Cooking With The Moms

What’s your biggest dinner dilemma? No plan? Bored with the same thing night after night? At a loss for fresh new ideas? Picky kids? Picky husbands?! To the rescue this week to solve your biggest dinnertime dilemmas is mom, dietitian, and friend, Jessica Levinson, MS, RDN. Jessica is the author of the 52 Week Meal Planner: The Complete Guide to Planning Menus, Groceries, Recipes, and More. Jessica is passionate about creating nutritious and delicious meals that your family will love, and her meal planning tips and tricks are about to make your life easier, healthier, and tastier! Show Highlights: Jessica’s suburban life in New Rochelle, NY, after many years living in NYC. How and why she became a dietitian. How her new book helps people get organized with templates for 52 weeks of meal plans, shopping lists, price comparisons, and a place to add your favorite, go-to recipes. Jessica’s Crispy Baked Tofu made with cubed, marinated tofu, baked at a high temp to make it crispy outside and tender inside. Liz’s He

TUNE IN: Today’s Liz's Healthy Table is all about tips and tricks for eating healthy when you’re on a budget. My guest is Lisa Leake, author of the new book, 100 Days of Real Food on a Budget. Lisa is a mom, founder of 100 Days of Real Food, and she’s here with practical advice for cutting processed foods out of your diet and cooking up tasty recipes without breaking the bank. You'll hear Lisa’s story about her family’s diet makeover ... and her real world secrets for eating well when budgets are tight. Together, we'll share a few recipes from Lisa’s new book including, My Favorite Summer Salad, Zucchini Egg Scramble, and Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bites. What you’ll hear in this episode: 100 Days of Real Food: The backstory! The subjectivity of the terms, “clean eating” and “real food,” which Lisa defines as foods with five or fewer whole ingredients. Lisa wrote the cookbook, in part, to combat the belief that ...“it’s too expensive to eat a healthy diet!” and she stuck with a budget of $125/weekly for a family

On this week's show, we're celebrating National Family Meals Month with tips for gathering your family around the table more often and simple ways to get more seafood onto your weekly meal plan. Eating seafood at least two times a week is the recommendation from the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and on this episode, I've got tips for making that recommendation an easy reality. I also have a brand new recipe for Parmesan Salmon Sticks with Zesty Avocado Dipping Sauce that's sure to get you one tasty step closer to that goal. My salmon sticks recipe is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and on the show, I'll tell you why omega-3s are considered an essential fat that plays a vital role in heart, eye, and brain health. What you’ll hear in this episode: Benefits of eating family meals together. For more info, visit the Food Marketing Institute's Family Meals Month page. Why engaging kids in food shopping, prep and meal planning boosts family mealtime. Why removing distractions from family meals is important.

If recipes like Creamy Avocado Sauce Chicken Tacos, Apricot Maple Pork Tenderloin Tacos with Pickled Pineapple, and Mexican Grilled Corn Tacos sound good to you, today’s show if for you. My guest is chef and registered dietitian, Sara Haas, RDN, and she joins me with tips and recipes for making fast, healthy, and delicious tacos for you and your family. We've got a taco for everyone. And if you're like me and LOVE S'mores, wait till you hear about Sara's S'mores Tacos.  What you’ll hear in this episode: What is a taco?  Does a taco have to be in a taco shell? Corn tortillas, flour tortillas, soft and crunchy tortillas...so many  varieties Sara shares a whole wheat tortilla recipe in her new book, Tacos, Tacos, Tacos! Should you use store-bought taco seasoning, or make your own? Sara shares an easy taco seasoning recipe. Tips for preparing and cooking fish for tacos Healthy tacos can also be very flavorful and delicious! Combinations of cuisines are included in Sarah’s taco recipes. Liz describes a Mexican, g

Cooking with kids can be messy, zany, and best of all, very rewarding. Teaching kids how to cook and getting them comfy in the kitchen (especially with fruit and vegetable preparation) can set them up for a lifetime of healthy eating habits. August is Kids Eat Right Month, so it’s only fitting that on today's show, I tackle the topic of Kids in the Kitchen. Join the fun today as we cook our way through recipes for Chicken & Fresh Corn Salad and Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Pistachio Pesto, and hear from my sister-in-law and niece about the innovative way kids in England are now learning how to cook! On today’s show, I take you behind the scenes to two kid/adult cooking classes I taught at Nantucket Culinary this summer and the recipes we prepared. My special guests on the show are my British my sister-in-law, Karen (aka “Mrs. Broccoli”) and my niece, Daisy. We discuss efforts underway in England to teach kids how to cook through a cool, contemporary curriculum called, Food Tech What you’ll hear in this

