Hey guys. How’s everybody doing? I don’t know about you, but I’m frustrated. Just when we started to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, now we have a maniac starting a war. It’s so horrible I can barely comprehend it. And I have to say, the geopolitical situation makes me feel a little weird about writing a post for a food blog. I mean, who cares about beets or sandwich recipes when people are being buried in rubble and fleeing for their lives? But then I remembered why I started this blog in the first place: I really do believe that food matters. Beyond donating (I put a few links for places to do that at the bottom of this post) and praying, I don’t feel like there’s much I can do for the people in Ukraine (and all the other people in the world who are suffering), but I can stay engaged with my family and friends (alleluia, we can gather again!) and connect with you readers and—maybe, hopefully—make someone’s day a little brighter. Or at least tastier.

I’ve been keeping a list of “life-changing” things for a minute. It was meant to be tongue-in-cheek and kind of silly but also useful. These are things I’ve found or discovered or enjoyed recently that have an outsized effect on my life relative to their price or size (i.e. I’m not talking about the swimming pool in my back yard that I know would be life-changing if I had it, which I do not).

As I look at my scribbled list, I am realizing a lot of these things have been useful in the pursuit of cleaning up my life after two years of thinking, “It’s the end of the world, so Yes, I will have another Dove bar/canned cocktail/handful of potato chips, thank you very much.” Oh, and my son broke his back last month (long story, but he’s going to be OK), which has nothing to do with this list, except it did put my concept of “life changing” into perspective. So take these with grain of (kosher) salt.

Number one: Electric kettle, where have you been all my life? I know, I know—I’m late to the party on this one. This summer we made the epically bad decision to have new floors put in our house, which required ripping out our entire kitchen. We have a mini fridge and microwave in our basement as well as a grill, so we were actually OK without a kitchen, except for coffee. So I bought an electric kettle—something I’d been thinking about since we got hooked on British Masterpiece shows during Covid (we even bought a subscription) and watched all those people drinking all that tea. Now I’m a tea drinker too, and I love it—it’s just so civilized (and warm), and it calms me and distracts me from snacking. Don’t ask my why it’s so much easier to make tea in the electric kettle than on the stove, but it is. I also sprung for this exact Teaforte diffuser mug, which solves my two tea-drinking issues: where to put the tea bag/leaves after steeping and how to keep the tea hot.

Two: Hola Topo Chico! Again, I know this is not new. But if you’re trying to cut down on drinking alcohol, I can’t recommend strongly enough getting a case of this sparkling water. Topo Chico is more bubbly than Bubbly, yet it’s somehow softer too. Plus it’s naturally carbonated and full of minerals, which give it a bit of a tang. It’s just better than all that flavored stuff in cans. If you put a lime in it, and maybe a dash of bitters, you can almost fool yourself into thinking you’re drinking a cocktail. I’ve become a hoarder.

Three: Organic Powdered Peanut Butter is magic. If you’re trying to cut down on sweets and, like me, have banished ice cream from your house, this transforms a strawberry-banana smoothie into a peanut butter milkshake (and adds protein) with something like 75% fewer calories than actual peanut butter. Here’s my recipe: Put 1 frozen banana, 3-4 strawberries, 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 tbs. PB powder, and some crushed ice into a blender. Blend. If it’s too thick, add about 1/4 cup water.

Four: Yellow Beets are like candy. I love beets but have always hated the way they make everything (!!) red. Problem solved with yellow (golden) beets. Also, I think they taste better. I’ve started buying them in bulk and roasting them (super simple: just cut off the stalk and the hairy end, cut in half if they’re big, put in a roasting pan with a little olive oil, and cook at 400 degrees until they’re soft and slightly caramelized on the outside, about 30-40 mins., sprinkle with salt), and they are seriously like a sweet-and-savory treat.

Five: Weight Watchers cookbooks, who knew? A friend of mine lost a bunch of weight on WW. When I mentioned how amazing she looked, she told me all about their points program (which I had heard of), and it really intrigued me. Basically, you can eat whatever you want, but you learn quickly that some foods (like butter) put you over your points budget very fast. I’m not necessarily on WW, but I did buy a couple of their cookbooks on my friend’s recommendation, and they are really, surprisingly good. The recipes make it super easy to stay on the program, sure, but I like them because they’re actually delicious—and for the most part, easy enough for a weeknight. They don’t call for weird “diet” ingredients either. The two I have are Done in One and The Mediterranean Table (which I bought on eBay), but my friend says they’re all good.

Here’s a sample recipe I made recently and loved. It’s like a Greek salad on a bun.

Greek Grilled Chicken Sandwiches (from the WW Done in One cookbook)
Ingredients
Cooking spray, 4 spray(s)
Four 4-oz pieces uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp fresh chopped dill
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp Kosher salt
¼ tsp garlic powder
⅛ tsp freshly ground (or to taste) black pepper
⅔ cups crumbled feta cheese
1 Tbsp skim milk
1 Tbsp minced uncooked red onions
4 toasted light hamburger buns (I don’t know what light buns are so I used regular brioche rolls)
2 pieces romaine lettuce
½ fresh tomato, cut into 4 slices