Did you survive the Thanksgiving holiday? Did you survive the hours of prep and the enjoyment of sharing with those you love? Did you survive the full belly, succumb to the need to nap, and give thanks for it all? I hope so!

     You would think that I would choose Thanksgiving to show off all the versions of Josie's recipes that I have been trying out, highlighting the health benefits of each dish, raving about how simple it was to make, etc. Nope. It's small steps to colorful cooking over here for me!

     I did make my veggie lasagna and have made it for years, telling myself "It's healthy! It's veggies!" And it's true to a certain extent: I use whole wheat noodles and reduced-fat ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and cut up the fresh veggies myself. BUT, how much of that mozzarella do I use? Probably too much. And did I mention the chemically loaded frozen garlic bread that accompanied it? Oh yeah, old habits and all that.

 ...

I have had a decent first week of looking under my napkin. Remember, I am someone who doesn't eat regularly because I haven't wanted to take the time to do so (until now). I had some insights as to why that was this past week as I set up this blog for the Nov. 17 launch.

First, I realized as I wrote the initial post, that my earliest pleasant memory about food came from anticipating not only what would be waiting for me under the napkin for lunch, but that it would be a fun time of sharing about my day with my mom and then later, with my dad when he got home from work.  AHA #1: food is meant to be shared with those you love!

And second, when it came time to making sure I ate regularly in college, I chose sleep over food by quickly abandoning the so-so breakfast at the college cafeteria for an extra twenty minutes of sleep that I also needed. AHA #2: I created a long-lasting belief that you can have food or sleep, but you can't have both. Today I would also equate sleep with...

Welcome! I'm Ann.

I wanted to start a blog all about colorful cooking so that I can commit to learning about it and doing it. For years I have placed "Get nutrition on track' on my Top 6 Goals to Obtain list, only to find that nothing much changes from year to year: I still don't eat much (though you'd never know it to look at my fluffy self). I still don't drink enough water. I still don't enjoy cooking for one. I still would rather have the time to get other things done than spend it all in the kitchen. Unitl now.

So with this blog, I am publicly declaring my intention and seeking accountability around what I say I really want: to care for my body temple in nourishing ways-literally. I want to make food and the planning of it and the preparing of it as well as the eating of it pleasurable, interesting and fun.  I want to feel energized and excited about what could be under my napkin each day.

You see, It's one of my first really pleasant food memories, this question of what...