Today’s episode is all about aging gracefully. While it’s impossible to turn back the hands of time, through a healthy diet and regular exercise it is possible to slow things down a bit. Today’s conversation with Chris Rosenbloom, PhD, RDN offers tips for getting one stop closer to the fountain of youth with insights into which super foods to add to your diet and easy ways to add more fitness to your day. Dr. Chris Rosenbloom is owner of Chris Rosenbloom Food & Nutrition Services, where she provides nutrition consulting, writing, and media work to a variety of clients. She's held various teaching, administrative, and sports dietitian positions at Georgia State University and Georgia Tech and has served on numerous boards and committees. Chris is the coauthor of Food and Fitness After 50, so she's my go-to for the latest research on healthy aging. What you’ll hear in this episode: We answer listener questions from the Facebook Podcast Posse. How Chris and I met way back in the late 1980 when I worked s a

Do you know someone who suffers from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)? It’s a condition that’s more common than you might think, and there is a new cookbook designed for people who suffer from this illness. Join us to take a deep and delicious dive into the diet and the cookbook that can make life more bearable for IBS sufferers. Kate Scarlata is a registered dietitian and cookbook author who lives in Boston. She is a NY Times bestselling author and has over 25 years’ experience working in digestive health. She is a world-renowned low-FODMAP diet and gut health expert, and her passion is to advocate for her patients and others who have gut disorders. Part of her advocacy work includes a grassroots campaign she started called, I Believe in Your Story, which has helped raise research funding for IBS and awareness. She has authored The 21-Day Tummy Diet, The 21-Day Tummy Cookbook, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well with IBS, and The Low-FODMAP Diet Step by Step. On today’s show, Kate walks us through the sy

What’s your favorite go-to supper? Pork chops? Pulled pork? Pork Kebabs. Pork is one of the most popular animal protein on the planet, and with new breeding methods, pork is leaner than ever. It's versatile, affordable, and you'll find it in pretty much every world cuisine. My guest this week is dietitian and fifth generation farmer, Charlotte Rommereim, RDN, and she joins me for all things pork, including how to shop for the leanest cuts, how to cook it just right, and healthy recipes your family will love. Charlotte lives in South Dakota where her family raises pigs, corn, and soybeans. The land they farm has been in their family since 1874, and Charlotte’s children are preparing to continue the farm tradition. Charlotte is a clinical dietitian for rural hospitals and healthcare facilities, and truly lives a “farm to fork” lifestyle. Charlotte shares her perspective on how pigs are raised and bred, food safety, her favorite ways to use pork, and some surprising information on cooking temperatures. Her husba

What's the secret to being both healthy and happy? One of the country's top dietitians, Joy Bauer, weighs in with her nourishing and joyful approach (pun intended) to living your best life. Joy is best known for her work as health and nutrition expert for the TODAY show and her new hit NBC show, Health + Happiness. Joy is the founder of Nourish Snacks, and she's the author of 12 New York Times best-selling books. She's a mom of three and loves to cook for her family. Today, Joy is going to share her favorite recipes, healthy eating habits, and culinary inspiration with the podcast audience. We will also discuss Joy’s favorite ways to eat vegetables, including a truly tasty Zucchini Linguini with meatballs. You do not want to miss out on all of Joy’s sage advice about how to be healthy and happy!  You can read the full show notes at www.lizshealthytable.com

Asparagus is in season. Hooray.  To celebrate the versatility, nutritional benefits, and flavor of this ancient vegetable, I invited Jim Wilson and Chef Raymond Ost to join me on the show. Jim is the head farmer and co-owner of Wilson Farm in Lexington, MA and Raymond Ost is their executive chef. They know a lot about asparagus, so tune in for growing tips, cooking tips, recipes, and a whole lot more! Find out how asparagus is grown and harvested and how to choose the freshest stalks. Discover prep and cooking tips, recipe ideas, and hear all about its nutritional benefits. Did you know asparagus is considered a prebiotic food, which supports a healthy microbiome? Stick around to find out how to make Asparagus Salad with Eggs and Prosciutto, and check out my asparagus recipe roundup blog post. There's so much to learn about this seasonal and sensational vegetable, so let’s get started.   Show Highlights: Discover the history of Wilson Farm in Lexington, MA How Wilson has grown and evolved with the times. Jim

