grocery shopping: use all your senses!

Let’s talk about grocery shopping. Do you shop in person or online? Trawl the aisles or opt for curbside pickup? The world is experiencing a flare-up of Covid, and as…

becoming a better cook

Ask someone today to name a famous cook, and most young people will name one of the celebrity chefs who show up on cooking shows and own numerous restaurants. Once…

last call!

I don’t remember the last time I heard “last call” in a bar. I may have closed down a bar 2–3 times in my entire life as a patron. I…

meal planning—made simple!

I’ve been wondering whether any animals other than humans do any meal planning. Birds certainly seem not to need it with suckers like myself to provide for them. With Thanksgiving…

happy thanksgiving cooking!

How’s Thanksgiving prep coming along? What?!? You haven’t started yet?!? Thanksgiving often feels like the most important holiday of the year at my house. My Chinese-born husband has always loved…

s.a.d. x 2

S.A.D. is an acronym with at least 104 meanings, according to AcronymFinder.com. And two of those meanings often pop up in my work: Seasonal Affective Disorder Standard American Diet Yesterday,…

what’s (not) working?

How often do you reflect on what’s working and what’s not working for you? First: a story. I recently flew to Nashville for my niece’s wedding. Before that, I hadn’t…

what do you want on your tombstone?

Did you know that it’s a thing for people to put a recipe on their gravestone?!? Consider my mind blown. I heard Rosie Grant, maker/baker of such recipes, interviewed on…

back to basics | mindfulness + gratitude + food

Earlier this month, we kicked off the “Back to Basics” series. This week, we’re taking on my fourth food rule: practicing mindfulness and gratitude around our food and, perhaps more…

back to basics | cook from scratch

Cook from scratch?!? But that’s so much work…. Last week, we kicked off the “Back to Basics” series by talking about whole foods and how as a health coach, I…

i’ll start january 1st….

It’s almost January 1st, 2023! Have you ever set a goal and thought, “I’ll start [tomorrow/next week/next month/next year]?” Well, here’s a true test of this approach. This coming Sunday…

cooking: where to begin?

Cooking from scratch at home is a huge part of most people’s health journey—and it can feel incredibly stressful to even think about. Where to begin? “We all have to…

a healthy lifestyle in 2022

[W]e’ve lost ground in other [health] areas, and a lot of them are a function of the fact that we don’t have a very healthy lifestyle in our nation. Particularly…

a year of prevention

What does “healthcare” mean to you: symptom management or disease prevention? I’ve been listening in on the Lifestyle Medicine Summit 2021 this week—I know, there are just so many online…

empty nest = hatching plans

My nest is an empty nest. It’s been that way for almost a month now. I’m a confirmed completist and definitely believe in a Chinese expression that was commandeered by…

6 ways to tame the kohlrabi monster

For some reason, when my kids were little, they invented a kohlrabi monster, who lived in the (then unfinished) basement of our house. It did have the effect of keeping…

lockdown survival(ist)

As cases of COVID-19 begin to multiply, there’s a lot of panic around putting in supplies for self-isolation and/or being quarantined. (I learned a new German word for this behavior:…

A taste of my own medicine

This website’s blog page holds more than 300 posts: that’s a lot of writing about nutrition and health. And most of the posts boil down to a few basic Integrative…

Happy 2020!

I’m on vacation this week, trying to practice what I preach and keep boundaries around my family time, so no musings for you this week! Instead, just a quick reminder…

Am I in climate change denial?

To everything there is a season…. Some of you might know where in the Bible that line comes from. And I know at least half of you went there: turn,…

Confessions of a picky eater

Thanks to a long, cool, wet Spring, this year’s peak produce season is about two weeks behind schedule, and the sense that the long-awaited tomato season is probably going to…

Greatest hits | What’s for dinner, Mom?

As summer winds down, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the recent changes in our family life are playing out in the kitchen. My daughter spent her first summer…

So much new + good!

how do you eat an elephant? As we plunge into the second half of 2019 (whattt? how is that possible?), I find myself reflecting on the first two quarters of…

Back to the kitchen

When my husband took his job at University of Michigan, we had just bought a house in Southern California—and I mean that literally: the morning of the day he found…

Oooh! Aaah! Fabulous prizes!

In scrolling through my calendar recently, I came across a few dates of note: May 2 is the 4th anniversary of when I officially established my practice although it’s been…

#eatmorekale

Spring is here—which in Michigan means the temperature still dips below 40ºF and yet the upper limits (in the 60s) are starting to show up more often than the dips….

