Homemade pasta sauce, made from homegrown tomatoes, is far superior to anything you're going to buy in a grocery store. If you don't grow tomatoes, head to the Farmers Market this week and buy them because tomatoes are in season and at their peak in August. I use a combination of any and all of the tomatoes I've grown, paying no attention to what the experts say are the "best" for sauce (ie: Romas). They're all good!

I found this recipe years ago online, I wish I could remember the source, but I can't. It's got a kick, so if you do not like a bit of heat, omit the red pepper flakes. And if you like a lot of heat, add more. Yes, this recipe is a lot of work but if you love fresh...

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Have you tried chia seed pudding? This recipe not only satifies my chocolate craving, it's as good as most chocolate treats that I usually reach for like a candy bar, ice cream or a brownie. I try to stay away from refined sugar and this recipe is amazing.

Chocolate Chia Pudding
2 cups unsweetened almond milk. (I love Califa Farms Unsweetened Vanilla)
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Trader Joe's is fantastic)
1/3 cup raw chia seeds
A pinch of sea salt

Place all the ingredients in a bowl or mason jar, stir well to blend. Refrigerate over night. Top with cocoa nibs, coconut, slivered almonds, sliced bananas or strawberries (or all of the above) and a dollup of real whip cream.

Enjoy!
XO, Lisa

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I've been making homemade chicken soup for years and I make my broth from scratch. It tastes so much better than canned broth. And it's so easy when you use a prepared rotiserrie chicken from the deli.

The "bone broth" craze is all the rage, and this recipe is just that - bone broth.

Recipe: remove all of the meat from the chicken, don't worry about getting every little bit because scraps of meat will add flavor. Save the meat for other recipes. Place the carcass in a stock pot and cover it with cold water. Add onions, celery, parsley and peppercorns. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer all day, or at least 4 hours. I do not add salt to the recipe because it is too easy to oversalt and ruin it. I add salt...

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The dietary tips below arrived in my mailbox this morning from The Whole Life Challenge organization. This list gives us an excellent, simple, common sense approach to eating well.

"Diets" can't be about a quick fix, they will fail. Ask me how I know. A "diet" has to be a shift in your midset and ultimately a lifestyle change and a committment to your healthy self. 

Eating well, eating clean are the new buzz words for making healthier food choices which is all the rage. And it's about time. If you're interested you can read about what I did back in May, when I took the Whole Life Challenge. 

(The following is an excerpt taken from an email I received from WLC 8-5-16)

Here’s all the nutrition advice you’ll ever need:

• Eat vegetables. Lots of them.
• Eat meat in portions about the size of...

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I am a granola bar junkie. Of course most of them are actually sugar laden and not at all healthy, so you might as well eat a brownie (and sometimes I do!) But this bar - BoBo's Oat Bar -  is nurtitionally sound and is the best tasting healthy bar I've ever come across. It's gluten free if that important to you. The sweetness comes from brown rice syrup which does not spike blood sugar and tastes molasses-like. Have you tried them? REI carries the whole line, the maple pecan and coconut flavors are my favorite. I will be taking these bars in my day pack on my annual National Park hike in July (hello Olympic National Park and Mt Rainier!)

I have been eating so many of these bars that Rick came up with a recipe that I have to...

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My customer, Kat, has the best healthy recipes. I am all about the Smoothie lately and I saw this recipe on her Instagram feed. Kat says that this smoothie is excellent for energy while helping reduce inflamation and pain. I am fortunate that I do not have inflamation or pain, just a sweet tooth, and this smoothie is a great sugar-craving buster. Check her out on Instagram @katmedinanino.

Refreshing Mango Smoothie
1.5 cup almond, hemp or coconut milk
1/2 cup frozen mango
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1 tsp. maca powder
1 tsp. chia seeds
1 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp, ginger root, peeled

Place all in blender, and blend until smooth. Add more milk as needed.

Thanks Kat! XO, Lisa

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My doctor gave me a, "don't think of it as a diet, think of it as a lifestyle" lecture last summer after a routine blood test showed results that floored me. I left her office feeling doomed, angry and discouraged because I was living what I considered to be a healthy lifestyle. I am of the belief that everything in moderation is fine and I did not deny myself the things I love. I knew I *should* be excersing more, and that my diet leaned heavily in the fat and carbohydrate direction, but I never considered that these foods were harming me. Or could kill me.

The blood test she did revealed a panic number - my Triglycerides level was196, which bordered on close to double of what it should be. Triglycerides are fat globules floating around in the blood and...

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I've tried so many times and so many ways to embrace green smoothies because of how healthy they are. Most everyone sings the praises of kale, but kale, the backbone of most things green is not my friend. I actually kind of hate it. Especially the texture of it.

I needed to kick my 3 time per week unhealthy drive-thru EggMcMuffin breakfast habit. I wanted something quick and easy that I could grab and go with in the car on the way to yoga class. I need something that provides energy but does not sit heavy on my stomach during class. So I set out to create a smoothie.

My Dream Green Smoothie had to meet a couple of criteria:
1) I do not own a Juicer because I don't want to deal with that mess, maintenence and clean-up, so the smoothie...

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I follow a low carb diet because I just feel better when I'm not eating  "white foods" like potatoes, pasta, rice, (refined) sugar and flour. This is not an easy task to do because I love those foods. I must admit that I do cheat once in awhile and so that I don't feel deprived, I also allow myself one meal, once a week, in which I splurge and eat anything that I want to. But I always feel like I have a hang-over after that meal. The rest of the time, I spend my carbs wisely. In 3 months time, I lost 15 pounds that I'd been lugging around for years and I was amazed to also discover a level of energy I had forgotten was even possible. I sleep like a baby at night. I wake up refreshed. No more mood swings. No...

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Yesterday I talked about my new found love, the Veggetti and today I am going to share my favorite pasta sauce recipe with you so you can test this for yourself. This fresh sauce is super simple and so delicious. I've been making it for well over a year and will never go back to using jarred pasta sauce again.

Lisa's Top Secret Pasta Sauce

1 lb. of bulk Italian sausage
2 cans (28 oz. each) of Italian San Marzano whole tomatoes (do not use a cheap domestic brand, the tomatoes are key)
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (again, do not go cheap on the oil)
1 shallot, minced
1 small red onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh oregano (I grow it year 'round on my windowsill)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp brown sugar (it cuts that tin-y tomato taste)

Optional: 5 or 6...

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