This month, we’re heading into the final stretch of the year, I can’t believe it.
Let the parties 🎉, work gatherings, and church groups, begin! Tis the season🎄. This can also the time we slip on our food goals… One way to keep up our goals is to practice mindful eating. When you lower your distraction and focus on the food you are eating (analog style) and it can greatly improve our health.
Mindful eating is about slowing down, reducing distractions (like screens), and making intentional choices to better understand your physical and emotional relationship with food, which can improve digestion, satisfaction, and overall well-being.
So slow down, enjoy the moment mindfully. 😋
I’m sharing this calendar preview to keep us on track! If you like this format, drop me a line and let me know! Let’s chat 👸🏾
Winter Squash Yaaaasssss!!!!
So yes, I looked like a crazy lady when I loaded up my cart with winter squash. Oh the colors, taste variety, and insane versatility 🤯. Winter squash provides benefits such as:
- Improved immune function
- Better eye and bone health
- Support for digestive and heart health due to its high content of vitamins A and C, fiber, and antioxidants.
- It is also low in calories and can be a great addition to weight management plans
- It’s minerals like potassium and magnesium help regulate blood pressure and maintain heart rhythm.
Don’t worry, I’ll be sharing a post on all the things we can do with winter squash in the kitchen! Go ahead and grab one next time your at the store. You won’t be disappointed!
📚 Books of the Month: Let’s Read!
For this month’s books, I first recommend checking them out at the library for Free! Can we talk about the joy of that?!?!? I LOVE the library and check out many many books a month. 🏃🏽♀️ Start with your library!
Healthy Eating God’s Way is a faith-based approach to wellness that teaches readers how to nourish their bodies according to biblical principles. Rather than focusing on diets, restrictions, or quick fixes, the book emphasizes a lifestyle of stewardship, caring for the body as a temple and honoring God through daily choices. It blends practical nutrition guidance with spiritual insight, showing how food, mindset, and faith are interconnected.
I’m reading this book with a group of faith-filled women interested in choosing a natural way to change our habits. I’m really enjoying the Authors practical guidance along with clear accountability in how we nourish our bodies.
The Healthy Eating God’s Way Companion Cookbook provides nourishing recipes designed to help readers put their faith-centered wellness journey into action. The book includes easy to make recipes along with pro tips to make each one easier to recreate.
So, I’ve made a couple recipes from the book so far, and I’m very pleased with the set up. Honestly, I’ve reviewed more cookbooks than I want to count, while I research writing my own. And sheesh, I didn’t realize how impractical some cookbooks are! Side rant, in one book I recently reviewed, there was a chapter marked “weekday dinner” I’m thinking ok this is my chapter! As I reviewed each one, I became more and more frustrated. These dinners seemed more “practical” for Jeffrey at the Banks residence, than a regular person like me! I’m writing a whole rant for future post on how wrong this is.
Needless to say, I’m finding this a great companion to the book’s journey.
Murder and Mamon is the fourth book in Mia P. Manansala’s “Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery” series, following Lila Macapagal as a festive grand opening for her godmothers’ new laundromat turns deadly. When April’s newly arrived niece is found murdered inside the shop with a threatening message nearby, Lila is pulled into a case that hits painfully close to home, forcing her to uncover secrets hidden within the tight-knit “Calendar Crew.” Blending suspense with Filipino-American culture, humor, and heart, the novel delivers a cozy mystery rich with community, family bonds, and mouthwatering food — making it an engaging read for fans of warm, culturally grounded whodunits.
I just LOVE 🧡 cozy mysteries. This has become one of my favorite book genres this year. In book 4 I’m eager to see how Lila is handling her relationships, AND what new self discovery she makes while solving murders. Can I jsut say how much I love the way the author incorporates her cultural foods and coffee into each story! 5 star read!!
📝 What’s Coming to the Blog this Month:
A few fun posts are coming up! I’m excited to meet the season!
- If you missed the first post of the month, I talked about 7 affordable food gifts to gift this holiday season.
- Butternut Squash the Family Shero
- Of the winter squash family, butternut is my favorite. It’s so versatile and cooks super easily! We’ll take a deep dive why I feel one should be sitting on your counter all winter long!
- Hoppin John!
- This dish is not only ancestral, but nourishing!
- In the Teaching Kitchen, we served meals to families in need a few weeks back. I included this dish in the meal and was pleasantly surprised and the reaction! It’s also a GREAT dish for the holiday table.
- This dish is not only ancestral, but nourishing!
- Kwanzaa Feast!
- Our family celebrates Kwanzaa. It is one of the new traditions I wanted to incorporate into my Son’s life as he grew. This will be our 12th year celebrating! Some years have been sparse, some great, but this year the focus will be on the food! I’ll talk about how I’m planning to use food each day to incorporate the principles. This will be fun!
Our first month of the new pivot in the books! Huzzah!
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Stay well,
💛 J