I’ve been interested in making homemade bread for a while now.  I’ve tinkered with different recipes and tried my hand at new techniques, but my results are inconsistent and sometimes disappointing.  Earlier this month I was thrilled to try out the Average Joe Bread Kit, which  requires no kneading and surprisingly minimal effort.  The delicious [...]

I really love the farmers co-op we belong to.  Every two weeks our friendly farmers bring fresh and wholesome food from their Michigan farm to Chicago, and my family and I are healthier and happier because of it. I almost always order delicious eggs with marigold yolks, juicy whole chickens that roast up perfectly, earthy [...]

My husband is striving to live a healthier lifestyle and lose a few pounds. He’s always been a very active and fitness-focused person, so his latest efforts are really a refinement of what he’s always been doing. I’m so proud of his willpower, dedication and focus.  He inspires me! Processed white sugar was one of [...]

I was recently asked to try out Salba, a form of the ancient whole grain chia.  It might have the same name as the ch-ch-ch-chia that I spread on terra cotta animals as a kid, but this time around my family and I consumed the chia, and much to my surprise I believe we are [...]

At the start of the fall season my mom gave my sisters and I each a lovely pumpkin cast iron pot.  We had been admiring the one she puts on display every year, so her thoughtful gesture really means a lot. Every time I look at my new pot I think of my mom and [...]

We live in the center of a huge city, but I still want to expose my kids to nature and the country. I grew up on a small farm in a rural part of Illinois surrounded by horses, dogs, cats, sheep, geese and chickens – not to mention a dairy farm across the street! – [...]

My mom’s friend and neighbor Pam recently invited me to take a tour of her garden.  She lives in a rural part of Illinois, so for a city girl like me spending a day surrounded by tangled vines, busy bumble bees and heirloom produce was a real treat. The garden was full of earthy carrots, [...]

    A fellow Homemade Mother recently emailed me this picture: She took it while visiting her local children’s hospital. Sigh. Not one item in this machine will nourish the body, mind or spirit of an otherwise beleaguered parent looking to pass a few moments while waiting for her child to undergo another test or [...]

In keeping within the plant-strong guidelines of the 28 Day Health Challenge I’m testing out for Whole Foods Market, I made a hearty and tasty homemade lentil stew for dinner tonight.  Loaded with carrots, celery, tomatoes, lentils and my homemade vegetable broth, it was a comforting supper for a dreary and rainy evening. To serve [...]

Today marks the halfway point of the 28 Day Healthy Eating Challenge Whole Foods invited me to try.  I have now gone two weeks without any meat, dairy, eggs, sugar or oil, and I’m starting to feel just fine.  The first several days were tough – probably because my body was going through sugar withdrawal! [...]