Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you really need to impress someone with your culinary skills? Maybe you are attending a potluck dinner party, having over your new fling for a date night in, or your parents are in town and you want to at least pretend that you have your life together.
People, here is your out. I give you cajun tilapia with mango-avocado salsa: quite possibly the simplest, “fake it til you make it” recipe known to man.
While the Super Bowl is disguised as a nationwide sporting event, we all know the REAL lineup is focused on the food (and maybe the commercials). Don’t fall into the trap of overdoing it early on game day with heavy food and drink choices, leaving you sluggish and uncomfortable for the rest of the day. Stick to these tried and true balanced game day options for a helluva good time throughout the entire game.
If you have ever felt lost as to what to bring to an office potluck, you are not alone. The pressure to impress your coworkers with an elaborate dish while also trying to keep the price down can definitely cause some unnecessary stress. This year, ditch the fancy cheese plate that costs half your paycheck and opt for this equally impressive homemade salad that will leave your colleagues swooning.
Whether you’re a business frequent flyer, weekend getaway girl, or home-bound for the holidays, we all can relate to the struggle of finding something healthy to eat in a hectic airport terminal (especially if you’re trying to prepare for an overnight flight!). These tips take the guess work out of healthy eating while flying, so you can focus on the finer things in life, like free wifi on long distance flights and catching up on the latest episodes on Netflix. Score.
You cannot say that you have truly experienced Chicago dining until you have eaten at Girl and the Goat. I thought I was a Chicago food extroadinaire, and was starting to get pretty high on my horse, until one fateful evening, I visited Girl and the Goat and life as I knew it was never the same. This globally-inspired, family style eatery is everything you never knew your tastebuds needed until now.
Cheers to the smallest most life-changing moments you could ever imagine. It took a few cross-country moves for me to figure it out, but it’s these small moments that matter. Don’t take a single one for granted. Celebrate as much and as often as humanly possible. Everything is worth celebrating. And although I call this holiday sangria, I whipped this up for the family mid-November because we were overdue for a celebration, and nobody seemed the least bit surprised when they saw the ‘Merry Christmas’ stirrer in their drink. Quit waiting for the next holiday to celebrate. I wholeheartedly encourage you to celebrate anything and everything you can in this world. We all need more of that.
For years, studies have shown stress as a precursor for serious diseases. It has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, liver failure, and other chronic illnesses. What’s more, when you are experiencing stress, hormones like ghrelin (the hunger hormone) are triggered and can cause you to overeat. Stress eating is real, ladies and gents (there is actually a somewhat scientific explanation for the bag of chips which is magically empty after a stressful afternoon). Let’s call it what it is: unhealthy. We need to learn to de-stress somehow, as if our life depended on it – because in reality, it does.
There has to be at least one vegetable you LOATHED growing up that now you just can’t get enough of. For me, it’s brussels sprouts. Now, I can’t imagine a world without these little guys. I love them so passionately, and will do anything in my power to share my obsession with others around me. Thus, I give you my Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apples and Goat Cheese. If you need a gateway drug into brussels sprouts for a small child, this is the ticket. Served warm with slices of tart apple, dried cranberries, candied walnuts, and creamy goat cheese, this dish is the perfect vegetable side dish for the whole family to enjoy.
I will gladly stand in line for thirty minutes for a lobster roll. This is a fact I know to be true about myself. I did it many times in San Francisco at Fisherman’s Wharf, and it always proved immensely worth it. Hence, when I went to Boston last month for the Food & Nutrition Conference Expo, I knew that the quest for the best New England lobster roll was at the top of my priority list. Luckily, I was traveling with a local, so she guided me fearlessly to Neptune Oyster and I followed faithfully, visions of seafood dancing in my head.
There’s no denying that holidays are a time of indulgence. It’s a season spent enjoying time with family and friends, and likely involves recipes passed down for generations, a second helping of dessert, and lots and lots of leftovers. These festivities all kickstart with Thanksgiving. It’s like an annual “ready, set, go” to a few months of massive amounts of eating and likely, not a lot of restraint. I’ve never been one to approach Thanksgiving with a calorie goal in mind, but there are a few helpful tips that I use to keep my holiday in check so I can enjoy it without a stomach ache.
New Kid on the Guac 