The Mayo Clinic Williams-Sonoma Cookbook: Simple Solutions for Eating Well

The Mayo Clinic Williams-Sonoma Cookbook: Simple Solutions for Eating Well by John Phillip Carroll

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Nice ideas, clear nutrition facts and beautiful pictures. Some recipes were fancy and some were super simple. I ranked it lower as it did not really address common "special" diets for health (diabetic, heart disease, etc) and some of the recipes were such no brainers- they could have offered more flair or methods to gussy up whole foods.

Book Review: Simply In Season (World Community Cookbook)

Simply In Season by Mary Beth Lind

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


We received this as a wedding gift and I love it. It is divided based on the growing seasons and also the kinds of meals one enjoys eating during the seasons (cool salads in summer, heavy soups in winter, etc.) I like to take it out before I hit the farmers market. It would be a great gift for a gardener.

I have found that many of the recipes can be adapted for our goal diet or that they inspire me to improvise.



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Book Review: The Grower's Guide to Herbs

The Grower's Guide to Herbs by Geoffrey Burnie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I have a tiny herb garden this year with some great neighbors. No clue what to do with some of them; I grabbed this book hoping to learn a bit more.

This was a fine breezy read with basic information on the most common herbs. It was aimed at beginners and I appreciated that. There were very simplified directions for growing and harvesting the herbs and not a lot of detail on ways to cook with them.

I guess my next stop will be a book on cooling with fresh herbs.




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Why hello again!

So I just realized I could post my Goodreads book reviews to Blogger kind of simply; the first is below.

I have been trying to read up on the diverse world of the Mediterranean Diet as it is very healthy for all of us, but especially for my partner (per science (Go Gophs!) and several of his doctors). We have the lofty goal of a no added salt, low carbohydrate, no animal fat, no red meat, low white meat, fatty fish, consistent vitamin K, low cholesterol, low sugar, high fiber, high protein, spicy, satisfying, and delicious diet.

Believe it or not, the Mediterranean region covers a lot of these bases, but I have to really read the recipes and plan to play around with herbs and peppers for flavor.


I thought I would share my search with others, first with the book reviews and later with recipe reviews. Book or other source suggestions are welcome!

Research Kharma, or Facing the Scale for the Benefit of All

As you may have read before, I am not a fan of weighing myself or knowing the actual mass measurement associated with my body. I know I need to lose mass. For my health, and because I cannot afford to buy new clothes! (Ha!)

I am scared of the reality in spite of my intelligence.

When I was younger, I my pants got a little tight once a month, but I always went back down. Then suddenly that changed and I have yet to successfully change my behavior to match my body's needs.

Well, as you may have read before, my friend researches obesity behavior. She has published works (which I have ignored despite my respect for her) that show there is evidence that daily weigh-ins are correlated with people successfully losing weight.

This woman is not my friend and with that attitude she may never be my friend.

Tonight I embark on my second stint in a weight loss research study, this time I will have to weigh myself how ever many times my random selected study group protocol tells me.

Fancy space scale.

I am doing this for participants in studies I recruited for in my years of work in research.
I am doing this for myself.
I will commit to it for my friend! I do not want to botch her study results with poor participation. Plus I get anxious about breaking rules!

I have been eating better, now I will weigh in, and hopefully exercise more from the terror on the scale!

And let me tell you, telling a friend your weight honestly is pretty humbling in itself. My friend was professional and kind. Thanks, friend!