Inspired Edibles - ~ wellness, wonder, words ~

5 strategies to help reduce sugar cravings and restore balance

January 5, 2015 By kelly / inspired edibles 13 Comments

If you’re coming out of the holiday season feeling like you need to take a little break from the sweet life but aren’t having the easiest time shaking it, you’re not alone.

Sugar has a very powerful effect on the reward center of our brain. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the chemistry underlying sugar addiction is virtually identical to the chemistry underlying drug addiction in that both are driven by dopamine – the neurotransmitter that controls the brain’s pleasure reward circuit.

When we consume sugar it stimulates the release of dopamine and we experience a sensation of pleasure. We get cued by sights, sounds and smells that evoke powerful memories of pleasure and keep us coming back for more. Every time we succumb to addictive foods we reinforce the circuit of desire and reward further, making it harder for us to break the pleasure cycle. In short, the more we eat sugar the more we want to eat sugar, and vice versa. Some of us may have inherited a biochemistry that makes us especially vulnerable to this cycle. …

Matcha Green Tea Rejuvenating Smoothie

December 29, 2014 By kelly / inspired edibles 29 Comments

I did something completely different on the culinary front for Christmas this year.

I invited the family to vote on Christmas dinner. I went about it by creating a menu with three categories: appetizer, main dish and dessert and listed three food options within each category. The menu was circulated electronically and the boys were asked to vote quietly on their top food choice in each category (they would only find out on Christmas day which selections won). In the event of a three-way tie in any category, mom would get the deciding vote, otherwise, majority rule. …

winter white salad with mandarin and fennel

December 16, 2014 By kelly / inspired edibles 30 Comments

There’s a scene in the Hollywood remake City of Angels that’s indelibly etched in my memory.

The heroine is making a breakfast fruit salad for her lover, which sounds simple enough, but there’s nothing ordinary about this moment. She sinks her soul into the process and brings the viewer with her. We are meticulously drawn in to the color, texture and taste of her experience. The most memorable moment comes when she hand squeezes fresh orange segments all over the bowl, the explosive juices unbound and running glory over the fruit….

Roasted Maple Sriracha Pecans

December 4, 2014 By kelly / inspired edibles 35 Comments

Despite some seasonal confusion (my heart is saying pine cones but my eyes are still seeing roses), I have to say, this dual border fêting is working out quite well for us.

We gladly welcomed the five day American Thanksgiving break with some highly unstructured family time. It’s amazing how much fun you can have doing precisely nothing….

Baked Ricotta with pomegranate

November 20, 2014 By kelly / inspired edibles 36 Comments

Complex, enigmatic and beautiful.

I’m not sure there’s another fruit on earth that stirs me quite like the pomegranate.

From its distinctive crown to its soft leathery skin to its chambered interior flush with succulent jewels, the ruby red stunner never fails to capture my attention….

Warm Sautéed Feijoa Salad in a Balsamic Beurre Blanc

November 6, 2014 By kelly / inspired edibles 48 Comments

As I write this entry, sunlight is streaming in through my morning kitchen and I’m noticing a myriad of lush green feijoa, otherwise known as pineapple guava, nestled in the grass under our evergreen tree.

With today’s generous harvest decorating the landscape, you would hardly know that I just collected two full bags of the fragrant egg-shaped fruit yesterday afternoon.

My only wish is that I could ship a bucket full to each and every one of you as it’s simply not possible to keep up with our harvest. We’ve been donating generously….

Autumn Kissed Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

October 20, 2014 By kelly / inspired edibles 46 Comments

If I had to name it, I would call fall the season of low and slow.

The days pass like all the others and yet nothing is the same….

Butternut Squash Pad Thai

September 24, 2014 By kelly / inspired edibles 23 Comments

Well I can’t very well move on from summer without sharing the story of the season.

I feel a bit bad spinning it into a story because it does have an unfortunate outcome but if there’s anyone I know who can take a situation like this and turn it on its head, it’s this guy.

Our budding actor was back in action this summer with a great program out of Palo Alto offering ‘professional training for serious young artists’. All was going along tickety-boo until one day our young Robert De Niro decided to have a Raging Bull moment and take his acting career to a whole new level (the movie buffs among you know exactly where I’m going with this…)….

Autumn Oatmeal with Apple, Cranberry & Walnut

September 11, 2014 By kelly / inspired edibles 9 Comments

My mom sent me four autumn leaves in the mail.

They were the first she gathered from the trees near her home. I found them pressed together neatly in a card with her signature handwriting slanting almost vertical along the page.

She said she wanted to send them to me so I wouldn’t forget about the fall.

Delicate and impossibly light, I removed the leaves from the card and carefully placed them on the kitchen table. I had a sinking feeling they were going to fly away even though I was inside. I sat there staring at them and imagining my mom in a younger version of herself, walking in the autumn leaves with her big rimmed sunglasses and pink lips, my cheeks pressed into my hands, tears streaming down my face.

So much for getting tougher with age. I only soften.

These are the gifts I cherish most. The gestures, the kindnesses and the feelings I no longer have words for.

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Zucchini Pasta with Chicken, Mushroom & garden fresh Marinara Sauce

August 28, 2014 By kelly / inspired edibles 10 Comments

Whenever I find myself running behind on my writing commitments and the pressure starts to mount, I paint my fingernails red.

A strange cure for writer’s block perhaps but it works for me. Red is one of those colors that just won’t be denied. Bold and energizing, it’s an accelerator and mood changer. And it turns out that it doesn’t endure procrastination very well either.

As soon as I see those bright red chiclets moving across the keypad in a trail of fire, it’s like a call to action. Suddenly I’m transported out of the doldrums of my languid mind and into a place of movement and activity, whether I want to or not.

I don’t think it would work on any kind of regular basis, and I wouldn’t care to have my hands ablaze more than a few times a year, but every now and again, seeing red is where it’s at.

Does color change you?

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I know I should be moving on to back-to-school themes and fall givings and such but you’ll forgive me for holding off on the pumpkin posts for now.

It is still August after all and I’m really not in a rush to abandon summer especially while mother nature continues to turn out such gorgeous late summer produce.

And speaking of spoils, we received another generous haul of garden tomatoes and basil from our neighbors this past weekend. In fact, we got the full tour of their plantation (so inspiring) and this time, I decided to make a roasted marinara sauce from their givings.

Instead of serving the Italian sauce with a conventional grain-based pasta, I decided to switch things up a little and work with zucchini – another abundant vegetable right now.

Some of you might remember this handy dandy shredding tool from this post that allowed me to make short work of my green papaya. That is the same tool I used to make the zucchini pasta threads. You could also use a spiralizer (I don’t own one but I understand they are quite versatile and will produce a noodle like shape).

If you make this recipe expecting your great-aunt Angioletta’s pasta, well, this is not it. On the other hand, you may be surprised to discover just how appetizing this dish is in its own right without comparison. A warm and savory roasted marinara sauce mingled with sautéed mushroom and chicken over a bed of light and delicious zucchini. You might just like it. A lot.

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