Starters & Sides


We visit the farmer’s market nearly every Saturday. This past weekend, what stood out the most were brightly colored heirloom tomatoes. Jade always gives me a hard time because I’m Italian, but not really a tomato person. More accurately, I don’t like raw tomatoes that much—except for cherry tomatoes.

I don’t like giving up my bread and baked goods, but I’ve found a low-carb diet is the most effective way for me to lose my baby weight. When you think low-carb, what comes to mind? Eating triple cheeseburgers with piles of bacon in a lettuce cup. No, I’m not eating that. I’m usually eating lean proteins, tons of veggies and protein shakes. But it gets boring. Fast.

As a kid, my Thanksgiving plate was basically white — turkey breast, mashed potatoes, and a dinner roll. It’s not that my family didn’t have more choices on the table, it’s that my midwestern palate just never got very developed. I never ate the cranberries, the gravy or the stuffing. Being the baby of the family, my parents never forced me to try things I didn’t want to try, so my experience with food was limited, at best.








