When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, I’m all fits and starts. Do-overs. Try agains. Admittedly, there’s more I can do and should do in just about every area of my personal health habits.

But in order for a habit to become well, habit, it needs to be something I continually practice. And knowing who I am, with my tendency to start strong and then fizzle out after awhile, these habits need to be almost mindless and easily integrated into my
day to-day living.

So I’m after small, sustainable, healthy habits. Here’s my latest:

Given my penchant for salty and savory, I’ve been best friends with hot, buttered popcorn and potato chips for years. And I’m sure I’ll never give either up altogether, but I’ve found a new, healthier crunch in a concoction of nuts and seeds – a vitamin, mineral, and anti-oxidant packed trail mix of sorts – easy to buy, chop, mix, and eat.

In the seed category, this week’s mixture includes; chia, flax, hemp, sunflower, and pumpkin. Nuts this week include: walnuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios, and cashews. I also tossed in a handful of chopped, dried cranberries and chocolate chunks for a little sweet with the savory. The particulars can vary, so I say: mix up what you’ve got. I tend to buy an ingredient or two with each week’s groceries as some of these staples can be expensive. Each week’s blend fills most of a Mason jar.

As I’ve dabbled in reading about healthy diets, I’ve come across so much information about the health benefits of eating nuts and seeds. I’m no dietician or nutritionist, but at my age, phrases like: “excellent source of fiber, lowers LDL cholesterol, helps build strong bones, boosts vision health, and protects the body from certain cancers” – catch my attention. The list of vitamins and minerals found in these teeny, tiny bits and pieces of crunch go on and on.

One simple step toward better health, a snack at a time, for one hopeful, healthier year.

How do I love you?

Let me bake for you and show you the ways.

I love to cook for you too, of course, but baking is how I’ll love you by the dozen. How I’ll thank you. Honor you. Welcome you. Or encourage you.

Cookies mostly. These for friends. Family. Church. These are especially to thank our custodian at school; they’re his favorites. And in the fall? Crisps. Cobblers. And by frequent request: pumpkin whoopie pies. (Let me tell you: nothing says love like the thick, whipped cream cheese frosting stuffed between those moist pumpkin pies.)

There’s love in a firmly packed cup of brown sugar, a leveled cup of flour, and some very special vanilla. I’m thinking about you with every spin of my spoon around the bowl, every slow pour of molasses, every sift and shake of confectioner’s sugar. Today my love smelled like freshly ground nutmeg. A first for me, and maybe for you too.

I hope you feel the full measure of my love coming from the warmth of my kitchen.

I hope you know baking is one way I love you.

While the weather outside isn’t quite frightful yet, it’s still on the colder side of chilly and I’m all about finding ways to warm up.  These days, I’m bundled up, tucked in, hat-wearing, soup-eating and warming my hands by the fire whenever possible.

And I’m making time in the morning for a rib-sticking, healthy bowl of warmth too – good old-fashioned oatmeal!

There was a time when I tended towards instant, but these days I’m fascinated with making my own everything from scratch, and cooking up a batch of stove-top oats takes but a few minutes. While it’s simmering, consider what’s in your cupboard for whatever’s on hand for mix-ins. You’ll know what’s in your breakfast because you mixed it yourself!

Oatmeal’s a workhorse of a breakfast, high in fiber and antioxidants. A mix-in like dried cranberries adds even more nutritional value to the bowl … just be careful of added sugar. Speaking of sugar, I remember my mother mixing brown sugar in my oatmeal, and that’s an option I’ve traded for a dollop of honey or a quick pour of pure maple syrup.

Just yesterday morning, I added freshly chopped honeycrisp apples and cranberries to my oatmeal and the combination was delicious. A little sweet, a little tart … and so warm!

Mix and match your mix-ins and roll with whatever you’ve got in your kitchen.

Here’s a few possibilities:

• flax seed                                              cranberries
• almonds                                              raisins
• walnuts                                               apples
•  honey                                                 peaches
• maple syrup                                      banana
• cinnamon                                           pears
• blueberries

I’ll be eating well and staying warm all winter long!

Any ideas to add to my list?

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There’s still corn at the farmer’s market, so chow-da’s on the menu tonight. Partnered with BLTs, it’s one of my husband’s favorites.  As soups go, his preference runs toward a good chowder, and he’ll eat just about anything between two slices of bread.

More and more often, I’m cooking with what’s fresh, what’s in season, what’s whole, and healthy. I consider it our grand good fortune to live in an area with a number of farms nearby.  In Vermont, the source of my new and most favorite cookbook, there’s farms aplenty and a hard-working, home-grown mindset I love.

If you love farm-to-table eating, delicious, do-able recipes, and stunning photography … check out: the Vermont Farm Table Cookbook.

In the meantime, enjoy this Corn Chowder recipe:

Corn Chowder

from Kimball Brook Farm, a certified organic dairy farm in the Champlain Valley

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 1 cup diced celery
•  1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 5 cups low-sodium chicken stock, plus extra as needed
• 3 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from 6 to 7 ears corn)
• 4 cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped basil – extra for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh choped dill – extra for garnish

1. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Leave the bacon drippings in the pot Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, onion, and celeter; cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
2. educe the heat o medium-low and sprinkle the flour, celery salt, t teaspoon salt, and white pepper over the vegetables. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken stock, increase the heat to medium-high, add the potatoes and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are almost tender, about 8 minutes.
3. Add the corn kernels, milk, basil, and dill and return to a simmer. Continue cooking until the corn is just tender, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the diced bacon, and extra basil or dill, if desired, and serve.

Good news!

It’s harvest time in New England!

We’re just past picking green beans and starting to celebrate luscious tomatoes around here. We watch our pumpkins grow by the day, and I love to watch their shape emerge: tall and sophisticated … squat and rotund… and this year, a white pumpkin! Surprise!

Probably the most prolific vegetable in the New England garden is the zucchini – folks around here harvest so much of the stuff, they literally give it away. It’s not uncommon to see a pig-pile of zucchini for the taking on the staff room table at work or roadside with a hand-lettered invitation: FREE.

Zucchini is one of the most flexible, hardworking veggies around, and this time of year, it makes an appearance in so many of our meals. In our house, it’s a salad and stir-fry staple. It shows up on many a vegetable platter because it’s so chop-able, slice-able, and dip-able. Zuchinni roasts up nicely in a grilled veggie pouch or sautees well with it’s pal, summer squash, served with a dusting of freshly shredded parm.

And now – I’m baking with it too! Zucchini, you’re pretty much an all-around, all-star!

This recipe, from my newest and most favorite cookbook, the Vermont Farm Table Cookbook, makes two loaves of moist zuchinni bread – one to enjoy and another to share. We’ve enjoyed our bread for breakfast with coffee and for an afternoon snack with milk. The recipe calls for a cool serving – but we loved it warm, right from the oven.

Zucchini Bread 

from Two Black Sheep Farm in Hero, Vermont

• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups pureed unpeeled zucchini
• 1 cup raisins, chopped walnuts, or chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9×5-inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and lightly dust with flour. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the eggs, oils, and vanilla.
3. Sift together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the we ingredients and stir until smooth. Stir in the zucchini and raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips, if using. Pour into the prepared loaf pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 1 hour.
4. Let the bread cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, then turn the loaves out onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before serving.