Vitamin P(ee)

One of the principles of Integrative Nutrition® is the idea of bioindividuality: what is healthy for one person may be toxic to another, whether we’re talking about secondary foods (what…

What’s for dinner, Mom?

what’s for dinner, mom? For a working woman, that one innocent question at the end of the day can cause a lot of stress. (Yes, yes, I know men cook,…

Food porn fast

‘Fess up: did you binge watch the first season of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix? Because yeah, I did. And I read the book in 2015. I saw…

Soup weather

what happened? That’s right: I’m baaack! Thanks to everyone who reached out and said, “What happened? Are you alright? I didn’t see a new blog post last week!” Yeah, I’m…

I can hook you up … with some good bacteria!

“I fed my sourdough this morning.” “What? What sourdough? Who’s got sourdough? I want some!” “Liza got it for me.” “Oh! That reminds me, Liza, can I get some more…

Fl!p Your (Airbnb) K!tchen

Airbnb has been around since 2008, and as usual, I’m a late adopter—this summer’s trip to Scotland was my first time taking advantage of it. From Edinburgh to Inverness to…

#healthcoachvacation

When I was growing up, it seemed as though my vacations never lined up with those of my parents, who taught at a small liberal arts college. There may have…

Overwhelmed in the kitchen?

Join me Tuesday, January 16 at 5:30pm at Argus Farm Stop on Packard for a hands-on introduction to meal planning. Argus is a next-generation farmers’ market whose mission is to…

How do you come to the kitchen?

As I mentioned last week, explaining what I do as a health coach can be difficult: while the profession is certainly growing, it’s still an alien concept for many. I…

Thanksgiving 2017 Helpline

Have you downloaded the Fl!p Your K!tchen Thanksgiving 2017 recipe packet yet? If you have and you have questions about the recipes or the strategy that will help you cook…

SOLE food | Your nickel’s worth

This is the final post in the SOLE food series, in which we stepped away a bit from primary foods nutrition and focused again on secondary foods, the ones we…

SOLE food | Organic

This month, we’re stepping away a bit from primary foods nutrition and focusing again on secondary foods, the ones we put in our mouths. As you find your way on…

SOLE food | Seasonal

This month, we’re stepping away a bit from primary foods nutrition and focusing again on secondary foods, the ones we put in our mouths. As you find your way on…

We interrupt this programming…

Fair Food Network, the awesome non-profit where I work part-time as a contractor, has been growing in leaps and bounds since I started there eight years ago. When I reduced…

Laundry loads and mental (over)load

A few weeks ago, I was tickled by a comic strip in The Guardian about “mental load.” Yes, it’s sexist, and it generalizes (a lot), and yet, based on the engagement a…

Belly up to the [fill in the blank] bar

It’s a gray early Sunday morning in Ann Arbor—even I sleep in most Sundays (sometimes even as late as 7am 🙂 ), but today is my first 5K—nope, just walking—and…

Granola | GOOD 70s hippie food

Back in the 90s when I was working for a caterer in Boulder, CO, one of my coworkers also hailed from Vermont. The two of us would often talk about “back home.” Jordan,…

Life and love in La La Land

This week finds me back in Los Angeles, where we lived for four years before moving to Michigan.  It’s odd to be back. I can’t say I’ve missed driving here, and…

Crazy Wisdom covers release of FL!P YOUR K!TCHEN

Thanks to Crazy Wisdom Journal for covering the release of Fl!p Your K!tchen and to the Crazy Wisdom tea shop and store in downtown Ann Arbor for carrying the cookbook! You can pick up…

About those resolutions…

Where do you stand on making New Year’s resolutions? Do you set them each year and achieve at least part of them? Do you set them and never think about…

Goodbye, Hello: New Year, New Practice

As I get older, I feel the pull of the seasons more and more strongly, and the words of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 feel more true each year: “To every thing there is…

Fill Your Plate | Feed Your Life

One of the fundamental principles of Integrative Nutrition® health coaching is that we are not only nourished (or toxified) by the food we put in our mouths—our secondary foods; we are…

Baby Step #11 | SOLE Kitchen

This is the eleventh of a 12-part series titled “Baby Steps.” On the first of each month, I post 1 tiny step toward better health that you can take every day…

