Wellness Made Natural is temporarily on hiatus as my husband and I recently welcomed a beautiful baby girl to the world.
Blogging, cooking classes, nutritional consulting and chef services will resume shortly. Until then, keep cooking, stay healthy, and enjoy life.
With joy and gratitude,
Danielle
Feeling inspired to make a quick batch of popsicles after yesterdays post? If so, here is an extremely easy and simple recipe that is not only healthy and loaded with nutrients, it is downright refreshing and delightful.
Recipe: Island Paradise Popsicle
Yield: 6 double popsicles, 1 dozen single (3 1/2 cups mixture) Continue reading
Cooking Tip Thursdays is dedicated to making time in the kitchen quicker, easier, and just plain better…
There’s nothing worse than spending money on an overpriced box of popsicles only to find them jam-packed with high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives, artificial flavors, red dye #5 or blue dye #8. If you’re looking for a healthier and cheaper alternative, then a homemade popsicle is your answer. This fun and easy activity is great for kids of all ages. And by kids, I mean grown adults that enjoy popsicles just as much as any 5 year old. Here are a few simple tips to create the perfect homemade popsicle in no time at all. Because really, is there anything better than an ice-cold healthy treat on a hot, sweltering day? Continue reading
Grilling fruit is one of the easiest ways to summer-ize a dish. Whether savory or sweet, it instantly adds a succulent twist. This weekend while friends were over for dinner I turned some plums I had into a wonderful appetizer. I simply grilled slices of rustic whole grain bread with olive oil, salt and pepper and topped it with ricotta cheese, grilled plums and a drizzle of honey. It was absolutely delicious. Peaches, figs, and dates would have worked beautifully as well.
In honor of that dish, I am Continue reading
Freshly shucked corn and perfectly ripe tomatoes are the very definition of summer. Toss in a grill and additional seasonal produce, like radishes and scallions, and you’ve got yourself one easy breezy warm weather salad. Here I’ve paired the abovementioned with grass-fed steak in a way that will satisfy the healthy to the hearty. Continue reading
It’s that time of year again… For the eighth year in a row, the nonprofit organization Environmental Working Group has released its annual Dirty Dozen list of the 12 most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables on the market as part of their 2012 Shoppers Guide (along with the coinciding list of the cleanest 15). To compose this year’s list, EWG researchers looked at 45 popular fruits and vegetables based on pesticide-load reports conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. The database includes 60,700 samples taken over a 10 year period, beginning in 2000. The group found that 68 percent of the food samples tested had detectable pesticide residues, even after they had been washed and/or peeled.
Like last year, apples top the dirty list, while Continue reading
Cooking Tip Thursdays is dedicated to making time in the kitchen quicker, easier, and just plain better…
Nothing beats the summer heat like a cold refreshing smoothie. Ok, so maybe there are a few other things that are fantastic on a hot summer day, but smoothies definitely rank in the top 5. Whether for breakfast, lunch or an in-between meal boost, you can fill up on all your daily vitamin, mineral, and nutrient essentials with one click of the blender. And who doesn’t love a perfectly healthy and balanced meal that’s ready in less than 5 minutes? So in honor of the warm weather, here’s our NON-cooking, cooking tip of the week: Preparing the perfect smoothie. Continue reading
We all know that living a smoke-free, sunscreen-filled life is the key to gorgeous, glowing skin, but there are also plenty of foods you can eat (and avoid) to naturally enhance your complexion. With a few simple dietary tweaks, you can improve dull, dry skin, decrease oil and acne production, and reduce the signs of aging and thinning skin. The saying “you are what you eat” couldn’t be truer when it comes to appearance… Check out the list below for easy ways to give your skin that little extra summer boost with nothing more than a trip to the grocery store. Continue reading
Whether you have celiac disease, a gluten intolerance or are just curious to experiment with gluten-free baking, here are some of the basic rules and guidelines I follow to create delicious, moist, and tender baked goods. And if you’ve ever tried a dried out, rock hard gluten-free baked good, you can appreciate what I’m talking about. Use this as your cheat sheet and I guarantee you will not be disappointed with the results. Continue reading
Welcome to the Friday Roundup – A weekly update highlighting the news links that were hot, and not so hot, in the world of food, health, and nutrition.
This week superweeds threaten the US food supply, McDonald’s says soda is a fruit, coffee may lower your risk of dying, and a new drug may prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s to those genetically predisposed. I may be biased, but this is way more interesting than who got booted from Dancing With The Stars 3 nights ago…. Continue reading
