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 […]

We go through so many bananas in our house that its rare we have any ripe enough for homemade banana bread.  Sometimes when I’m craving this baked treat I’ll purposefully seek out older bananas at the grocery store in hopes they’ll turn brown before we get a chance to eat them! The other day I […]

About a year and a half ago I wrote a post about my interest in raw milk.  All the milk sold in American grocery stores is pasteurized at either 161 degrees for 15 seconds or 145 degrees for 30 minutes.  Pasteurization kills any dangerous bacteria potentially lurking around, but this process also “destroys enzymes, diminishes […]

Chris and I are on Day 3 of the 28 Day Health Challenge Whole Foods Market invited me to try.  Much to my surprise, Chris is having no trouble with the plan, while I am struggling. Here’s why a restrictive vegan diet just is not my friend (so far): 1. I like to cook.  A […]

As I have written about before, we start every morning with a breakfast shake.  The kids don’t like cold cereal, and I like packing more than a couple servings of fruits and vegetables into a tasty and convenient smoothie. Every night when I put Evie to bed I ask her what she wants me to […]

The local produce market I shop at once a week had a sale on domestic strawberries – just $0.50 a pound!!  Granted, the fruit was about 5 minutes from going bad and it wasn’t organic, but at that price I just couldn’t walk away.  So, I scooped up four packages, raced home and spent yesterday […]

Sunday mornings are my favorite.  We usually bring the kids into bed with us so we can all snuggle and doze a little longer than usual, and then the kids and I make a nice breakfast together. I found this quinoa pancake recipe in last month’s Everyday Food magazine, and I immediately knew it would […]

We started our weekend off right with a fresh batch of homemade waffles this morning. While Chris and Mack were upstairs slowly waking up, Evelyn and I worked on breakfast together. I measured the ingredients and she was in charge of pouring everything into the bowl. While she made a big flour mess as she […]

A few months ago I wrote about how I believe the milk we drink is over processed. All milk sold in grocery stores is pasteurized and homogenized. These processes kill off beneficial germs and destroy some of the natural nutrition found in milk. So, I set out to find a local source for raw milk, […]