No Bake Energy Bites

Having healthy snacks available on hectic days is a must for me. I'm constantly running between the hospital and clinic, so my snacks need to be portable without requiring refrigeration. And even though I firmly believe fruit is the original prepackaged convenience food (seriously, an orange is very portable and even comes in it's own wrapper), it isn't always convenient to carry fruit in the pocket of your white coat. However, these little nuggets of deliciousness fit my lifestyle perfectly.

Perfect Brown Rice Every Time

This is going to be one of those practical posts where we get back to the basics of cooking. When I was first learning how to cook, I cooked my rice in the microwave because it was the way my mom always did it, and predictably my rice boiled over into a starchy puddle of goop. Other people swore by their rice cookers as the secret to creating perfect rice, but truthfully no one really needs yet another unitasker appliance taking up precious real estate in their cupboards. In an interesting turn of events, my husband taught me the secret to cooking perfectly tender, fluffy brown rice every single time.  

Black Bean Tacos with Fresh Mango Salsa

Cooking for picky eaters is really tough. I think we all know someone who is very set in their taste preferences and completely unwilling to even taste something new.  My family seems to have more than it's fair share of picky eaters, and conversations at the dinner table include echoes of the same theme:  I don't eat that.  When you are a home cook trying to be health-conscious and increase the amount of vegetables and fruits in your family's diet while sticking to a budget, what can you do?  I say, get creative and get sneaky.

Fresh Mango Salsa

Salsa is a food with a ton of secret advantages. It tastes indulgent when it's actually low fat, low calorie, and high in fiber and other nutrients. It's cheap, especially when you take advantage of seasonal ingredients. It's surprisingly versatile - you can use any combination of vegetables, fruits, and spices you like to create the perfect blend of freshness, acidity, salt and spice. And even though it is shockingly easy to make, it never fails to impress families and guests. One of the most impressive and simple salsas that every home cook should have in their repertoire is fresh mango salsa.

Root Vegetable Chowder

If I could give one universal cooking tip to every single patient I see in clinic it would be this: master the art of making homemade soup. Homemade soups are a wonderful way to incorporate vegetables into your diet, prepare a satisfying meal that everyone in your family will enjoy, and also reduce the amount of fat, calories, and sodium you consume. Beyond that, soup is simple to make at home, can be prepared in as little as 30 minutes, is inexpensive, and makes wonderful leftovers for later in the week or to stock the freezer. This recipe is a rich vegetable chowder perfect for cold winter nights and to help you utilize extra vegetables sitting in the bottom of your refrigerator's crisper.

Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes

A lazy weekend morning with a plate of warm pancakes is a rare gift these days, and one of the things I look forward to most. My mom made the best pancakes I've ever tasted, a recipe she received from an old friend many years ago. Unfortunately, one batch makes enough pancakes to feed twenty hungry duck hunters on a cold October morning, and no matter how I've tried there just isn't a good way to cut the recipe and have the same quality product. I will admit, this isn't quite the same as our family recipe, but it's a very close second and you won't need to invite the entire neighborhood to your house to help eat leftovers.