I am a 27 year old living in Boston with my wonderful husband, playful dog, and cuddly cat. I have degrees in both psychology and guidance counseling, and I am currently working in the special education department of a suburban high school.
I strive to find a balance between the two basic food philosophies of “eat to live” and “live to eat“. I believe that food should be (and is!) one of the great pleasures of leading a healthy lifestyle.
My enjoyment of preparing and eating healthy food burgeoned during my graduate school years, when I started to prepare homemade meals. I found myself drawn to the eating habits instilled in me by my health-conscious parents; gravitating towards unprocessed foods and cooking with fresh ingredients. I became enthralled with The Food Network, subscribed to a handful of recipe catalogues, and scooped up a wide variety of cookbooks. My goal was to make food that was simultaneously wholesome and delicious.
Over the past few years my culinary ambition has not wavered, but my confidence in the kitchen has grown. Although I still consider myself somewhat of a cooking novice, I am thrilled to share my recipes with you. Many of the recipes posted on this blog were inspired by and/or adapted from others, whereas other recipes are “Lauren originals”. Regardless of the origin, every recipe on Healthy Food For Living features whole foods that are sure to please your palate!
well aren’t you two just so cute!
I just found your blog and already love all the foood! I also had to show some Boston lovin’.
It was great to meet you tonight!!! :)
I think your husband is sooo cute
Thank you Mike Fornal :).
I really like your philosophy toward eating. You’ve got a lot of yummy recipes! And it’s great to know you’re a Red Sox fan!
Keep on cookin’!
Hi! This looks like an awesome blog. Helthy eating, but not obsessive about it! I love it! So many people say that we should eat to live, but honestly, food is amazing! So you gotta live to eat some great food, too! It is all about balance.
I am from Massachusetts, so its nice to keep finding Boston bloggers.
Nice to meet you!
It’s amazing how big the Boston Blog community is! So far I’m really loving a lot of your ideas, can’t wait to head home for spring break and get experimenting in my parents’ awesome kitchen ;)
Everything is written correctly, and rightly so.
I just found your blog and i am really impressed with your healthy but still comforting food selections. I notice that you use a lot of reduced fat cheese. Is there a particular brand that you like?
Amy,
I will email you this information as well, but I thought others might be interested as your question is a great one!
I particularly like Cabot reduced fat cheeses. I honestly cannot discern a difference in taste in their 50% reduced fat cheddar and pepper jack. I love that they come in single slices and not just blocks – perfect for sandwiches! In terms of cream cheese, the same holds true with neufchatel… Philadelphia brand and Whole Foods brand neufchatel are both great 1/3-less-fat cream cheeses; the flavor and consistency are spot on. When it comes to shredded cheese, I typically go for the “Light” blend mexican cheese and 2% mozzarella cheese varieties (Kraft, Trader Joe’s, & Sargento are all brands that I frequently buy).
I also love goat cheese and feta, which are naturally lower in fat than other cheeses.
Hope this helps!
I just discovered your blog and the recipes look so delicious! great photos too. I’m definitely going to try the carrot cake sandwich, what a creative idea!
Lauren, I finally discovered your blog. Thanks to your mother today. I can’t begin to tell you how much your Mom means to me. Love the cat and dog. By the way, you got married the same weekend my niece got married. I saw the wedding pictures, and they are awesome. Have a good 4th of July.
Great blog! Do you tweet!?
Hillary –
I appreciate the compliment on my blog! Thanks for visiting :). I do have a Twitter account, but have never actually “tweeted”. Perhaps that is an undertaking I will pursue!
I like your food philosophy! Mine is similar but probably more relaxed. I love your recipes but I only check blogs that I can subscribe to by email and I was hoping I could convince you to get an email subscribe button (I think you can do it for free with feedburner). Love your pics–you’re very pretty and your pets are adorable! I’m a dog lover myself but I had cats growing up so I have a partiality to them too.
I am absolutely thrilled to have found your blog (via a somewhat random Google search for a chocolate cherry granola bar recipe)! My spin on your bars are in the oven now. I so appreciate your health-minded approach to cooking/baking and life — will post about discovering your blog on Twitter (@MasPublicHealth) and look forward to reading more. :)
Just found your blog from a comment you posted on annies-eats. I really like your pictures and recipes. How long have you been blogging? Seems like a great site – looking forward to “following” you. – Lauren
You are soooo pretty! :-)
Lovely blog! Thanks for leaving a comment on those fudgy brownies. Hope to come back and visit your blog more often!
Just discovered your blog and it’s great to see another Boston area blogger! I’m just starting up mine and am always look to connect with area bloggers.
I will definitely continue to follow yours!
I just found your blog, and totally loved it! is so like me!!
Lauren,
Just found your blog and am now faced with a very long list of “Must Make” recipes. Your blog is like my blog’s long lost sistah’ from anotha’ mistah’ as it completely matches my own food preferences (and obsessions.) Wow, wow, and wow – what a great assortment of recipes you have here. I am inspired! To the kitchen I go!
-Q.