Today's show is all about the microbiome: the trillions of bacteria that live in and on you. For the most part, all those good-for-you bugs live in your intestinal tract (AKA, your gut), and research shows that they play a role in everything from good digestion to the regulation of your metabolism, immune system, and even your mood. (I heard this crazy statistic once that if you lined up the bacteria that live in your gut end to end, they’d reach the moon!)   To help us digest this exciting topic, I invited Brierley Horton, MS, RD to join me on the show. Brierley is the Food and Nutrition Director of Cooking Light magazine. If you haven’t seen their June issue yet, you need to pick it up, because the issue is all about Gut Health. On the show, we'll be giving your microbiome a healthy makeover with a list of foods rich in probiotics (those are the beneficial bacteria) and prebiotics, the foods that your good bacteria love to eat. Hey, they have to eat something. And we have a few recipe ideas for your dinner

Welcome to Season 2 of the podcast. To kick things off, I've invited Amy Roskelley and Natalie Monson, RD onto the show to talk about fast family dinners. You asked for 'em, and we've got 'em! Amy and Natalie are the dynamic duo behind Super Healthy Kids, a website packed with nourishing family recipes, resources for gathering your family around the table, meal planning tools and resources, and so much more. If you're hungry for easy-does-it recipes that everyone at your table will love, this is the show for you.  Consider this episode your guide to colorful, creative, and nourishing meals that you can get on the table quickly. We have recipes to share, stories to tell, and tips for enticing your kids to try new foods. And read on for a chance to enter my latest giveaway! With me today are Amy Roskelley and Natalie Monson. Amy and Natalie are the business partners (and neighbors) behind Super Healthy Kids. Super Healthy Kids has been a longtime friend of the podcast, and they specialize in nutritious meals th

On this week's show, I'm celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Liz's Healthy Table podcast. Time flies by quickly when you build something new, so I'm taking a breath today, looking back on my food adventures from the year, and thanking all of you with a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card! I have a new recipe to share for Arugula, Apple & Brussels Sprouts Salad, and my husband Tim joins me for his annual "cameo" to tell you how he survived the year and to share highlights from our recent vacation in Riviera Maya, Mexico. It's a fun show, so I hope you'll stick around and tune in.  GIVEAWAY: To thank you for listening to the first session of the Liz's Healthy Table podcast, I'm giving away a $50.00 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner. To enter, post a comment at the end of this post and tell me about your favorite LHT episode in Season 1 and/or a topic or guest you'd like me to tackle in Season 2. Anyone anywhere can enter, so post your comments below!   Show Highlights:  I look back on the Inst

Vegetables are a vibrant and vital part of a healthy diet, but sometimes it's hard to get excited about steamed broccoli and raw carrots. Here to shine a bright light on the beauty of vegetables is chef extraordinaire, Ana Sortun. I recently reconnected with Ana at the Healthy Kitchens Healthy Lives Conference in California where she demonstrated techniques and strategies for cooking colorful, flavorful vegetables in a variety of ways kids love. And on today's podcast, Ana shares those culinary tips with all of you.  Ana Sortun is a James Beard Award-winning chef, a mom, and a cookbook author, and she's married to the owner of Siena Farms outside Boston, so she knows a thing or two about making vegetables appealing to kids (and adults too). Ana joins me today to dish about her recipe for Cacik, a Turkish yogurt and veggie dip, and to share her best-ever tips for cooking broccoli to perfection, making 'real' caramelized onions (be patient!), and introducing kids to new, and sometimes weird, vegetable varieties

We spend a lot of time talking about breakfast (AKA the most important meal of the day) and dinner, but lunch often seems to fall by the wayside. If you have school-age children, you know how challenging it can be to prepare and pack lunches over and over and over again. So here to the rescue with healthy, creative, and kid-friendly lunchbox ideas is dietitian, mom, and lifestyle expert Holley Grainger, MS, RDN. Whether you're packing lunches in a basic brown bag or a cool and colorful Bento Box, this is the show for you. Holley Grainger is a nationally recognized nutrition and lifestyle expert who brings healthy fun to every part of your life with Cleverful Living. She's the mom of two girls, Ellie and Frances, and has been packing healthy little lunchboxes for over six years. From building a better sandwich to adding more nutrition and variety to packed school lunches, Holley serves up practical tips and plentiful inspiration to get you started. Lunchboxes never go away, so find out how to tame the lunchbox

