for awhile, to make time.
• Wake earlier. Not everyone is going to do this but it was a good step for me. I found that I had more time exercising and working in the morning before anyone woke up — the world was quiet and at peace and without interruptions. (Read more.)

In general, find the things that eat up your time that are less important than the changes you want to make. That’s almost everything except the things you need to live — work and eating and stuff like that. Cut back on them where you can.

Simplify Commitments

I had a lot of commitments in my life — I coached soccer, was on the PTA board, served on a lot of committees at work, had social commitments as well, worked on a number of projects.

Slowly I cut them out. They seemed important but in truth none of them were as important as the life I wanted to create, the changes I wanted to make. Lots of things are important — but which are the absolute most important? Make a decision.

If you are having trouble making a decision, try an experiment. Cut out a commitment just for a little while. See whether you suffer from cutting it out, or whether you like the extra time.

If you’re worried about offending people, don’t. Send an email or make a phone call and explain that you’d love to keep doing the commitment but you just don’t have the time and don’t want to half-ass it. The person might try to talk you into staying but be firm — respect yourself and your time and the changes you’re trying to make.

Here’s a secret: the people and organizations you’ve been helping or working with will live. They will go on doing what they were doing without you, and (omg!) they will survive without you. Your departure will not cause the world to collapse. Let go of the guilt.

Streamline your life

Eventually I made many other changes, including:

• Making bills and savings and debt payments automatic. I set everything up online so that I wouldn’t have to run errands or spend time making payments. This put my debt reduction on automatic, and I got out of debt. (Read more.)
• Streamlining errands. I tried to cut as many errands out of my life as possible. Often that meant changing my life in some way but I adjusted and things became simpler. I cleaned as I went so I didn’t have a lot of cleaning to do on weekends. I did the few errands I had all at once to save running around.
• Work less. I would set limits to how much I could work, forcing myself to pick the important tasks and to get those tasks done on time. I learned which tasks needed to be done and which could be dropped. I became much more effective and worked less.
• Say no. When people asked me to do stuff that was important to them but not to me, I learned to politely decline. Instead I focused on what was important to me.

Slowly I learned to simplify. I simplified my daily routines, my work, my social life, my possessions, my chores, my wardrobe. It took time but it has been more than worth the effort: life is so much better now that I’ve created the time to do what I want to do.

Restart your Resolutions

Can you believe it's almost March?! For Pete's sake! I  know many of you made New Year's Resolutions on January 1st - how are they going? It's not uncommon to lose steam as life often gets in the way of our very best intentions. 

In fact, I had the opportunity to speak with Amanda Greene, a reporter for Woman's Day, this week about this very topic. Her article, "Eight Ways to Recommit to Your Health Resolutions" is included here if you need some inspiration to get yourself back on track! Amanda and I chatted about how Nourish helps clients make and stick with resolutions, and we talked about ideas for recommitting to those resolutions if your resolve begins to falter. 

So, if your resolutions have fallen by the wayside, instead of beating yourself up, try to determine what caused you to get off track, and then simply recommit. 2011 will be here all year. 


Here's a link to the full article on the Woman's Day website.  And here's the article text, because Amanda is a far better writer than I...

8 Ways to Recommit to Your Health Resolutions 

Find out how to get back into your wellness routine—and stick with it

By Amanda Greene Posted February 23, 2011 from WomansDay.com

You've probably heard of "January joiners"—those eager gym-goers who sign up to get in shape at the beginning of the year, only to fall off the wagon by February. There's a reason it's such a common phenomenon: Sticking to health resolutions is difficult, especially when your ambitions are too high or not measurable. So we spoke to the experts to find out about common goal-setting mistakes and how to recommit to more obtainable aims. Read on to learn eight ways to revisit your wellness resolutions––and make them stick this time around.

1. Shrink your goals.

One of the most common reasons people fail at keeping their resolutions is because they bite off more than they can chew. "I find that my clients make New Year's resolutions that aren't really realistic," says Cristina Rivera, RD, president of Nutrition in Motion, PC. "They're great for about a week, but people can't keep them up forever." For example, one of her clients made a goal to give up soda, her favorite beverage. She went cold turkey and lasted about two weeks, then caved when the cravings hit. Rivera coached her to minimize her portions—a mini-can of Diet Coke, not a Big Gulp––instead of cutting out the drink entirely. 

