YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Parsley Pesto

I am a diehard waste-not-want-not kind of girl from way back. In the past, I tended to make a lot of surprises from whatever was left in the kitchen, and they could either be great or they could turn out as what my kids used to call “refrigerator soup.”

But every once in a while, I hit the jackpot.  Continue reading


The Meaning of “Granola”

Have you ever thought about the word “granola,” what it means, and where it came from? Some time back I decided it was time for me to find out exactly what “granola” really meant, and here’s what I learned. The word “granola” was appropriated in approximately 1870 by Dr. John Kellogg, of Battle Creek, Michigan. Dr. Kellogg ran a famous sanitarium to which patrons came to learn and practice healthy living. Among his recommendations was that people eat food that was prepared the old-fashioned way, with whole grains. Whole-grain bread was baked in large ovens located right on the grounds of the sanitarium. Dr. Kellogg recognized that large amounts of waste were being generated in the form of the crumbs that fell to the bottom of the ovens. He realized that he could collect these crumbs and place them in bowls to be served for breakfast. At first, he called his invention “gra-NU-la.” Continue reading