My Food

Again, my nickname is “Johnny La Pasta”, so you are correct in thinking that you will find Italian recipes in this blog. I am half Italian on my mother’s side and my roots in cooking are in Italian-American cuisine, and many of my most praised recipes are old Italian family recipes. My Italian-American mother’s kitchen is where I learned just how important the preparation and enjoyment of food really is. So, when I am feeding a large group of people or I just need some food for the soul, I go back to my roots and cook Italian.

However, as I said, I am a yogi and a certified yoga instructor and have spent a lot of time studying health, wellness, and nutrition. Much of my food reflects this. You will find that many of my recipes, especially day-to-day recipes are high in vegetables and greens, lean proteins and whole grains. Also, I am a supporter of the Meatless Monday movement and also dabble in some Vegetarian and Vegan cooking as well. Overall, I try to follow the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid. I believe in eating healthy about 80%-85% of the time…but you have to splurge a little here and there too!

  Also important to note, not all of my recipes are concrete, set in stone recipes. A lot of my recipes are more guidelines that you can take and tweak to suit your own tastes. Growing up with an Italian-American mother, recipes were seldom followed. Even today, if I ask, “Hey, how much of the tomato paste do I need to add into the meat mix?” the response I get back is, “I don’t know, you just have to touch it and you will figure it out!” So, some of my food writing is similar to this mentality.

Also, most of my photos are from Instagram. You will not find many high glossed, took 20 hours to touch up in post-production food images here. Some of the food is a bit messy and the images gritty, but that’s life, right? This is real food. So you might try and make something I make and actually create a similar looking dish rather than a “Pinterest-Fail”.

Overall, there is a little something in this food blog for everyone. From decadent to light, from quick and easy to feed a crowd, from detailed to free form; hopefully you’ll find a few things you like!