Intermittent Fasting: A Formula for Health
Fasting, or intentionally abstaining from food and drink, is often practiced as part of religious rituals, and Benton is performing his own yearly ritual the week before his birthday.
Teaching Self-Care | Skagit Alexander Technique
The Alexander Technique, which was created by Frederick Matthias Alexander in the late 1800s, is a method for improving posture and movement through self-awareness, with the aim of decreasing pain and increasing mindfulness. “The way I usually describe it is that it helps you learn to do things that you do every day, but with less tension, less pain, less fatigue,” explains Angeline LeLeux, who recently opened Skagit Alexander Technique in Mount Vernon. LeLeux, a pianist,…
Autumn’s Comforting Bounty
Nutrition blogger and food photographer, Cassie Elliott, utilizes the fresh foods of the season to create this flavorful, gluten-free dish.
Cooking with Wine
Wine enthusiast Dan Radil gives readers a delicious alternative to pouring out those half-empty bottles of wine: his single skillet chicken picatta recipe.
A Recipe for Meditation
Nutrition blogger, Cassie Elliott, provides readers with a colorful, nutritious, and delicious dish—easy to make with only four main ingredients.
The Almighty Breakfast Salad
Sara Southerland invites readers to try out a nutritional breakfast that’s versatile, full of greens, and topped off with a delicious lemon garlic aioli.
Smoothie, To Go
Arlené Mantha, professional chef from Los Angeles, shares her favorite green smoothie so you can take a nutritional breakfast on the go.
Seasoned Generously with Love
Cassie Elliot remembers cooking with her grandmother, Ella Gutknecht and shares a recipe for Cauliflower and Bacon Chowder, part of her 20-Day Sugar Detox.
In Spring, Get Radishes for Pickling
With the coming of Spring, you’ll want to try this recipe for pickling watermelon radishes. They are nutritious and can be preserved for months.
Catch Plenty of Omega 3 With Your Salmon
Barlean’s Fishery Inc. in Ferndale provides fresh seafood for healthy eating. The company also manufactures and distributes Omega 3 supplements.
Fit Plan for Life
Jenn Bachtel shares a few favorite recipes, like cold Asian salad and protein bread, as well as substitutions to keep your meals varied and nutritious.
First ‘Knee-versary’
Robin Robertson is experiencing life in a whole new way since her knee replacement surgery a year ago. Her custom knee was designed by Conformis.
Winter Comfort
Cassie Elliot shares her recipe for a delicious butternut squash soup with toasted pumpkin seeds. It is low carb and fits within her 20 day Sugar Detox.
Christmas Morning Present: Blackberries and Biscuits
Arelené Mantha of Twofiftyflora has blackberries and biscuits for a perfect Christmas morning treat. Try her blackberry sauce on buttermilk biscuits recipe!
Getting Back to Our Roots
Sara Southerland shares her great grandmother’s recipe for a fall frittata with a carrot top pesto using fresh veggies from the Bellingham Farmers Market.
Simple Cooking Yields Easy Chili
With just a little bit of planning, prep, and organization, anyone can use this super simple recipe for instant pot chili.
Harvesting Suppers This Summer
Summer is a great time for buying local and eating fresh foods. Planning meals ahead can save you time for other fun summer activities.
Waterfront Picnic
This milestone is worthy of a celebration — and is picnic-worthy!
Is Low-Carb the Way to Go?
Proteins, Fats Give Energy Too These days it seems that every other news story is talking about the merits (or pitfalls) of the low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet, also commonly referred to as the Keto Diet. So what is it and should you follow it? In a nutshell, the majority…
Why We Eat Local in Bellingham
The art of feeding ourselves, isn’t it a funny thing? From granola bars on the go, to treating ourselves to a gourmet meal, the way in which we nourish ourselves varies wildly by the day. For many of us, it can feel like a challenge to get a meal on the table that resembles something healthy. But lucky for us, there is a bounty of fresh, local food that abounds in our region—and so…
Go with Your Gut – It’ll Help Your Brain
Gut instinct. Listen to your gut. What does your gut tell you? In the 1970s through to the 1980s, studies on the connection between diet and depression…
Glorious Winter Greens
In the midst of winter, we are lucky to have some hearty veggies to stave off scurvy. Kale, cabbages, collard greens are the emerald gems of winter eats — packed full of vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber — and they are extremely versatile in…
Pass the Butter
Saturated Fat Is Better Than You Think. Happy Holidays! Some good news: Despite what we have been told for the last 50-odd years, fat that is normally found in the food we eat (think beef, chicken, pork, cheese, butter, cream, whole milk, olive oil, avocados, etc.) does not actually make us fat. How is that possible, you ask? First, this whole notion that eating saturated fat will cause us to…
Nourishing Roots
It was my first Hopewell Farm carrot that hooked me. I had moved to Bellingham that fall, and bought a two-pound bag of carrots…
Road Trip Yields Dinnertime Discovery
A couple of things are true about me: 1. Being a mother and a partner has been one of the greatest…
Butter Chicken Smooths, Soothes Transition to Autumn
With the days getting shorter and the temperatures cooler, this familiar Indian dish will bring just enough heat to take the chill off. It’s also sure to satisfy your…
Celebrating Summer: Self-Care through Seasonal Eating
In the height of the sunshine season — family vacations, downtown concerts, summer festivities, early sun rises and late sunsets — it can be easy to feel a bit drained by the time fall rolls around. Luckily for us, it’s also the time locally grown produce is at peak production. Community farmers markets and local grocers are bursting with ripe berries and…