2. Make your resolutions concrete.

Not only will setting a goal that's too big derail you, so will making a resolution that's too vague. "Saying 'I will eat more healthfully' isn't a concrete goal," says Junelle Lupiani, RD, nutritionist at Miraval, a wellness spa outside Tucson, Arizona. "Instead, say something like, 'I will replace my afternoon coffee and cookie snack with a piece of fruit, some nuts and green tea.' Being sure that your resolutions are measurable can help you assess on a daily basis if you're on track or not." Other specific—and doable––health promises that Lupiani recommends are vowing to eat a large salad every day or committing to starting each day with a whole grain and some fresh fruit. 

3. Don't wait to get motivated.

Many people assume they can't tackle their goals without motivation. So they wait and wait for that push to get them to the gym, but it never comes. "We have the belief that motivation has to come before action—'I felt motivated so I went,'" says Simon Rego, PsyD, director of Psychology Training at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, "when in fact motivation often follows action." Take the gym, for example. Most people can attest to feeling extremely motivated after a sweaty workout, instead of before. To get yourself to exercise, Dr. Rego recommends giving yourself permission to leave the gym after five minutes if you want. Chances are, once you get moving on the treadmill, your motivation will have kicked in and you won't want to stop. 

4. Get some sleep!

That's right—the experts actually recommend hitting the hay in order to accomplish your goals. Why? Because a good night's sleep can help you achieve virtually any goal on your New Year's resolution list, says Pete Bils, vice president of Sleep Innovation and Clinical Research for Select Comfort. "Losing weight, exercising or learning a new skill are not human instincts; we have to work at them. You could call a sleepy brain a lazy brain—the human ability of resolve or willpower has been proven to be diminished without adequate sleep," he says. But it's not just about willpower; the amount of sleep you get affects bodily functions, too. As Bils explains, without enough sleep, ghrelin (the hormone responsible for regulating appetite) is elevated, while leptin (the hormone connected with satiety) is diminished. So, even if you consume enough calories, when you haven't gotten enough zzz's, your body will still send signals that it's hungry, which will likely lead you to overeat.

5. Set yourself up for success.

Sure, it's easy enough to resolve to eat more healthfully, but if you don't implement the necessary lifestyle changes you won't be able to succeed. "If you're going to have oatmeal for breakfast instead of your usual doughnut, you have to give yourself five extra minutes to boil those oats on the stovetop each morning, plus more time to eat at home since it's not a portable food," says Cherylanne Skolnicki, wellness coach and owner of Nourish wellness consultants. "Resolutions are really about finding out how you're going to integrate new behaviors into your life." So don't join a gym that you have to drive out of your way to get to—choose one that's on your route to and from the office. Or if you're trying to drink more water, invest in a reusable bottle so that you always have it on hand. 

6. Be patient.

"When you’re integrating a new exercise routine, your fitness levels will always change more quickly than your body composition. Fixate on how you feel and how you perform before you freak out about your weight and waistline," says Andrew Wolf, exercise physiologist at Miraval. As Rivera notes, healthy weight loss is only between one and two pounds per week, so give yourself reasonable time to make progress instead of giving up. Finally, Wolf advises implementing ways to monitor your progress that don’t involve a scale or your skinny jeans. Keep track of how many crunches you can do or measure your heart rate while you're on the elliptical machine to prove to yourself that you're getting stronger and more fit.

7. Think outside the box.

Don't throw in the towel on getting in shape just because you hate the gym. Losing weight doesn't mean you have to join a fitness club. There are plenty of ways to exercise outdoors—find a hiking trail or take your bike out for a ride, for example. Rivera is a fan of alternative forms of exercise, like Zumba classes. "If you have an active job, wear a pedometer and see how many steps per day you can log; if you hit 10,000 steps in a day, that's like walking four miles," she says. "Knowing how much you're walking could motivate you to push yourself even harder the next day."