Whether you're making dinner for your family or hosting a fabulous dinner party, the electric pressure can get you to the table quickly and deliciously. Looking for a super-flavorful, nourishing bowl of lentil soup for tonight's dinner? The Instant Pot (AKA electric pressure cooker) has you covered. Hungry for Coconut Curry Chicken? No problem! Joining me on today's podcast with insights into this wildly popular appliance is Melissa Clark, author of Dinner in an Instant: 75 Modern Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker + Instant Pot and reporter for the New York Times food section.  You can read the full show notes at www.lizsheathlytable.com

Ellie Krieger is a friend, fellow dietitian, cookbook author, TV cooking show host, and mom, and on today's show, she takes us into her kitchen for easy family recipes, last-minute cooking ideas, picky eater pointers, and a glimpse behind the scenes at her career journey. If you're looking for a new recipe to liven up your taste buds, tune in for Ellie's Herbed Salmon Orzo Casserole with Feta, Spinach Salad with Roasted Squash, Roasted Grapes and Pumpkin Seeds, and her go-to dessert indulgence. (Hint: If you love dark chocolate, you and Ellie will have something in common.) Ellie is such a delight. On the show, she talked about her healthy eating philosophy, her new public television cooking show, Ellie's Real Good Food, and together, we told the story of how we met years ago when I worked at CNN. I know you're going to love this episode! "A teaspoon of added natural sugar makes healthy food compellingly delicious."  - Ellie Krieger I'm giving away a copy of, You Have It Made: Delicious, Healthy, Do-Ahead Me

Fad diets come and go, but one style of wholesome eating that's withstood the test of time is the Mediterranean diet. On this week's podcast, I'm celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, created by Oldways as a nourishing alternative to the traditional USDA Pyramid. With fruits, vegetables, whole grain and other plant foods as the base and piled high with other wholesome foods like seafood, olive oil, and cheese, my guest Sara Baer-Sinnott, President of Oldways, walks us through the beautiful and delicious nuances of this age-old way of eating. Thanks to the diverse, mostly plant-based ingredients and the wonderful flavors and health benefits, the Mediterranean diet is a keeper as far as I'm concerned. If you love platefuls of pasta, flatbread pizzas smothered with vegetables, and Greek salads brimming with cucumbers and tomatoes, you're well on your way to loving the Mediterranean diet. From Spain and Italy to Turkey and Israel, Sara and I dish about our favorite recipes, including

One of the biggest trends right now in the food world is meal prep. If you’re new to meal prep, the basic idea is that you shop, prepare (usually on one designated day), and then pack multiple meals that are easy to assemble throughout the week. Meal prep saves time, money, and a bit of your sanity! From lunch and dinner to breakfast and snacks, meal prep is perfect for busy people who crave homemade meals with convenience, good nutrition, and great flavor. I’m not a meal prep guru, so I turned to Toby Amidor, RD this week to get us started. Toby is the author of The Healthy Meal Prep Cookbook: Easy and Wholesome Meals to Cook, Prep, Grab, and Go. I'm giving away a copy, so scroll down for instructions on how to enter! Drawing inspiration from her grandmother, Toby's cookbook is infused with step-by-step guide for grocery shopping, cooking multiple meals all on the same day, and storage dos and don'ts. Together, we share our favorite cook-ahead recipes including Tuna Nicoise Salad and tips for using up leftov

Sugar. It's everywhere in our food supply, and we eat a lot of it. Kids crave it, and parents struggle to keep it in check. Did you know that the average U.S. child consumes almost 80 grams (20 teaspoons) of added sugar per day? That's nearly half a cup! On this week's podcast, dietitian and mom, Laura Chalela Hoover, MPH, RD joins me to talk about her new book, Mom's Sugar Solution, share tips and tricks for taming your family's sweet tooth, and serve up recipes for kids' favorite foods made with less sugar. Wait till you hear about her Raspberry Chia Mini Muffins made with honey and her Ruby Red Soda made with no added sugar. You won’t believe how sweet and delicious food can be without the added sugar! I personally have a sweet tooth, so I was super excited to have Laura on the show to share her best tips and tricks to slashing sugar. Unfortunately for all of us humans, fighting sugar cravings is a bit like fighting our biology. Humans are hard-wired to crave sugar from birth, so Laura says the best way t