Radishes: The Crown Jewel of Spring
Spring has officially sprung in the Pacific Northwest and that makes local food geeks like me giddy for several reasons: Spring Is My Favorite Season For Local Vegetables Fresh, spicy greens, beautiful French breakfast radishes, the cutest baby veggies (beets, carrots), sweet, succulent sprouts and peas; it’s heaven. What better way to pull us out of the winter than the…
Food Thoughts: the Art of Mindful Eating
The other day someone asked me, “Do you eat salad every day?” To which I replied “I do. Don’t you?” I sometimes…
Eating in Season
Local Food Boxes make for a Healthy You and a Healthy Community When spring comes in northwest Washington, there seems to be a communal sigh exhaled across the land. More rain ahead, yes, but the occasional sunny and almost-warm day gives…
Winter Abundance Bowls: Local Cooking from the Heart
It’s the dead of winter in northwest Washington, but local food can still be found. A brief journey through the whipping winds will lead you to a few meccas of local…
Warm Up from the Inside Out
Have you ever wondered why most raw food retreats are in sunny, tropical locations? Or why we crave a bowl of hot oatmeal on a brisk morning instead of fresh fruit? When it is wintry…
Grief Cuisine: Nutrition-Packed Easy Meals
When my mother died, the very last thing I ever wanted to do again was cook. The task of conceiving of a meal, shopping for it, preparing it, and cleaning up was a mountain between me and the need to sit with my sorrow. For people with depression, suffering from anxiety, and other difficulties, cooking and eating is hard enough with nutrition as an afterthought. So there’s fast food, taco trucks, frozen dinners — but…
The Vegetable that Changed My Life
The end of summer and journey into fall is a bittersweet time in Northwest Washington. It’s easy to yearn nostalgic for long summer days, but through the falling leaves and impending dampness, there is a certain beauty in the air. And, it’s one of my favorite times of year for food, namely late summer veggies. Local jewels like beets, carrots, onions, potatoes are in their prime, and tasty favorites like tomatoes and peppers can still be…
Get Fresh with Spring Veggies
The earlier mornings, the not-so-occasional warm breeze, flower buds popping up, blossoms on trees, it’s spring! The time of year when all of us Pacific Northwesterners breathe a tiny sigh of relief; we made it through another winter. But what’s the best part about spring? Well, the food of course! The delicately sweet flavor of sprouts: sunflower, clover, pea shoots; paired with the peppery and delightfully pungent tastes of radishes, arugula, dandelion or mustard greens, and the satisfying crunch from…
The Key to Eating Well: Meal Planning
The New Year can be a time of fresh beginnings for dietary changes and is a great place to start, but just how do you start eating healthy?
Tis’ The Season, It’s Party Time
It’s that wonderful time of year when party invitations pour in. What does that mean? There will be rivers of mulled hard cider, eggnog and champagne abundantly flowing. Over-indulging in holiday libations may take a toll on your health. The familiar holiday bulge and other health problems may appear. Research indicates that on average we gain approximately five pounds over the holidays. Alcohol…
Tasteful Beauty
The Intricate Art of Edible Landscaping Western Washington is a gardener’s haven. With a mild climate, known as Zone 8 to fruit and vegetable growers, many plants thrive, often beyond our wildest expectations. Talk to those with a passion for edibles, and you start hearing things like, “Does kale ever die?” and “Do food banks take fresh garden…
On Failing Better in the Kitchen
Attempts, tries, uncertainty. Cooking and baking are full of risk. Risk of time and precious ingredients—the milk of a mother cow, eggs from an over-worked, over-laying chicken, beautiful produce that takes so much time to plant and grow, farmers’ energy and precious natural resources. The monetary value, the purchasing of the ingredients, as well as the research and time. The shopping….
Small Space Growing: Beautiful Edible Containers
One of the most revelatory moments to be had as a home gardener is realizing the incredible volume of food that can be grown in a small space. A…
Nutrition Goals for the New Year
It’s here again, the beginning of a new year. As much as we try to maintain that we’re not interested in New Year’s resolutions, there is still a lingering voice in the back of our minds reminding us that with a new year comes new opportunities to do things right; to be better.
Set Goals, Focus on Change and Get Results
As a personal trainer here in Bellingham for the past ten years, I have seen and experienced what does — and does not…
Latkes: Grated Goodness
As fall turns into winter, the scent in the air that tells me it’s holiday time isn’t pine needles, but the hunger-inducing fragrance of potato latkes frying in oil. Hot, crispy, onion-y, this savory potato pancake is the featured item at Hanukkah dinners and parties, and the focus of latke-eating contests. Before the New World potato…
American Pie on the Fly
Autumn This is it, the time of year in which all that is cozy and good comes out to stay a while. Autumn, fall, the holiday season, harvest, whatever. There is a real security in leaning into these comforts: food, sweaters, books, wood-burning stoves, puzzles, and Vitamin D. I have become aware that I am submitting to a rhythm that is occurring without my…
Recipe For Health & Good Fortune
Down-home Southern favorite makes perfect New Year’s meal!
Mediterranean Lifestyle: A Delicious Recipe For Healthy, Happy Living
In Northwest Washington, we have an environment in which we can follow this lifestyle. We have access to a variety of fresh, local foods and farmers who raise animals in healthy environments to provide us with good quality milk, eggs and meat.