nataJane

For years, my family has carried the Dutch tradition of making oliebollen at the New Year and today I did my part. These delicious morsels are basically balls of dough fried in oil, then dipped in powdered sugar before consumed in mass amounts. Besides most of the Brak households in Holland, Canada and the US, […]

I had a craving for crepes this past week and our wedding anniversary was the perfect excuse. It’s not exactly the season for strawberries, but I found some and gave them a good dose of sugar. Fruit and powdered sugar are lovely toppings and Nutella is good for a touch of chocolate inside.

Monday was a fantastic day of cooking and visiting with new friends. This was the first time I’ve cooked a turkey and it turned out better than I had expected. I made American sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole, my mom’s traditional stuffing, pumpkin pies, and (of course) my zucchini chocolate cake. We had […]

I’ve been trying really hard to keep junk food out of the house lately. Most of the time it works in our favor to have to reach for healthy options when the cravings hit, but sometimes you just need that little bit of guilty pleasure. Soooooo when I was looking for dessert this evening, the […]

I’ve always known that artificial sweeteners were bad. I’ve heard the rumors of cancer and chemicals, but continued to see the little packs on restaurant tables and figured they couldn’t be horribly bad. The little saying on the back of the packet implies that since our life is so short, we should not deny ourselves […]

One thing I was really looking forward to on our Florida trip was the fresh seafood. I love sushi and could not wait to get to Joe Patti’s and get some dinner. We had about five different kinds of sushi and Dad Garrett grilled some delicious shrimp and made jasmine rice. It more than satisfied […]

I couldn’t eat this without taking a few pictures first. I’ve never cooked rice noodles before but they were really good. I love a good stir-fry, but I cannot wait until the farmer’s market opens in town for those fresh veggies…

I’ve been easing into a healthy diet one toe at a time. The water is cold and I’m not too excited about completely submerging so I’ve been easing… ever so slowly.
Today I think I’ve come to the point where I just need to dive in. There are two major situations that have brought me to […]

I’m still trying to be a healthy person. Last week I had a bit of a setback with having my wisdom tooth removed. It was easy to eat lots of pasta and jello and claim that I couldn’t eat anything that was good for me. But today is a new day and I’m back on […]

I decided today that I’m tired of not eating healthy. I’ve been lazy with planning meals, I’ve been lazy with cooking, and today was my breaking point. This afternoon I was eating my lunch of mac and cheese which, although it is one of my favorite comfort foods, has become much too popular these days, […]