healthy and beautiful

Byrdie asked for my 2 cents on butter. The writer said, “I know you’re team butter” but will you answer these questions? “Team butter”, could there be a better team-ever? The full butter article can be found here  but thought I’d add a few factoids Byrdie didn’t focus on. So it’s outdated thinking that saturated fat in butter leads to heart disease. The butter tide is turning or should I say “churning” (ha). There’s a hierarchy in every food group and hallelujah butter is a good guy. Please skip butter alternatives or alternatives/substitutes for any whole food. Do you want to see the understudy or the lead? I hadn’t even contemplated margarine in eons until I was asked about it. But butter isn’t only better than “alternatives” it’s good for you. Grass fed butter contains omega 3’s but also a vitamin called K2 you might recall K2 from my brie post. K2 and vit D in butter make it a key pregnancy food too, should you be expecting. Grass-fed butter also contains CLA (conjugated ...

photo via Smitten Kitchen, mine never as pretty As much as we like tradition, there's nothing wrong with poached wild salmon, roasted asparagus or sweet potatoes or other simple recipes. Make sure to balance out your holiday menus or bring one of the following to your gathering. Here’s a mishmosh of Passover and Easter inspo. Gluten free “matzoh” ball Asparagus Stuffed Eggs  I use ghee or plain Greek yogurt Skinny Matzo Brei - we like Yehuda brand Gluten Free/fiber enriched (wink wink) Horseradish Brisket Carrot Kugel  (I use local honey not agave) Homemade Sauerkraut Zoodles (Zuchini Noodles) , we love the Veggetti Homemade, nastiness free, Peeps lauren’s Favorite Lamb Chop Recipe (use grass fed lamb available on Fresh Direct or at Citarella)  Ina Garten Lemon Chicken - no recipe roundup complete without Ina. What are your favorite Passover or Easter foods? Where will you be? What are you making or bringing?  I actually made Cat Cora Lamb Chops (#9) last night

I’ve been working on a heart healthy post for Fitbit since February is Heart Month. Some of my advice will be expected, you know eat your omega-3 foods and exercise but I’ve become obsessed with a vitamin I didn’t know that much about before. I know this sounds strange, after all vitamins aren’t exactly like snacks items popping up all the time. This vitamin K2 plays key role in the prevention of heart disease, osteoporosis and even cancer and wasn’t on my radar before. If vitamin K sounds familiar, you’re probably thinking of K1 (as I was). K1’s key function is blood clotting and if you or a family member has been on a blood thinning med you probably know K (think leafy greens) plays a role. K2 can be produced by K1 but we can also get K2 from certain foods and bacteria in our guts can produce it. Without getting too sciencey, K2 is sort of like an advisor or therapist for calcium and vitamin D.  K2 encourages calcium and vitamin D head to our bones and teeth and discourag...

Yesterday I spoke to CBS about bone broth (segment airs Christmas week); Carolyn is going to “break” things down for us today . Bone broth is the new “hot” beverage (literally) of the season. Truth be told it’s not really new but newly popular thank in part to paleo peeps and GAPS diet. It’s gaining a cult following similar to kombucha. But let’s get to the “bare bones” if you will… bone broth, yay or stay away ? What is bone broth? As the name implies bone broth is made from chicken, beef or fish bones slowly cooked for 12 or more hours. While the thought of slurping on bone leftovers might make you lose your appetite, it’s not that different from regular old chicken stock. The main difference is that store-bought stock is cooked at high temperature for a short amount of time. Stock is about flavor and not about extracting goodness from the bones. So, why bones? Bones are nutritional powerhouses. During cooking, collagen from the bone breaks down into gelatin and this is where the goo...