8. Find a buddy.

The easiest way to make yourself accountable? Enlist a friend to help keep you on track with your goals. "I'd rather see you walk every day with a partner than run every six days by yourself," says Skolnicki. "If you can, find someone to meet you, whether it's at the gym or outside your front door. People's success rates go up dramatically [with a workout buddy]." Plus, she adds, working out in tandem is a great way for busy women to multitask: Not only will you get in a sweat session, but you'll also have the time to catch up with a friend.

The Question of the Day

Walking my kindergartener to the bus stop this morning, she mused, "The question of the day today is - Do you like reptiles?" As context, her class takes attendance by placing popsicle sticks with their names on them in the appropriate answer column to an ever-changing question of the day. Apparently, one of her classmates had chosen this question because he has quite an affection for reptiles. Ella, not so much.

She then said, "Know what I asked when it was my turn to choose the question? I asked 'Does your family eat dinner together?"  Now this is a child who knows the way to her mother's heart! After I gave her a big hug and told her how much I loved her question, she told me that nearly everyone had said that they did eat dinner as a family. There were just a few who did not. And with that, she was off to play with her bus stop cohorts and begin her day. And I was left thinking again about how much our actions as parents matter.

I've blogged before about the importance I place on the family dinner.  I'm glad so many of her classmates are experiencing this ritual, too, because it can be such precious time for families to spend together in the midst of our hyper-scheduled lives. If you've gotten away from the practice because life's become too hectic, maybe it's time to give it a try again, even once or twice a week. Find a way to gather around your table as a family and share a meal. The benefits are enormous and well worth the coordination effort it takes to pull it off.

Do you eat dinner as a family? It's the question of the day.

Why All Weight Loss Plans Work (with a few ifs, ands or buts)

Sometimes when I meet with a prospective client, I'm asked if I think a particular diet or weight loss plan works. And my answer is almost always a resounding yes!

Followed by a pause...and a few ifs, ands or buts. 

Here's why. When I first decided to become a wellness coach, I spent a lot of time researching various popular diets or ways of eating. In fact, the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where I studied, included this as a core part of our curriculum. We studied more than 80 dietary theories in practice around the world. And what I can say without qualification, is that ANY diet or weight loss plan can help you lose weight. 

You can choose The Zone or the South Beach Diet, Atkins or Pritkin, Perricone or Scarsdale. You can do Weight Watchers or Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig or Optifast, Ayurveda or Body for Life or P90X.  And you can always find testimonials from happy followers explaining how well a given program worked for them. But the truth is, there's no real magic in any of them. In fact, the advice in one theory often directly contradicts the advice in another, yet they all can work.

But there's an IF. They only work IF they motivate you to burn more calories than you consume.  That's it. At the end of the day, it's the one common denominator to weight loss.

AND, not all of these programs will help you lose weight in a healthful way. Some of them, in fact, could be downright destructive to your health. They may lead to weight loss, but not without unwanted side effects.

Finally, all of these diets have worked for some people, BUT they may not work for YOU. Why? Because you are a unique individual with a unique biological makeup and a unique lifestyle that requires a unique plan. If I believed there were a one-size-fits-all approach to eating, I wouldn't be a coach. We wouldn't need coaches, in fact,  because we'd have one perfect system which would work for everyone. We'd all recognize that and follow it, and weight loss goals would be a thing of the past. 

It would be so much simpler if that were the case, but it's just not reality. We're far more complex as individuals than that, so discovering what works for you requires a highly personal journey...no ifs, ands or buts about it.

A (semi-failed) vegan experiment

My husband is very cooperative with my healthful eating experiments. VERY. He will cheerfully try anything I make and 99% of the time he finds something good to say about it. However, he met his match with the Vegan Pizza I tried last week. Poor guy. 

Here's the story. I had a Groupon for Whole Foods about to expire. I decided to use it on all the things I THINK about buying but rarely actually do. Things like:

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread (Flourless!)

