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Meal Goals 2
Ditch the Diet. Meal Goals 2020

Ditch the Diet. Meal Goals 2020

Stop! Don’t make a diet resolution for the New Year. Aren’t you tired of all these diets that promise anti-aging in exchange for a year of disciplined daily punishment? No wonder 80% of us fail at our resolutions. Diets suck. I will show you that diets and exercise are not working. Getting healthier is about changing our habits. And I mean healthier in the broad sense: physically, mentally, socially, and financially. Meals, second only to sleep, are the foundation to…

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Meal Plan Leftovers for Early Retirement

Meal Plan Leftovers for Early Retirement

Do you fight over leftovers? You should. Meal plan leftovers right and they will save you money, taste better and leave you quality time for better meal experiences. Thanksgiving circumstances provided us an abundance of leftovers this year. Our sandwiches would put the Moist Maker to shame. We had fun refreshing leftover turkey with new sides or coupling Thanksgiving sides with new cuts of meat. After a week, satisfied by our leftover gluttony, we said goodbye to the remaining scraps….

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Thanksgiving Experience
Dammit! We’re having a happy Thanksgiving Experience.

Dammit! We’re having a happy Thanksgiving Experience.

Pride beaming from my face, I removed the perfectly browned turkey from the oven. I placed the roasting pan on a hot pad on the center island. There the turkey rested, spotlighted as guests came to check it out. Smiles and nods of approval fed my poultry prowess. It was time to carve. I sharpened the knife for effect. Positioning the blade on the front right breast, I slowly drew the knife along the breastbone. Easily slicing through the meat,…

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how to make a good dinner for your family
How to make a good dinner for your family?

How to make a good dinner for your family?

For eight years, “how to make a good dinner for your family” was simple. It was just my wife and I and “good dinner” was just about two people. We wanted exotic and interesting food. Dinners out could be impromptu. We could sit at the restaurant bar and linger for hours sampling small plates. Then in 2015 our first daughter arrived. After 6 hazy months suffuse with drowsy stumbling through our new parental duties, we felt motivated to get back…

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Meal Habits
Meal Habits Around the World: 1 Year Anniversary Post

Meal Habits Around the World: 1 Year Anniversary Post

October marks the one year anniversary of Meal Genome! Thank you for every view, like, share and especially your comments on the blog and on Facebook. Reading the comments, reminds me there are people out there who also more great meal experiences and the input guides my work. There is so much I want to write about and I plan to accelerate in year 2. For the one year anniversary post, let’s take a look at meal habits around the…

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Meal for Calm Chocolate
A Meal For Calm: Dancing and Bergamot

A Meal For Calm: Dancing and Bergamot

If you take nothing else from this post, know that during my family test, the bergamot spray and some dancing instantly flipped a house of three screaming girls under 5, to a calm family dinner. Cars were zooming past. There was honking, yelling and bass thumping as the Destin Harbor Blvd rush hour charged home. We were a party of fifteen gathering at the cross walk after eating dinner at the Harbor Walk. Kids in strollers, aloof teenagers, grandmas; we…

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Meals with Pets
Meals with Pets: Don’t make your dog a Vegan!

Meals with Pets: Don’t make your dog a Vegan!

Growing up, I had meals with pets. Usually two and, at times, three labrador retrievers waiting just outside the kitchen for any signal that they could to clean up the crumbs. Ears perked, big puppy dog eyes, they eagerly watched. Over the years, my dad leaning back in his chair after dinner, triggered the dogs to approach the table. While we had meals with pets, there were rules. Dogs could only be at the kitchen table with permission. Today, when…

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Dining Table up in smoke
Dining Tables: Walnut Burl to Bed Sheets

Dining Tables: Walnut Burl to Bed Sheets

Our family was in the market for a table. With young children, we immediately focused on function, durability and budget. My wife asked me to provide some suggestions for consideration. I understood that would be about where my decision power would end. I jumped on Facebook marketplace for some inspiration. A quick search input for “dinner table” returned 11 material categories from wood to stone to metal. Browsing through the listing of pictures of dinner tables, I noticed so many…

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Al Fresco Dining
Al Fresco Beyond Restaurant Patios

Al Fresco Beyond Restaurant Patios

I took a bite of lobster and fire roasted conch, eating al fresco, from a sand pit dug on a beach somewhere between Ambergris Caye, Belize and Mexico. Our family had just finished a half day snorkeling. We had harvested several conchs and spiny lobsters from reef. I sat on a large piece of drift wood. Toes in the sand, tickled by the breeze blowing across my slightly sunburned skin. Flavors of roasted fruits and peppers burst from the lobster….

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