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About Me

I’ve always liked cooking, but we used to eat crap a lot — like buttery mashed potatoes, and creamy sauces and rich desserts. Then, my husband had a heart attack at age 38, and it was a terrifying wake-up call! Not wanting to leave our children fatherless, we knew we had to make a major change. Following his heart attack, we needed to cut sodium, sugar, saturated fats (you know, most of our favorite foods!)

These new dietary restrictions could’ve been extremely depressing, but it was literally a life-or-death choice. I’ve always thrived on novelty, so I asked my husband to get me The American Heart Association Cookbook for Christmas, and I promptly began cooking my way through it, one recipe at a time! Now I’m almost done with it, and I’ve learned a lot about how to health-ify our family’s favorite foods in the process.

My Food Philosophy

Food should taste good, and it’s very important to enjoy the food you’re eating. Sticking to a heart-healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be depressing or complicated, and it shouldn’t be about deprivation. You don’t need to eat weird “health” foods, and you don’t need to cut out entire food groups. We still eat all our favorite foods, and we still have dessert most nights. That’s a point I really want to drive home: Being healthy isn’t about sadness and deprivation.

Cooking dinner at home every night is very important for good health, but cooking dinner at home every night doesn’t need to be a big, time-consuming hassle. I have two small children, and my life is extremely hectic. People ask me all the time, “How do you do this? Every night?” and I want you to know that this isn’t that hard. I don’t spend a tremendous amount of time and effort cooking dinner every night, and much of what I cook can be thrown together quickly. This is just what I eat on a daily basis, and it’s entirely do-able.

(Another key point: Cooking dinner at home every night is far less expensive than ordering takeout all the time.)

Why I Made This Blog

People ask me for recipes that don’t exist anywhere but inside my own head. I log everything in the LoseIt app, but this is more share-able. I like keeping a record of meals I’ve eaten and enjoyed.

If you’re trying to eat a more heart-healthy diet, if you’ve recently been diagnosed with heart disease and are feeling depressed about all your new dietary restrictions, if you feel like your life is too hectic for cooking-at-home to be a realistic option for you, then I hope my blog will help!

I’m still learning a lot about heart-healthy eating and cooking, and I invite you to come along on the journey with me!

More About Emily

I was born and raised in Connecticut, and currently live on the CT shoreline with my aforementioned husband, two kids almost 4 and 6 (how did that happen so quickly?) and my magnificent cat, Isaac.

Behold!

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Hello, world!

I’ve always liked cooking, but we used to eat crap a lot — like buttery mashed potatoes, creamy sauces and rich desserts. Then, my husband had a heart attack at age 38, and it was a terrifying wake-up call! Not wanting to leave our children fatherless, we knew we had to make a major change. Following his heart attack, we needed to cut sodium, sugar, saturated fats (you know, most of our favorite foods!)
Read my whole sermon ➜

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emilymclai

Dinner the last few nights 1) Brussels sprouts and Dinner the last few nights 1) Brussels sprouts and tofu over rice 2) Cajun fish with zesty oven fries 3) broccoli rabe and chicken sausag3 pasta  4)hamburger steaks with beef gravy 5) mapo tofu for kindergarteners — recipes on my blog!! #healthyfood  #americanheartassociation #hearthealth
I was extremely proud of the tiny marzipan gourds I was extremely proud of the tiny marzipan gourds and pumpkins I made for Thanksgiving. Not healthy or low-calorie at all, but they’re made of almonds and therefore high in fiber and heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, right? This took me 3 hours to make, but I put a recipe and tutorial on my blog jic anyone on Instagram is just as insane as I am. #marzipan #marzipanfruits
This week, we are trying to use up our massive tur This week, we are trying to use up our massive turkey that we cooked for @monmonlai and @lisabeansprout. Also, back on the heart-healthy train! Lightened-up turkey tetrazzini, biscuit-crust turkey pot pie and turkey soup with wild rice recipes on my blog (link in bio). Turkey for days! Turkey 4ever!!
#thanksgivingleftovers
Birthday blowout part #2 - rainbow lego cupcakes f Birthday blowout part #2 - rainbow lego cupcakes for our epic joint birthday party for Nathan and Benji.
This is not at all a healthy cake (well, the cake This is not at all a healthy cake (well, the cake itself is @joannebchang ‘s vegan low-fat chocolate cake from her “Flour” cookbook, which I love), but the ganache frosting pretty much cancels out the “low-fat” aspect.  This is Nathan’s original creative vision - heavy construction machinery just never gets old! #constructioncake #birthdaycake #heavymachinery

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