Tempeh

Seitan

Vegenaise

Daiya dairy-free vegan cheese

Cocoa-dusted goji berries

You get the idea. Things a little off the beaten path. So one night, I whipped up a vegan pizza. Vegan crust, tomato sauce, Daiya vegan cheese (mozzarella style, so the package claimed), diced fresh vegetables, a few olives. Heated up the pizza stone. Popped in the pizza. Made a salad. Set the table.

We all thought it looked great as I cut slices for everyone. This cheese's big claim to fame is that it stretches like mozzarella. Which it sort of does. So after saying grace, we each took our first bite with anticipation. But for at least one of us, the first bite would also be the last.

Now, in full disclosure, our three-year-old loved it. Seriously. 

My 6-year-old said it was not as good as our usual "pizza cheese," but nonetheless happily chomped through her slice.

I said that if I ever WERE to be a vegan, I could eat this. But I'd certainly prefer mozzarella.

The baby didn't get any. Just gnawed on her plastic spoon in teething bliss.

My husband quietly ate his salad and left his slice with one big bite taken out of it on his plate. All the way through the meal. Never picked it up again! He was excruciatingly tactful so as not to give the kids license to do the same. But when I asked him what he thought, he simply said, "I'm not eating that."

In our entire ten-year marriage, I believe this was a first! For him the deal breaker was the texture of the cheese. It was creamy, sort of like cream cheese, instead of stretchy and chewy like mozzarella. It just didn't work for him. 

So, since we're not vegan, and since I value harmony in my marriage, mozzarella will clearly remain the cheese of choice in our house.

That said, what's the lesson? If you think it's "Don't make vegan pizza", you're missing the point. The point is to keep experimenting. In ten years, this was the first experiment that proved inedible. And that was only for one of us. 

Experimenting in the kitchen is fun. You have your whole life ahead of you and if you live it with only the same eight dishes currently in rotation at your house, you'll miss out on so many wonderful foods. Think about all the things you tried for the first time in the last ten years and actually liked! Keep experimenting.

And while you're at it, I highly recommend the Cocoa-dusted goji berries. Yum.

A Little Bird Told Me

A while back, someone introduced me to an online community called The Brave Girls Club. They do a number of pretty darn cool things, but my primary engagement with them is my subscription to their daily email called, you guessed it, "A Little Bird Told Me - Your Daily Truth from the Brave Girls Club". It pops into my inbox first thing in the morning with a dose of uplifting inspiration that I just adore. Often I read it and think, "How did they KNOW that I needed to hear EXACTLY that on EXACTLY this day?!" Synchronicity in action.

As an example, here was today's email:

Dear Unique Girl,

Everyone has a different journey. So different, in fact, that new lessons can be learned every single day from each other's journeys. Your friends' journey are different from yours. Your children's are different, too. Your parents also went on an entirely different journey than the one that is meant for you.

That is why it is so important not to compare, criticize, or complain. We often have the tendency to compare the worst of what we are living through with the best of what others are enjoying. Everyone has the exact path, with the exact battles and the exact joys that are meant for them. We all learn in different ways, and we can all learn so much from each other, too.

So live YOUR life. Love YOUR life. Make the most of YOUR life. And whenever you have the chance to meet another fellow traveler along the road of life, lend a helping hand whenever you can. An encouraging smile or a kind word or two. Be happy when good things happen to others and show compassion when difficult things come along. Remind those you know that ALL of it is good. ALL of it.

All of it is meant for our growth and our ultimate joy.

Keep being the fabulous YOU that YOU are.

xoxo

"A little bird told me" - your Daily Truth from The Brave Girls Club - http://www.bravegirlsclub.com

See what I mean? Check it out for yourself. Subscribe. And when that first email arrives that you swear was written JUST FOR YOU, you'll be so very glad you did. 

SUPERBOWL weekend!

Are you ready for some football?? If you're like most Americans, your weekend plans include a party this Sunday as friends gather for Superbowl XLV. Whether your interest leans toward the game (my husband) or the commercials and post-game episode of Glee (me) or the chance to run merrily around the house with friends (our children), it's an awfully nice way to spend a Sunday evening.

Game-day munchies come with the territory, of course, and I'm looking forward to some favorite indulgences just as much as you are. If you're also interested in adding a few healthier options to the mix, here is a lightened up version of a Superbowl favorite as well as some previously-posted ideas you might consider making for the big day.

