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!
Weeknights leave little room for making any sort of gourmet dinner, you and I both know that. But dinner also doesn’t have to be gourmet or recipe based. With work, busy schedules, the compounded effects of technology and the need to be “always on,” it’s getting harder and harder to find a work life balance … let alone get in the kitchen.
Read MoreHave you ever had one of those mornings where you step on the scale just to see? To ballpark where you are, how you’re feeling and what’s going on in the numbers world? And then it easily becomes … The. Worst. Idea. Ever.
Do you ever judge yourself and your worth by your weight? By a number? Just back from a lovely 8 days with my parents where I walked, biked, beached, bikini’d, even managed to make out, eat a fair amount of pastry and LOVED every moment …
Tired of salad? Same old same old lettuce with tomatoes and cucumbers … Are you ready to stop hating and start recreating what a salad can be?! Add a blast sweet to your snore worthy lunch salad and dare to taste what happens! My job is to share what I know and what I know is that when sweet pairs with acid, salt and herbs … THE. MOUTH. GOES. WILD
Read MoreWhile I have not been procuring produce with passion or cooking with a burning desire to change the 10 minute meal world, I have been treating myself well and giving myself license to step out of the kitchen, head to the beach, dine out and enjoy the company of friends instead of continually cooking for one. I’ve been working hard to build a positive relationship with food outside of my home, to notice my choices and how they make me feel.
Read MorePeeling fava beans was a favorite childhood summertime cooking chore. Way better than mom asking me to get a new roll of paper towels or sending me to the corner store for bread. Splitting open a fava pod and peeling off the beans thick skin is a labor of mealtime love - it takes time, patience and must be done gingerly so as not to break apart your beans.
Read MoreFor the last few days I’ve found myself feeling disconnected. Not as engaged in my own life, perhaps a touch sad and weighed down by myself and my thoughts. Having just written about the ways I try to maintain my “home” I’m totally struggling this week and I believe this is what we call being human. I don’t bake to eat, usually. I bake to get out emotion.
Read MoreInspired by an epic Friday night meal of branzino, eggplant, zucchini, salad and wine I planned to relive it at home. A kingdom for grilled branzino every day, deboning and picking pins like a professional - but it gets costly … sometimes a lady has to get her wild flounder on because the price is right at the fish market.
Read MoreHome is where the heart is? Right? I mean, the phrase was coined with reason yet when I deconstruct the phrase itself (because I pick apart words like I would pick my childhood scraped knee scars), I think about how truly layered it is. What does home mean to you?
For me, home is a place I work to make beautiful everyday.
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
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