Anna Varriano - Perfect Resonance

11/16/2025

This is something we have control over …

This study evaluates the association of the consumption of ultraprocessed foods and the risk of early-onset colorectal cancer (

11/10/2025

Hmmmm…

Do we need a new season?

autumn + winter = aunter

or

fall + winter = falter

🍁 ❄️🍁 ❄️ 🍁

11/10/2025

Did you know that potato skin contains more nutrients than the inside of a potato? It contains high levels of fiber for digestion, and resistant starch for gut health. The skin also contains vital nutrients like potassium, and vitamin C and other antioxidants.

I rarely eat potatoes, but last night I discovered we had two russets left over from Thanksgiving dinner. Russets are one of the best potatoes for making mashed potatoes - which are always requested at Thanksgiving and which are not my favourite thing to eat.

If I’m going to eat potatoes, I prefer to have them roasted and with the nutrient-rich skin still on them.

So ….

I cut each russet into 6 length-wise wedges. I then put the wedges in a bowl of cold water for about 30 to 45 minutes (this draws out excess starch which results in a crispy exterior and a fluffier interior). In the meantime, in another bowl, I combined 4-5 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, a tablespoon or so of freshly chopped rosemary, and one chopped up/minced medium-sized clove of garlic. I gave this mixture a good stir and then let it sit so all the beautiful flavours came out and blended together. 

When I took the potato wedges out of the cold water, I patted them dry with a dish towel, threw them in the bowl with the olive oil mixture, and tossed them until they were well coated with everything. Then I placed them on a parchment paper lined baking tray, ensuring that they didn’t touch each other, and made sure that any goodness left in the bowl was spooned over the wedges. Then I sprinkled the wedges with coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper and roasted them in a 375F oven for 30 minutes, turning each one over after 15 minutes.

The result was a delicious and crispy potato wedge that is perfectly cooked/fluffy in the center. They were served with a small ribeye steak (which we shared), steamed broccoli, and a big green salad.

As delicious as these wedges are, I likely won’t make them again until we find ourselves with leftover russets!

Remember moderation and variety when it comes to food/nutrition!

11/09/2025

The green tomatoes I brought in a couple of weeks ago are almost all ripened now! I lined a laundry basket with newsprint, threw in a banana each week so that the ethylene it releases while it ripens would encourage the tomato ripening process, covered the tomatoes with another sheet of newsprint, and voilà! Enjoying garden tomatoes in November!

11/08/2025

The kitchen smells amazing as my sous-chef and I prep a huge batch of chicken curry to feed tonight and tomorrow night’s dinner guests. Cook once, eat twice (or maybe more than twice because we made a huge batch and it freezes beautifully).

Here’s the link to the recipe (it’s one of my Top 10/most viewed!):

https://perfectresonance.com/one-pot-winner-winner-coconutty-chicken-curry-dinner/

11/06/2025

Dinner prep is done. Took about 30 minutes. Now the oven does the rest of the work. On the menu tonight…

Crispy chicken thighs with roasted cauliflower, broccoli, and sweet potato slices. The link to my crispy chicken thigh recipe is below. The vegetables were tossed in olive oil and a bit of salt. I added some dried thyme to the broccoli and cauliflower and some dried sage and savory to the sweet potatoes. Theyll take about 30 min in a 350/375F oven and I’ll flip them over halfway through. Yum yum!

Here’s my crispy chicken thigh recipe:

https://perfectresonance.com/crispy-chicken-thighs/n

11/05/2025

Mmmmm! I just ate one! :)

If you love coconut ... and matcha ... and chocolate, I’m betting you will love these bites! They are super easy to make as you just measure out the ingredients, mix everything in one bowl, shape the mixture into bite-sized balls, and pop them into the fridge. No baking required. They are a great way to satisfy a craving for a little something sweet, while providing fibre, healthy fats, powerful antioxidants, and a little boost of energy! I LOVE them!

This recipe only makes 10 balls and you can whip them up in a snap. Give it a whirl, and if you love these little bites, you can double or triple or quadruple the recipe!

Enjoy!