Whether you will be wielding a Terrible Towel or wearing a Cheese Head, these are sure to be a hit with your party crowd.  Enjoy the game!

Southwestern Bean Dip

adapted from Eating Well Jan/Feb 2007

1 16-ounce can nonfat refried beans, preferably “spicy”
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
4 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup pickled jalapeño slices, chopped
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack, or Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 1/2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 medium avocado, chopped
1/4 cup canned sliced black olives

Directions:

1. Combine refried beans, black beans, scallions, salsa, cumin, chili powder and jalapeños in a medium bowl. Transfer to a shallow 2-quart microwave-safe dish; sprinkle with cheese.
2. Microwave on High until the cheese is melted and the beans are hot, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Spread sour cream evenly over the hot bean mixture, then scatter with lettuce, tomato, avocado and olives.

Other ideas:

White Chicken Chili

Texas Caviar with Tortilla Chips

Kale Chips

It's Love Month!

My daughter woke up this morning and declared "It's Love Month!" Now that's what I call waking up on the right side of the bed! If you hadn't thought about it in quite that way before, perhaps it's time to consider how you'll celebrate Love Month this year. How will you show love to those around you? And perhaps even more importantly, how will you treat yourself for the next 28 days? (Why does Love Month have to be the shortest one, anyhow?)

If you need a little inspiration, here are a few ideas:

- Begin every day by greeting yourself in the mirror and saying something nice for once.

- Treat yourself to fresh flowers despite the snow and ice scene playing out all around us.

- Schedule date night - with yourself! 

      What movie have YOU been longing to see (Toy Story 3 does not count)? 

      What book have you been meaning to read? 

      What restaurant have you wanted to try? Now's the time!

- Make yourself an adorable breakfast like the one pictured above.

- Choose the very best food for yourself - at the grocery store, at home, in a restaurant. No scarfing down half-eaten chicken nuggets off your kids' plates. What do YOU crave?

 

- Listen to great music in the car.

- Find a workout that moves you. Try Hot Yoga...or Pilates...or Zumba...or whatever makes you want to get up and move!

- Make yourself over - get a new haircut or a new lipstick or a new outfit - anything that makes you feel great.

- Stop comparing yourself to others. Love yourself for who YOU are, not for how you stack up vs the competition.

It's February, friends. All you need is love.

Upcoming Event - "Beauty from the Inside Out"

Next Thursday, February 3rd, I'll be speaking at an Image Impact Workshop hosted by Dr. Kurtis Martin. I'll be talking about my ideas for how to draw beauty from the inside out through the practice of eating well, and then personal trainer TJ Bizzarri will be doing a mini workout demo and Dr. Martin will talk about his practice and his commitment to the holistic health of his patients. If you live in Cincinnati and can join us (or know someone who would like to), here are the details:

Image Impact Workshop

Sponsored by Kurtis W. Martin, M.D.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

6355 E. Kemper Road, Cincinnati, OH

7-9PM

Reserve your spot by calling 513-469-0300

I really do believe that beauty begins within. On one hand, you can lose weight by eating fewer calories, no matter where those calories come from. But there is a vibrancy and vitality that is called forth only by eating really good quality food that provides a wide range of nutrients. A low-calorie diet comprised of junk food may take off some pounds, but it simply will never produce that healthy glow we all seek. Do you notice when someone appears to be lit from within? That's the magic of really high quality food. It proves that the old adage "you are what you eat" is true after all.

What do I have in common with a celebrity chef?

Media personality Amy Tobin

Believe me, I'm fully aware that I have very little in common with big-time celebrity food personalities like Cat Cora, Paula Deen, Sara Moulton and Ming Tsai. Nonetheless, I learned this week that we do, in fact, all have one thing in common...

We've all been guests on Amy Tobin's weekly radio show, Amy's Table!

One week ago, I had the fun experience of sitting down with Amy in the Q102 studio here in Cincinnati to tape a segment for her show which aired on Sunday morning. It was a blast and I can't imagine a more gracious host than Amy!

