Amaretto Peach-Pear Upside Down Cake:
Welcoming Autumn with a Grain-Free Treat

The transformative period between summer and fall are some of my favorite weeks of the year. It’s a time of reestablished routines, warm sunny days, and crisp evenings. The fragrant scent of heavy dew and fallen apples. The feel of dry grass and leaves at the tail end of their vigor. And all that produce […]

Self-Health Habit #9:
Take Your Self-Health Education Seriously

If you regularly check out websites like SRP, chances are pretty good that you’re looking for answers of some kind. Maybe you’ve been given a diagnosis that you want to know more about. Or perhaps a loved one has been told they need to make some lifestyle changes before it’s too late. No matter what […]

Important Stuff About Cheese:
What You Don’t Know Matters!

In my world there’s one thing that I budget for throughout the year and order in quantity, with substantial thought about when I place my order and who I place my order with, and that thing is cheese. Now, you might ask, why all the hoopla just to get cheese? Well, I want to be […]

Roasted Poblano Queso:
Cheese Sauce of the Gods

Take game-day snacking to whole new level. Queso. The uber popular Tex-Mex staple so ubiquitous in restaurants, bars, and game-day coffee tables across the country. Personally, I was never a big fan. In my initial queso-eating experiences, I found the stuff was always a two-ingredient concoction of melted processed cheese with canned tomatoes and green […]

Is Cholesterol as Scary as We Think It Is?

We’re told to avoid cholesterol at all costs—or suffer the consequences: cardiovascular disease, increased risk of a stroke, and/or other complications. However, I recently came across some information that made this self-healther wonder about these warnings. And since September is National Cholesterol Education Month, I think we should ask ourselves the question: Is high cholesterol […]

Thai Beef Stir Fry Made Easy

Ask Chef Phyllis: I like Thai food and eat out at my favorite restaurant when I can. I live in Louisiana where seafood is abundant. I’m interested in a beef dish that is delicious and tender. Beef is my new favorite meat, but I’m not sure this dish will be easy to duplicate at home […]

Quinoa Salad with Peaches, Corn, and Feta:
Celebrate Late Summer with a Picnic Friendly Side Dish

I don’t know about you, but I’m totally not ready for summer to be over. Here in Colorado, the kids have just started school, and though I look forward to returning to a semblance of routine and getting down to some personal and home projects once the craziness of the past season is behind us, […]

Foods That Help You Stay Hydrated

I know, I know. We talk a lot about staying hydrated at SRP, and here I go bringing the topic up yet again. But this is super important stuff, my friends. And maybe you’ll be happy to know that I’m not going to focus on preventing hydration solely with water in today’s post. You see, […]

Pate de Foie Gras in the Sky:
An Elegant, Bygone Time in Air Travel

After sitting for four-plus hours in a plane as it taxied from one runway to another at Denver International (due to inclement weather), it occurred to me that air travel isn’t the same animal as it used to be. My own thoughts—I’m bored out of my mind. We’ll never take off. It’s only a seventy-minute […]

Moroccan-Spiced Salmon Cakes with
Preserved Lemons and Harissa Yogurt:
A Simple, Protein-Packed Meal with an Exotic Flair

I’ve been wrapping up our annual trip back home to the Pacific Northwest of British Columbia. This year’s adventure was full of lazy days at the beach, boisterous family reunions with cousins I haven’t seen in close to twenty years, peaceful explorations through lush, moss-draped forest groves, mountain hikes with incredible vistas, refreshing lake swims… […]

Top 3 Ways to Set Your College-Bound Kid Up for a Healthy Year

After living with kid(s) under your watchful eye for so many years, sending them off to college can be worrisome. Will they make nutritious food choices? Will they get the sleep they need to thrive both in the classroom and in life? And will they pay attention to signals from their bodies if the answer […]

Ice Cream Toxicity:
Is Your Brand Fake or Real?

Is there a more satisfying food on a hot summer day than ice cream? The pleasantly cold, creamy, and velvety smooth mouthfeel of an ice cream cone or a bowl piled high with two or more scoops of our favorite flavors is pure joy. Oh! Yum, yum, yum. Hopefully, many of you can identify with […]

Antipasto-Stuffed Squash Blossoms:
Maximize Your Garden Harvest with a Crispy, Grain-Free Appetizer

I can’t let the summer go by without sharing at least one post celebrating the season’s most prolific crop: the equally loved and loathed zucchini. Mid-August may be a little later in the season than I usually publish my annual zucchini post, but now that everyone is surely becoming sick of all that darned summer […]

Self-Health Habit #8: Cook at Home

One of the most impactful things you can do for your health is cook at home. But let’s be clear— I’m not talking about nuking a freezer meal in your microwave or warming up that can of pre-fabbed whatever on your stovetop. Optimal health is found in foods that you need to eat, refrigerate, or […]

Slow Cooker Summer:
Italian Beef in the Slow Cooker

Ask Chef Phyllis: It’s come to my attention after some reader emails that most of you think the slow cooker is a strictly wintertime vessel. After all, nothing sounds better on those cold winter mornings than coming home to chili con carne or a thick, hearty split pea soup. But to say that the slow […]

Cherry Clafoutis:
Classically French, Elegantly Easy

I remember the first time I had clafoutis (KLA-foo-tee). I must have been around thirteen, and the bakery where I worked had just received a shipment of plump, deep, burgundy cherries from the Okanagan, in British Columbia. My mentor Pascal immediately exclaimed that I simply had to try clafoutis, so he got to work whipping […]

What Kind of Fun Will Your Family Have This Month?

August is Family Fun Month! The perfect opportunity to spend time with your family and (hopefully) remember how much you enjoy each other’s company. There isn’t much information about the history of this celebration, but I have to assume it has to do with two things: the hustle and bustle of the upcoming school year […]

Eat Light, Stay Light:
Healthy Recipes for Hot Summer Days

It is now early August, and as I awoke this morning the first thought that floated across my mind was that winter is long gone, the delicate spring flowers have been replaced by bursting vegetable gardens, and the hot, lazy days of summer are in full swing. So, what’s to eat that keeps me on […]

Thai Style Minced Pork Salad with Spicy Mayo:
Taking Street Food to a New Level

I’ve often waxed poetic about my affection for Thai food. The harmonic combination of sour, salty, sweet, and spicy is like no other cuisine. I also admire the Thai love affair with street food: full of bright fresh flavors, crisp veggies, and quickly grilled or seared meats, and easy to eat with your hands. My […]

Fermented Foods for People Who Don’t Think They Like Them

The list of benefits from eating at least some fermented foods on a daily basis is long and impressive. From more efficient digestion to a more robust immune system, your health will only improve by adding some fermented foods into your diet. In his book Wild Fermentation, Sandor Ellix Katz explains that the process of […]