We all know Gwyneth Paltrow for her Academy Award winning acting, but did you know she is also a bestselling author/blogger?  Well, she is, and this is her second cookbook, a follow up to the bestselling My Fathers Daughter. In It's All Good she shares recipes for the food she wants to eat to lose weight, look good and feel more energetic.  It's All Good came to fruition after she found out that she was anemic, vitamin D deficient and that her stress level was out of control.  When put on a strict diet she worried that mealtime would become boring. So being an avid foodie she decided to do something about it.  And believe me, the recipes in It's All Good are anything but boring. But you can decide for yourself, by making the yummy (and healthy) waffles below.  Enjoy!   “Buttermilk” Waffles These gluten-, dairy-, and sugar-free waffles provide a homey, comforting breakfast. You won’t know what you’re missing. This batter makes great pancakes, too—simply add an extra ½ cup soy milk and cook them as you would any other pancake. Serves 4 (makes 8 waffles)Vegan 3 cups soy milk2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract2 tablespoons…

Is the coast clear? Are we officially past January and February? Yessss! Phew! Now that we're officially in spring, I can share my excitement about this healthy cookbook and you won't feel like I'm preaching to you about getting fit, while precariously balanced on a Bosu ball. Because even though Supergrains has all the hallmarks of a healthful, good-for-you cookbook, it's so much more. Don't be fooled. This is not a Birkenstocks-and-Bircher-muesli kind of book. Um, not that I have anything against Birkenstocks or Bircher muesli. I just prefer my food to be tasty and nutritious – in that order please. This is delicious food that just happens to contain a lot of interesting grains and seeds such as quinoa, farro, millet, chia, brown rice, amaranth and more. I think I'm in the same comfortable rut that most cooks (both good and bad) find themselves. I have a handful of workhorse recipes that I use over and over because they're reliable, tasty and family/friend approved. Sure, every now and then I break out some new culinary kung fu but it tends to be for special occasions (with sometimes iffy results – uh, not so dissimilar to me trying new dance…

I’ve taken food for granted my entire life.  Mere sustenance to fuel me through another day, I could pretty well much shovel anything other than liver or brussels sprouts into my face. Forced into a cold-induced hibernation for December, I spent time reading William Davis’ Wheat Belly and the Wheat Belly Cookbook. Recommended to me by a colleague, something clicked as I read about Davis’ guide to a wheat-free lifestyle, which he argues will result in the diminishing or eliminating of the ubiquitous beer belly, mine included.  I grew eager to try the recipes so I decided to go wheat-free thirty days commencing January 2nd. Prior to this experiment I was a relative stranger to the kitchen.  I knew it existed and most of the time some delicious food was exported from that particular room, but I was hesitant and lacked the patience to spend time there and prepare food.  Over the years, I’ve mastered two dishes: lunch and dinner – two dishes that have not seen any variety since their inception.  Regardless, Davis had me eager to prepare the dishes for two reasons; to see if I was capable of actually making food that I and others could eat;…

So I’m staring down the end of my Wheat Belly Experience and finding myself at a crossroads on how to proceed with my nutritional needs after the experiment’s end date. William Davis’ The Wheat Belly Cookbook presented a compelling enough argument for reducing one’s belly through the elimination of wheat that I decided to challenge myself to a 30-day trial after New Year’s Eve.  So to recap:  I WAS a novice in the kitchen.  Where once my specialties were ice and toast, my expertise has expanded since the experiment began.  I’ve even had to control my urge to cook, bake, etc. Everything has just turned out so well which is shocking to me, but also very inspiring.  While I’m not overly obese, I could use to shed some pounds from my belly, and maybe a little out of my face.  In my first installment, I made some delicious mashed cauliflower (Better Than Mashed Potatoes) and a juicy Wheat Belly Meatloaf that utilized flax seeds.  I decided to attack the “staples” in my second installment resulting in a rich bread (Basic Bread) not unlike a pumpernickel, which is incredibly delicious and ridiculously simple to make.  The Peanut Butter Pie was not…