A birthday party for my daughter Rashidah (0)

12/18/10 •

My favorite part of the holidays is dreaming up great menus and recipes to serve those I love. Food to me is one of  God’s greatest treasures, and having the ability to make nourishing and delicious meals is a gift that I lovingly share. Like all of the women in my family, I’m interested in [...]

Southern cookbooks that trim the fat (0)

12/03/10 •

If you know traditional Southern cooking, then you know that it loves the fat. But does it have to be that way? Can Southern be healthy? We looked around the web for cookbooks that have taken the pounds out of the southern way of cooking (some of these may not be so southern). Here’s what we [...]

Good ole Mac ‘n Cheese (0)

11/25/10 •

Okay, I admit it. I don’t always stick with my healthy regime, especially during the holidays when it’s really hard to resist everything. So I compensate with lots of fresh vegetables.

Good and hearty vegetable soup (0)

11/16/10 •

Today, while on a budget which is way more meager than my mom’s, I’ve incorporated soup into my meals as a mainstay. The big difference is that my soups are made from scratch and usually take me hours to prepare. The upside is that my soups are usually hearty enough to be a meal, and very often I freeze them for later.

Black bean soup in acorn squash (1)

11/15/10 •

I’m still experimenting with winter squash after recently picking up both spaghetti and acorn squash at a local farmers’ market.  A couple weeks ago, I made a recipe using spaghetti squash, which I had not heard of or tried before. It was delicious.  Last week, I tried acorn squash. I had seen a recipe for chili [...]

Discovering spaghetti squash (2)

11/02/10 •

When I think of squash, I think of the yellow bumpy-skinned vegetable I grew up eating and loving as a child during the summer. I later learned as an adult that it was called “crookneck squash.” And then I came across its green cousin zucchini. Hard-skinned winter squash, though, was something new to me. Sure, [...]

Apples a day (0)

10/25/10 •

Determined to help my youngest daughter expand her mind about food, I decided to introduce her to my applesauce, which is much different than store brands.

I also tricked her and added pears in an effort to try and get her to eat other fruits. Apple sauce is simple to make and she loves it next to cinnamon toast which she can make herself.

Bulgur wheat & mushrooms (1)

10/17/10 •

I ordered a chicken dish at a New York restaurant recently and chose bulgur wheat with mushrooms as a side dish. I had not eaten bulgur wheat before, and decided to be adventurous. The dish was delicious.

Falling for soup (0)

9/29/10 •

The other day, a colleague at work brought in some of the best collard greens I had ever tasted. I cooked some of them the usual way, and later mixed the rest with fresh basil, oregano and home-grown tomatoes for delicious soup.

Pomegranate – fall’s best fruit (1)

9/17/10 •

Every fall when I was a child, I went in search of pomegranates, which in our house were a forbidden fruit. Mom didn’t like them, not because they were not healthy but because she didn’t want us to put our juice-stained hands on the furniture or mess up wallpaper and paint throughout the house. Pomegranates are without [...]

Stuffed chicken breasts (0)

9/09/10 •

Recently, I fell in love with the concept of stuffed chicken breasts. They aren’t new, but they’re new to me and they are the best. Best yet, you can slice them up and take them for lunch the next day.

Learning to love beets (0)

8/30/10 •

Last week, I was driving past a farmers’ market near my home and decided to stop. I love farmers’ markets and their fresh produce, but I never frequent them. I don’t know why but I seem to end up at the grocery store to buy fruits and vegetables. I bought two things at the farmers’ [...]

Little Elijah & his lemonade stand (0)

8/17/10 •

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, of course. And that’s just what 7-year-old Elijah Brockington did this summer at an agency in Philadelphia that aids people with homelessness, addiction, health and other problems. I’m working there now (I’ll tell you about the job another time), because the purpose of this post is to tell you about [...]

Water with a taste (0)

8/11/10 •

Sherry Howard, who pens the Auction Finds blog, writes here about transforming  water into a tasty drink. I come from a background where everything was fried in lard or pork fat. Years ago, I eliminated all of that from my diet. I eat no pork. I rarely eat beef and mostly eat turkey. I know [...]

A nod to chef Darrell Raymond & Asian fusion (0)

8/02/10 •

Sherry Howard, who pens the Auction Finds blog, writes here about her experience last weekend at the annual Food and Wine Festival in Atlantic City. Up front Ted Allen, the host of several Food Network TV shows, was mumbling into a microphone. I think he was urging us diners at Buddakan’s midday brunch in Atlantic City [...]

Beating the heat with a cool fruity drink (0)

7/07/10 •

Citrus drinks are always worthy hot or cold, but on sweltering 100-degree days like we’ve been having for the past few weeks, they are essential.

The Oprah factor (0)

6/29/10 •

When Sherry, the co-owner of the We Are Back Women blog site, asked me to compete in Oprah’s national search for a new TV show host, I leaped at the opportunity. I went on the website to find out more about the contest and immediately sat down to write a script. My plan was to do a cooking show, and my hook was to make a healthy version of Oprah’s favorite food – Mac ‘n cheese.

Summer works (0)

6/22/10 •

Despite the city and state’s financial woes, Philadelphia is looking much brighter than it did a year ago. Mayor Nutter is making sure that neighborhood pools open up on time. Just last summer he threatened to shut down more than half of the city’s 72 swimming pools and scale back library hours because of budget woes. Philadelphians were so outraged that he and Recreation Commissioner Sue Slawson launched the Splash and Summer Fund campaign, a corporate and community fund raising partnership designed to keep 69 of the city’s operable swimming pools opened this season.

The magic of pasta (0)

6/14/10 •

not only do my pickiest eaters love pasta but it’s also cheap and fills all of us up quickly. But while I appreciate that pasta is cheap and filling and does have some nutritional value, I always make sure that I also load up my pasta creations with fresh vegetables, garlic and olive oil.

Summer gladness in organic foods (0)

6/08/10 •

I love buying my meats and vegetables from a co-op or local farmer’s market because they are fresher and organic, and most importantly, are healthier for my family.