Dinnertime often sneaks up on me. Suddenly it's 6:00 pm and I'm starving. But when I'm tired from working all day, cooking feels like a big deal that I don't care to tackle.

Up until a few years ago, that mindset is how I'd end up eating junk-laden foods like frozen pizza, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Chinese carry-out and my dirty little secret addiction: a drive-thru Big Mac and fries wolfed down in the car on the ride back home. And now the empty nest dragon is trying to hurl me back into these old habits.

The key to breaking that bad habit has been to come up with meals that I can prep, cook, and have on my table in under 30 minutes. By "on the table" I mean, eat standing up at my kitchen island, another empty nest gut-punch because sitting alone at...

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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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Just like my grandmother and my mother before me, I've been "putting up pickles" for as long as I can remember. Over the years, I've tried a lot of different recipes and spices but I always come back to this recipe, our family recipe. It's a traditional dill pickle recipe that is not too tart, or too salty, or bland.

Head to the farmers market now, this week! "Pickles", which are cucumbers that are not fully grown, are in season but won't be much longer. Look for cucumbers that are ideally no more than 3 inches long and were freshly picked that day or the day before. 12 pounds of cukes will yeild 10 quarts of dill pickles. The cukes should feel firm and crisp, not limp or rubbery, which indicates they were picked several days ago. As soon as you...

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Drinking plenty of water each day (six, 8oz. glasses) is one of the best things we can do for our skin. But it's a struggle for me, because I get so bored with drinking plain old water. How about you? I don't drink soda and iced tea gets boring very quickly, too.

Last week I was surfing Pinterest and came upon flavored water recipes that sounded refreshing for summer. So I bought these cool glass bottles on Amazon to give it a whirl,  here's a link.

For the price ($20), I expected cheap bottles with plastic caps. I was absolutely delighted to open the box and find these bottles! In fact, I immediately ordered 6 more bottles. No more Ice Mountain water in a plastic bottle for this household.

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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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Banana Pancakes are a family favorite recipe and when my son asks me this year where I'd like him to take me for breakfast on Mother's Day, which is our tradition, I'm going to ask him to make these Banana Pancakes for me instead. He loves these pancakes, so now is a great time for him to learn how to make them himself so he can dazzle his friends in college and carry on the tradition with his own family someday.

I do not generally eat pancakes, but as with anything else in life, it's about balance and depriving myself makes me feel, well, deprived. So I'm going to splurge on Mother's Day and have these Banana Pancakes as is, but this recipe could easily be adapted to a healthier version by using whole wheat flour and omitting the sugar and...

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This recipe is simple, delicious, and it ensures that you won't have the rest of a whole cake or pie laying around tomorrow to temp you after your Valentine's Day dinner splurge. Chocolate Crostini go well later in the evening with a glass of that champagne you have left over from the Champagne Martini's you enjoyed earlier in the evening.

Chocolate Crostini
1/2 baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices on the long diagonal
1 Tbsp. olive oil
6 oz. of good bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp. toasted pistachios
2 Tbsp. dried cherries
1/4 tsp sea salt

Stale bread works best for this recipe so let your baguette dry out for a day or two before making this dessert. You can substitute any nut and any fruit for the pistachios and cherries that I am suggesting here. Dried apricots and cashews are also a fantastic combination. But...

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