Slow-Cooker Beef Brisket With Bourbon BBQ Sauce {Gluten-Free & Paleo}

So, remember last week when we did our virtual rain dance while chowing down on these scones? Well, IT WORKED! As I’m writing this, the skies are stormy and the raindrops are pounding rhythmically off of my roof. There are puddles. I should know. Emma jumped in one earlier. This is one of the hazards of Golden Retriever ownership. That whole “I’m a water dog” thing? Yeah, that runs deeps. Instincts are real. Where Emma’s instincts are to throw herself into puddles and try to hurl her body into my bubble bath (yes, while I’m inside of it–it’s alarming to see a vivacious sixty-five pound creature running at you full tilt while you are naked in a confined body of water–trust me), my human instincts are telling me to cook something warm. Take a hunk of beef. Put it in a slow cooker. Take a nap. Watch a movie. Wear a chunky sweater. Meditate on the sound of the rain. Be cozy. Put on some jazz music. Pour yourself some tea. Did some bourbon slip itself into that cup of tea? Whoa. Sneaky. […]

Greek Salad-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes {Primal, Vegetarian, Vegan & Paleo Option}

We are young. Lunchbox to lunchbox we stand. Sick of my sandwich with ham. Lunch is a battlefield. We are strong. This sad cup of soup just feels wrong. Been in my lunch-rut too long. Both of us knowing… Lunch is a battlefield. 

So. That happened. Somewhere Pat Benatar is rolling her eyes. Either that, or she’s applauding my rendition of her song and thanking me for saying the words that she’s always wanted to say. “You know, Gina… it’s easy to write a song about love, but no one tackles the hard hitting emotional issue that is LUNCH. Thank you.” These are the words I imagine Pat saying to me. She’s rolling her eyes, isn’t she? Yeah. Probably that. […]

Grain-Free Chocolate & Orange Scones

It’s been unseasonably warm here in California.

I know, you’re probably rolling your eyes and about to bite my head off about snow and ice and wool socks and one very real Polar Vortex. I get it. It’s obnoxious that it’s warm-ish here. I know I’m supposed to be all brag-a-saurus about how I’ve been getting away with the occasional tank-top or how there isn’t a cloud in the sky today. It’s sunny. Like really sunny. Like “the sun is streaming in through my window as I type this and assaulting my computer screen and giving off a terrible glare” kind of sunny. But, I’m just not that jazzed about it. The usually lush hills surrounding my home look thirsty and haggard. It’s surpassed the awesomely golden shade they turn in summer. It’s just dead. Everything is an even shade of brown. What’s the opposite of a Polar Vortex? Because this feels like that. Dry. Drought-y. Calm. Thirsty. […]

Mom’s Super Healing Chicken Stew

Fact: There are times in life when you need your Mama-Bear, no matter how old you are.

Fact: Yes, I sometimes refer to my Mom as Mama-Bear. No one should look surprised. Does she call me Baby-Bear in return? Maybe. Am I nearly thirty years old? Affirmative. Just go with it.

Fact: Mama-Bears are really good at making ordinary food taste like liquid gold.

For example, while I was under the weather this past weekend my Mom whipped me up a chicken stew that tasted like fifty billion liquid hugs. I’m not kidding. It tasted like growing up, and all the times I had the sniffles. It smelled like my grandmother’s kitchen on a wintry day. Through the scent of it bubbling on the stove came the memories, through the memories came the feelings of familiarity and warmth, and through that warmth came a deep feeling of love. Who ever thinks love is not a legit ingredient in cooking is wrong. Or, maybe they’ve just never tasted a Mama-Bear’s chicken stew. That’s okay. I’ll show you how it’s done. […]