October 14, 2021 Day 90   I had to take a break from work yesterday and get some cooking done because we had nothing to eat, but lots of whole food in the house!  I made a mushroom and wild rice soup, roasted baba ghanoush with peppers, eggplant, zucchini, onion, and tomatoes, and then chicken with pepperoncini peppers and fingerling potatoes for dinner - all sugar free meals.  I had to check the pepperoncini peppers ingredient label and happily found no sugar.  They were brined but just in vinegar, no sugar - yeah!  Now we are set for lunch tomorrow, leftovers for dinner, and baba ghanoush for a few days. Read More

October 13, 2021 Day 90   No sugar issues today as we were all home working and trying to clean out the fridge of leftovers. Chicken, salmon, squash, broccoli, cauliflower.  We were eating it all up.    I’m excited about the quit sugar course I’m writing, and have gotten some nice response from those who are interested in volunteering for the Beta course.   Read More

October 12, 2021 Day 89   Do you love cookies?  If yes, why do you love them?  Is it the sweetness, cravings, the emotional tie to childhood, a habit?   I haven’t had cookies in a long time, at least store bought.  The homemade cookies delivered at Christmas time by my neighbor are really tempting, and I usually have one or two, because they are there, and I remember how good they were from the past year. But I don’t crave them, or go out of my way to have them.    Read More

October 11, 2021 Day 88   Weekends used to be about cooking for the week, but somehow, I find myself being really busy and pressed for time these days.  I’ve taken on a lot of projects lately which I love, but the cooking has been sub-par.  Until tonight!  This weekend I picked up a piece of wild salmon from the Asian market and cooked it in the cast iron pan with shallots, olive oil, and the very last of the grape tomatoes from the garden.  Yum, yum, yum, and sugar free. Thanks, Mom for the recipe.  (Apparently, it’s the only way my brother-in-law will eat salmon, and I can see why).   Read More

October 10, 2021 Day 87   I’ve decided to write a “quit sugar” group coaching course to be launched in the spring 2022.  I know that sounds like a long time away, but I’m starting from scratch with what I want to put out there to those who want help with feeling and getting better physically and mentally.   Read More

October 9, 2021 Day 86   Last night my husband and I had an actual date night which was so needed as we are all working from home together, and not always setting boundaries around work and rest and relaxation - R&R.     We went to a local Italian restaurant and had some amazing food. We started with antipasto which we devoured because we were hungry. The waiter asked for any food allergies or restrictions and I told him no gluten, dairy, or sugar. He took notes and spoke with the chef.  I ordered salmon and he let me know the salmon was prepared with butter, so I asked for no butter.  I never thought of that because who cooks salmon with butter? – not me!  But I digress. I should be talking about sugar.  There was no sugar to be found on any of our choices, and since we were going to the theater after dinner, there was no time for dessert!  Dodged that one.  Read More

October 8, 2021 Day 85   Since I had lots of fresh veggies in the house from last week’s Coop basket, it was time to get in the kitchen and cook.  I roasted delicata squash in one pan and a made a roasted radish with their greens and walnuts dish from one of my programs.  I also cooked a bag of dried chickpeas in the instant pot to make hummus.  When they were cooked, I put some in a vegetable soup base I’d taken out of the freezer and had that for lunch. While I was at it, I cooked some quinoa to have on hand. I find if a few staples are cooked it’s easy to put a meal together quickly.  Then I made the no sugar added banana nut muffins (a weekly staple now).  The dishes were piled high!     Read More

October 7, 2021 Day 84   For the past 83 days, we’ve been focusing on added sugars in the diet, and haven’t talked at all about carbohydrates which even though might not contain added sugars, they raise blood sugar levels just as added sugar does. As a holistic health coach, I tend not to look at calories or macronutrients, but rather the properties and energetics of the whole food.  However, we can’t ignore the science of how foods work in our body.    Read More

October 6, 2021 Day 83   People talk about obesity related to nutrition and sugar, but we don’t really hear people talking about nutrition related to mental health and resilience in times of stress and trauma. Here are a few things from the talk with Dr. Bonnie Kaplan yesterday that I wanted to share with you.   Read More

October 5, 2021 Day 82 I didn’t get my meal prep done this weekend, but I’ve got everything in the house and will be making some sugar free meals at least for the next two nights. On the dinner menu are scallops with smashed potatoes and spinach (recipe compliments of my parents), then spaghetti squash with veggie “Bolognese” sauce, and a salad.  Pretty simple and easy, as it should be for the weeknights.   Read More