Amy is a food and lifestyle consultant, a well known media personality, author of Amy's Table: Food for Families & Friends, host of Amy's Table on Q102, and Culinary Director at EQ, the culinary school at the Party Source in Northern Kentucky.

We talked about Nourish and the various services we offer, including Nourish@Home. Amy was particularly intrigued by the kitchen makeover service in which we go into a client's kitchen and spend about a half-day reorganizing the pantry and refrigerator to support her goals for eating well. We make choices about which foods stay, and which ones need to go. Then we organize all the keepers in ways that make it easier to find what they need to make healthful meals and snacks. 

After the show, Amy asked if I'd do a guest blog post for her called "A Healthy Meal from a Madeover Pantry" - and so I did. Here's a link.

If you'd like to hear the two-part interview, here's a link to the page with the .mp3 recording. It's posted under January 24th and there are two separate links with my name  - just click each one to listen.

And in case you'd rather hear from some REAL celebrities, here are links to the interviews with the chefs I mentioned above:

Cat Cora
Paula Deen
Sara Moulton
Ming Tsai

Enjoy!

Announcing Nourish@Home

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! After months of planning and preparation, we're officially launching Nourish@Home, our newest service offering designed to help you thrive.

I love the time I spend teaching people how rewarding it can be to cook for themselves and to enjoy delicious healthful food every day...and we'll still be doing plenty of that around here! But I'm delighted to announce that we can now support your quest to eat well in another very tangible way.

Nourish@Home is an in-home meal prep service designed to fill your fridge with a week's worth of healthful food, so you can enjoy more peaceful evenings!  

 

We'll plan, shop for, and prepare a week's worth of decadently healthful food in your kitchen. 

Experience the peace of mind that comes with knowing dinner is taken care of. I've included all the details about it, as well as a special introductory offer below. I hope you'll give it a spin.

Are you ready to be Nourished??

The Details
The Menu, FAQs, and Pricing

Check out our menu:With items like Thyme Scented Salmon, Pan-Roasted Broccoli with Lemon Thyme Browned Butter, and Scalloped White and Sweet Potatoes on the menu, you'll have no trouble finding delicious food that meets your family's needs. Have a special request? Just ask! Click here to view our fall/winter menu.

Get the answers you need:
Click here to have a look at our FAQs. If you don't find the answer to your question there, just email us and we'd be glad to answer it for you.

Review our Pricing:
The service is priced at $249/week*  but you'll enjoy special introductory pricing of just $199* the first time you try it!
* plus cost of groceries

Book Your Cook Date
Get ready to be Nourished!

Book your date to be Nourished!

 

When you're ready to schedule your first cook date, just email us your contact information and the date you'd like us to come and we'll get back to you to finalize the details! Once your first cook date is scheduled, you'll make your menu selections & complete a short online form providing some background information about your food preferences and your kitchen.

 

 

After that, you can pour yourself a cup of coffee and relax, because dinner's taken care of!

Beef Daube (because everything sounds better in French)

If the words "beef stew" make you think of an unhealthy concoction in a can, you're missing the boat! The French have long known that the cure for the winter blahs involves a bubbling pot of beef, slow cooking with vegetables, red wine, and stock. Pair this version of their traditional "Boeuf Daube" with a loaf of crusty bread and a bright green salad (one made with spinach, sliced oranges, and toasted walnuts in a citrus vinaigrette sounds about right) and you have the perfect dinner to warm you from the inside out. God bless the French.

Beef Daube
adapted from Cooking Light 2004 

serves 6

Ingredients 
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3-4  garlic cloves, crushed
1  (2 lb.) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1  tsp. kosher  salt
1/2  tsp.  freshly ground black pepper
1  c.  red wine
2  c. chopped carrot
1 1/2  c.  chopped sweet onion
1  c.  beef stock or beef broth
1  Tbsp.  tomato paste 
1 tsp.   chopped fresh rosemary
1  tsp.  chopped fresh thyme
1  (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1  bay leaf 

3 c.   hot cooked whole wheat  noodles

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 300°.

2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic; cook 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside. 