The buzz in the kitchen

Seventeen years ago, I spent Labor Day in labor: Happy 17th Birthday to my firstborn! This year, I’m spending Labor Day weekend on the final revision of Fl!p Your K!tchen. If my…

Why farmers go organic

Ever since we lived near (actually, right next door to!) the farmers’ market in Torrance, I’ve loved supporting local small farmers. Moving to Ann Arbor gave me the chance to…

Baby Step #7 | Cure the sugar blues

This is the seventh of a 12-part series titled “Baby Steps.” On the first of each month, I post 1 tiny step toward better health that you can take every day…

Supper + Support | Fall 2016

do you need to develop a new cooking + eating style? Have you decided (or have you been told) that you need to change your cooking + eating style – eat…

Ask us anything | The recording

Yesterday, I had the extreme pleasure of sharing an hour on the phone with Andrea Catherine Bachman of Grounded Here, LLC. We had a great conversation about who we are,…

Share the love!

FL!P YOUR K!TCHEN How to cook 21 meals a week from scratch (without spending your life in the kitchen) Cookbook, cooking class, and time management tool all in one, Fl!p…

Happy (early) Father’s Day!

A big shout-out to all the dads and all those who act as our dads: thanks for all you do! So why is it that for Mother’s Day, we expect…

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and all those who act like moms! I hope you are completely spoiled today – my day started with a blissful hour of…

Baby Step #5 | Try sea salt

This is the fifth of a 12-part series titled “Baby Steps.” On the first of each month, I’ll post 1 tiny step toward better health that you can take every day…

Fl!p Your K!tchen | Cookbook update

What’s New + Good? Lots! In fact, so much that I couldn’t wait to share some of my good news about the progress of the cookbook and express my gratitude…

Mother’s Day Sale!

Mother’s Day is May 8 – and Mom doesn’t want more stuff she has to dust! Show your love by getting her a hands-on cooking class or sign her up for…

How to Prep Your Meals Like a Pro Triathlete

Well, nobody could accuse me of being a pro triathlete…but I sure can prep meals like one! Check out my appearance in “How to Prep Your Meals Like a Pro Triathlete”…

Health coaching…in a client’s words

If you’ve ever been curious about what it’s like to work with a health coach, here’s an awesome peek into a (star) client’s side of the health coaching equation! I wasn’t…

Introducing: Supper + Support

Do you need to develop a new cooking and eating style? • Have you decided (or have you been told) that you need to change your cooking + eating style…

Join me at the Local Food Summit!

Registration is now open for the 8th Anuual Homegrown Local Food Summit, which will be taking place Monday, February 15 at Washtenaw Community College. This year’s theme is “Local Food…

Fl!p Your K!tchen update!

Lots going on with the cookbook these days – first and foremost, the pre-order page will soon be available! In the meantime, deepest appreciation to my village: creativity coach Chad…

What’s cooking in January 2016?

I’ll be offering more hands-on cooking classes and a reprise of the Fl!p Your K!tchen menu planning workshop in January – you can see the full list on the Events page. The…

Taking it back to the basics

Fl!p Your K!tchen, the cookbook, will be published in time for the Holidays in 2016, and there are a number of ways you can come along with me on the publishing journey!…

Come with me…

As I mentioned in a previous post, 2016 is going to be an exciting year for me: I’m dropping down to part-time at my day job to focus on growing…

A “Knight Out” in the Kitchen!

Join me at Knight’s Family Kitchen for our fall cooking classes – we meet the first and third Wednesday of every month! Classes run from 6:00-8:00pm – arrive at 5:45…

Announcing a New Collaboration!

I’m thrilled to announce a new collaboration with Knight’s Family Kitchen! Happy for the opportunity to reach a broader audience with my services in partnership with Angela Knight, who is…

Now registering for Fall 2015 group cooking classes

This fall, we’ll be revisiting some basics and welcoming a new guest chef, Andrea Ridgard of Grounded Here Ayurveda + Yoga! Details and registration available at Simply: Home Cooking. Want…

Your Harvest of Health

  What does Autumn mean to you? How do you prepare for the season with its ever-shorter days and the hibernation instinct lurking around the bend? This year, I’m collaborating…

Absence makes the self care fonder

My husband travels to China on a regular basis – not only does he teach and write about Chinese literature, art history, and visual culture, he still has family in…

Flip Your Kitchen: Deconstructing Soup

…one of the biggest barriers we’re facing, in terms of people eating healthier food, is that most Americans don’t know how to cook that well. It is absolutely possible to…