Welcome to Slim Pickings (by Paloma)

Hi, all. I decided to start this blog with a personal mission in mind: to show you that you can take control of your health, how you feel and look by taking control of what you eat - and cooking it yourself. For the hedonist in us all - cooking well and delectably can be easy, fast and feel good when you get your hands dirty.

On Slim Pickings (by Paloma), you can expect easy recipes inspired by no more than 5 fresh, real ingredients you can find easily, information on what makes each ingredient beneficial to you...and a lot of food porn. You can expect a balance of art and science, instinct and logic. And, at the expense of repetition - you can expect it to be easy. We've all got day jobs.

 A little about me: like many before and after me, my enjoyment of food turned into a passionate, 'hurt-so-good' relationship the day I moved to Manhattan. New York is a city of excess - and that applies to food, wine and dining out (among other things). As is typical of New York, I was 'too busy' to cook, and was picking what I falsely believed were 'healthy' foods ("multi-grain!" "low-glycemic!") manufactured with ingredients including corn syrup, corn solids, unidentified GMOs, or too many ingredients ending in '-ate'. Ultimately, my athletic curves became too soft for my comfort (despite Spinning 5 times a week), and my health became hampered by digestive issues. My 'healthy'' lifestyle looked too 'curvy' and felt too acidic and painful. I got fed up.

I was peripherally aware of the dangers of food with a barcode, the state of the food industry and the importance of food combinations for proper digestion. But that high-level awareness hadn't translated into behavior change. So I dove into articles, blogs, research and documentaries, was inspired by multiple recipes (thank you, Pinterest) and ultimately started playing around in the kitchen. Today, I eat a maximum of two meals out a week, experience no digestive issues, feel (and look) fantastic, and live like a bon-vivant in my own kitchen, inviting loved ones over to share delicious meals (and wine) together. I pack my own lunch almost daily, and have a few of you asking me to be your personal chef (I'll work for travel :)

 So that's my pitch. Clearly, there's a multitude of food blogs, recipes and articles out there. But if it were that easy to digest (pun intended) and act on, fewer of us would be fighting with our weight and dealing with mystery digestive issues. And you'd feel a lot less intimidated by getting into your kitchen instead of getting take-out. So these here Slim Pickings will make it easy, transparent and delicious for you take some control and have fun in the kitchen. Look out for the first one on Monday!

 - Paloma