About Me

I’ve been cooking for as long as I can remember. When I was a little kid, I would always follow my mother around the kitchen and “help” as much as I could. Starting when I was about 10, it was one of my chores to completely plan and cook dinner once night every week. The dinner had to be a balanced meal too- no “tonight we’re having ice cream sundae’s for dinner! At first, this was a little overwhelming- I still remember the first time I tried to manage a stovetop full of boiling pots- and there were failures when mom had to come to the rescue for sure. But the excitement and pride that came with pulling off a successful meal couldn’t be matched. I think it was this early experience with cooking and menu planning that contributed to my love of cooking today. Cooking was never daunting to me. Instead, it was a chance to create what I wanted to eat.

At several points in my life, I have considered either going to culinary school or becoming a dietitian. But I was always scared that if I did that, it would turn something that I loved into something that I loathed.  I also didn’t love the nights/weekends/holidays schedule that would come with being a chef (little did I know I would end up working crazy hours anyway). Maybe some day I’ll reconsider, but for now my day job is my other love- politics. That’s about as much about that as you’ll read on this blog though.

What is healthy?

I feel like every time you turn around there’s new information about what’s “healthy” and what isn’t. I’m not a doctor by any means, so please don’t take my word for what’s healthy.

If you read back in my archives far enough, you’ll see that I started this blog as a weight watchers blog. I started weight watchers after I graduated from college in order to lose some of the wight that I had put on. I made it to my goal fairly quickly, and stuck with weight watchers for a few years of maintenance because I knew it worked. But eventually I got sick of feeling like I was a slave to counting points.  I gradually stopped, and I gradually put on a good amount of the weight that I had lost. I experimented with several other diets (and “diets”) before I finally found what worked best for me: limiting processed food and refined carbs (note I say “limiting,” not eliminating!), and eating lots of fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables, whole grains. These are the kind of recipes and products that you’ll see reviewed here. I also try to eat 100% all natural annd organic when it’s reasonable and when it makes sense.

At first glance, you may find that some of my portion sizes seem small. I promise that they aren’t.  What they are are actual portions- what we think of as a serving has gotten so out of control. I find that the best way to lose weight ot maintina a healthy weight is to have a smaller potion of something that actually tastes good, rather than a larger portion of something that really isn’t saisfying. Just because something is healthy, doesn’t mean that it can’t be enjoyable! Before I eat anything, I try to ask myself “is this delicious?” because if it isn’t delicious, it isn’t worth eating.

The fine print.

Of course no one is perfect, and you’ll find a good share of sweets and other food that isn’t necessarily “healthy” here too- but for the most part, they will still be healthier than the common alternative. If not, you’ll see that they are filed under the “unhealthy” category.

One more thing I want to mention- for the most part, recipes featured here take a maximum of 40 minutes to make. Like most people, I do most of my cooking on weeknights. I’m not about to spend 2 hours cooking after I get home from a long day at work. If a recipe isn’t appropriate for a weeknight, I’ll try to make a note of it, and I’ll file it under the “weekend meals” category.

Contact me.

Want to know more? Have an idea for a recipe that I might want to try or a flavor combination that I might find interesting? I’d love to hear from you! You can reach me at lk@healthy-delicious.com.