Here you’ll find everything I’m preparing in my kitchen - from veggies, to leftovers and pasta. I eat simply, and I cook for one, but love cooking for others. And no matter what, I always pause to plate pretty.
Most of my meals are often times the result of freestyle recipe free ingredient riffing and a trip to the vegetable market. Produce is my passion, and I hope that you won’t simply come here for a recipe - but that you’ll read, cook and create a new story of your own.
I believe there’s power in a stocked pantry and freezer. From traditional Italian dishes to alternative sweets, vegan and vegetarian swaps - there’s something for everyone.
Let this serve as inspiration and let’s eat!
Making salsa is simple. It requires little prep, minimal tools and ingredients that are easy to come by in your grocery store. A certified crowd pleaser, great for vegetarians, vegans and even your meaty buddies (scoop this fruit salsa on a burger, shrimp or salmon) and delight everyone around your table.
Read MoreWhile everyone else is eating warm potato and macaroni salad (gulp) this July 4th, perhaps you can choose to make a side that can double as a salad or a salsa. With interchangeable ways to use these two salsa/sides, you’re guaranteed to please guests and yourself with nutrition, hydration and leftovers.
Read MoreAs a champion for grocery shopping, real food, cooking and caring for my home (mind, body, the actual space I live in) - when the weather gets beautiful and the weekend rolls around … The last thing I want to do is roll my food suitcase from store to store. Sure, I love Astoria, long walks, exploring, and saying hi to my local produce people … but …
Read MoreIt was with an open heart that I attended the District 30 Health Fair on Saturday May 4th.
There’s no better feeling in the world than giving to others, freely and happily. The turn out for the event was spectacular and I couldn’t have pulled it off without the help of my friends.
Read MoreI consider myself quite fortunate that I grew up in a home where cooking was a second language served up alongside Neapolitan dialect. I only ever learned the curses and catch phrases of my culture, while every part of my being took to the language of food.
Cooking can seem daunting some days, even to someone who loves it. Trust me. After a day of substitute teaching, then coming home to write, coach, teach health workshops and build a business I often come home hungry and semi-exhausted from the day.
Read MoreFor the third day this week I’ve eaten beans for a meal. Yes, the same beans. No, not different beans. The same beans I made upon arriving home from Miami were eaten twice this week. I’ve never been one to side eye leftovers, rather, I’ve always been a champion for them. Perhaps because the food culture in my home was:
Read MoreAll I could muster up for dinner tonight was zucchini noodles with garlic, parsley and olive oil. I’ve nothing inspirational to write or say. Quite honestly, I opened my fridge, braless, half of my belly hanging out in my too short hand-cut sleeper sweatshirt and stared into the refrigerator light.
Read MoreIn the Healthy Habits gospel according to Tinamarie Theresa, there’s nothing like starting the day with fresh fruit. Before I left NY for Miami, the cold weather had me turnt. I work hard to channel my good mood through food as my belief is if we eat like a rainbow we will feel like a rainbow. I tried channeling the tropics
Read MoreI came home from substitute teaching with an intense craving for eggs. I know I said lentils were one of my lovers, but eggs are up there. At least today. At least right now. On a typical Sunday I might cook a few veggies, a grain, a soup, a slow cooker meat and some muffin tin frittatas to get me through the week of
Read MoreEvery Sunday with what could be considered a religious practice, since cooking is my religion, I step into my kitchen to cook. It’s light cooking for the week - nothing crazy - only me and a bunch of vegetables, Billy Ocean and many smiles as I chop, roast, saute and do dishes. I spend about 90 minutes to 3 hours in the kitchen to set
Read MoreI love lentils and I’ve had a lifelong obsession with them. My personal lentil memories span from school lunches my mom and grandma would pack - to making them for the first time on my own during the summer I moved to the farm in Connecticut. Yes, the summer of my 75 lb. weight loss that turned into a 160 lb. weight loss was fueled by cooking lentils.
Read MoreI was going to title this piece My Biscuits Bring All the Boys to the Yard, but I am not a liar. I am a gentlewoman and a champion of the truth, so you should know that my yard could not be more empty and it is filled with biscuits baked for friends and leftovers for myself.
Read MoreAlthough I cannot promote these cookies from a health standpoint - they’re loaded with butter, potato chips, pretzels, peanut butter and white chocolate chips - I can tell you they are holiday cookie swap award winning. I just took home a Starbucks gift card for having won my friends 2018 cookie swap.
Read MoreWhen I was growing up and still, to this day, my mother makes a carrot cake that is to die for. As a child I would sneak slices in the middle of the night while no one was watching; it was just me, my carrot cake and Arsenio. I imagined I’d one day make it on my own, that I wouldn’t have to eat it alone in secret or in shame and that day came.
Read MorePost Thanksgiving you might have one of two thoughts …
What can I do with leftovers?
I’m done with food and I’m battening down the hatchets until Christmas cookies are thrust upon me!
Lately, I feel like it’s a miracle I’m even cooking. My spirits have been struggling, my energy low, although I’m working to wear smiles on the outside. After a day of substitute teaching, I sometimes want to close my eyes and nap, but most days I confront the light, my kitchen and make peace with myself.
Read MoreI closed in on a quick granola for the yogurt, muffin, oatmeal and fruit topping win! And I baked some apples that were looking sad in my fridge! Most days in my kitchen, cooking is about using what I’ve got in order to survive hunger, mealtime and loneliness. Lemme not go down the emotion path and keep this on the quick cooking tip!
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