3. Increase heat to medium-high and add beef to pan. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, salt, pepper, carrot, and next 7 ingredients (through bay leaf); bring to a boil.

4. Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles.

Note: You can also make this in a slow cooker/crockpot. Simply complete steps 1-3 and transfer mixture to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for about 5 hours.

Give yourself the gift of time

I started this new year off with a bang! At least in my head I did. I was so ready for January 1st to arrive so things could be swept clean, organized, and returned to normalcy after the blessed craziness of the holidays. I'm one of those people who loves (LOVES) to put up the Christmas decorations the first weekend of December while humming carols and sipping hot cocoa...but I also love taking them DOWN and restoring order to our home. There's something so naturally invigorating about starting off the year that it motivates me to do all sorts of organizing projects. (Apparently I'm not alone - have you noticed all the organizing materials on display in the stores this month?)

Throughout the holidays I could feel myself making a mental list of all the things I wanted to do. In my head I'd be doing them "on January 1st." My mental list got longer, and longer, and longer until it was painfully clear there was no human way to accomplish all of it in one day. No problem, I thought. I'll give myself the whole first week of January to get it done. And then the list got longer still. 

At some point, (still in December) I really started to get stressed about how much I wanted to accomplish and how BEHIND I already felt, before I'd even started. I could feel myself brimming with anxiety and so I tried to explain how I was feeling to my husband, the best listener on earth. 

He looked at me, took a deep breath, and calmly asked me why everything on my list had to be done the first week of January. 

Well! Because it just does...have you looked at this house lately? Seriously. Humph. After ranting around in a fit of exasperation for a few minutes, I finally took a breath and actually processed his question. Why DID it all have to be done the first week of January?

And do you know what? I had absolutely no good reason why.

Right then and there, I gave myself permission to extend my self-imposed deadline for my very long to-do list. I got realistic with myself about when I'd actually find the 2 hours I needed to purge our files, the hour I'd need to clean the refrigerator, the 4 hours I'd need to really go through our closet. I searched my calendar for a few free days to hold my own annual planning retreat for my business and blocked them off. I penciled in dates to sort and store outgrown children's clothes, to research a new software program I need, and to organize the toy closet. You get the idea. I gave myself some time. No one else could do it for me.

Isn't it always like that? We have an idea and want to execute it right now. We want immediate results. But we each get 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. And sometimes, if we can just take a breath and lift our heads up for a moment, we can give ourselves the gift of time to accomplish all that we desire without losing our minds in the process. No matter what you've resolved to do this year, will you give yourself the time you really need to accomplish it? No one else can do it for you.

Snow day = Soup day!

It's a snowy day here...the kind that makes you want to cozy up inside, light a fire, and make something warm and nourishing for dinner using ingredients you have on hand. Soup fits the bill perfectly if you keep a reasonably well-stocked pantry. I always try to keep cans of beans and chicken broth on hand and chicken breasts in the freezer. You could always substitute a different kind of cheese or eliminate an herb or garnish if you don't have it handy. But if you're up for following a recipe,  here's one of my favorites for you to try on your next snow day. I'm off to don my hat and mittens, retrieve my kindergartener from the bus and prepare for an afternoon of snow-themed fun!


White Chicken Chili 
adapted from Cooking Light 2004
 
serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 c. finely chopped onion
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2  tsp. dried oregano
• 1  tsp. ground coriander
• 2  (4.5 oz) cans chopped green chiles, undrained
• 1  c.  water
• 2  (15.5 oz.) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (I like Bush's)
• 1  (14 oz.) can chicken broth or chicken stock
• 1/2  tsp. Tabasco sauce 
• 1  c. (about 4 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2  c.  chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2  c.  chopped green onions

Preparation

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 10 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in cumin, dried oregano, and coriander; sauté 1 minute. Stir in chiles; reduce heat to low, and cook 10 minutes, partially covered. Add the chicken, water, cannellini beans, and broth; bring to a simmer. 

Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in hot sauce. Ladle 1 cup of chili into each of 8 bowls; sprinkle each serving with 2 tablespoons cheese, 1 tablespoon cilantro, and 1 tablespoon green onions.