I was recently waiting in the check-out line at Winners and was feeling pretty hungry. This is NOT a great place to be when you are hungry as you are surrounded on all sides by potato chips and other salty snacks, all kinds of chocolates, gummy bears, and loads of other tempting and unhealthy snacks...

11/04/2025

Our rosemary bush has been brought inside for the winter and our final big harvests of sage, oregano, and thyme have been dried, rubbed, and stored.

Here are the #1 evidence-based health benefits of each of these herbs:

OREGANO
There is strong in vitro and animal study evidence that oregano has antimicrobial and antibacterial properties (fights infections) via a well established mechanism of disrupting microbial cell membranes. Oregano oil and oregano capsules are the most common way to take oregano to help fight infections. Make sure you follow the instructions on the package. Oregano oil is very strong and it can irritate mucous membranes if you take it undiluted or for long periods of time.

SAGE
Multiple human trials and systemic reviews confirm that sage offers cognitive and memory enhancement benefits. It’s interesting that we also use the word sage as a synonym for wise! You can make sage tea by steeping 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried sage leaves in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes.

THYME
Randomized control trials show that thyme significantly reduces cough frequency and intensity in bronchitis and upper respiratory infections. You can make thyme tea by steeping 1 teaspoon of dried thyme in hot water for 10 minutes to calm coughs. You can also make a thyme steam bath by adding thyme to boiling water in a pot on the stove and then cover your head with a towel and inhale the steam (staying far enough above the pot so as not to burn yourself - be careful).

ROSEMARY
Human studies show improved memory speed and accuracy after rosemary aroma or extract exposure. In addition, animal and cellular studies demonstrate that rosemary has neuroprotective properties. I’ll be smelling my rosemary bush daily! The most common way to use rosemary to reap its health benefits is through aromatherapy/essential oil inhalation. You can do this by adding a few drops of rosemary essential oil to a diffuser.

So … take some thyme to be sage about your health and spice it up with herbs! (Sorry - couldn’t help myself!)

What is your favourite herb and how do you like to use it?

11/02/2025

I grew some amaranth in a big planter on our backyard patio this year because I LOVE the look of it - first time I’ve done that and it was whimsical and beautiful!

I have always know that amaranth is a gluten-free, nutrient dense, high-protein grain, but I only recently learned that you can eat the leaves (raw or cooked)!

I harvested all the fuchsia ‘flowers’ a few weeks ago and put them in a big paper bag to dry and today I shook and rubbed them and collected the seeds. I ended up with 2/3 cup. So exciting! Now to figure out how I’m going to use/eat them! I’ll definitely plant more next year!

I encourage you to look for products made with amaranth (e.g. pasta, flour, crackers, etc) and read more about the health benefits of this tiny but mighty grain here:

https://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/whole-grains-101-orphan-pages-found/health-benefits-amaranth #:~:text=Amaranth%20May%20Have%20Cancer%2Dpreventing,found%20to%20have%20antihypertensive%20properties.ar

11/02/2025

About a week ago, I picked all my large green tomatoes from the garden, put them in a laundry basket, and covered them with a couple of sheets of newspaper hoping they would ripen. It’s going pretty good so far!

11/01/2025

On Thanksgiving weekend, my brother brought me a 20 pound Odette pumpkin from his garden. I finally had the nerve to tackle it today. I cut it into big 2 inch thick slices/pieces, put them on parchment paper lined baking sheets, and baked them in the oven at 375F for about 40 minutes (tested they were done/super soft by inserting a fork). I had to do 4 full baking sheets to deal with this giant! Once it was baked, I removed the skin (super easy to do once it’s baked - I just cut it off with a butter knife) and then put the baked pieces in a large colander so that the excess liquid would drain from them. Then I mashed it all up and put the mash in the colander again to drain even more liquid as I don’t want runny mash when I use it as is as a side dish, or for soups or baking. I ended up with 12 cups of mash and I’m freezing it in 1/2 cup portions in plastic wrap lined muffin tins (it will be handy to know that each ‘muffin’ is a 1/2 cup so I can take exactly what I need when the time comes to cook or bake with the mash). I’ll place the filled muffin tins flat in the freezer and once the muffins are frozen solid, I’ll transfer them into freezer bags.

It was a bit of a chore, but I’m so happy to have it done! You can do this with your Halloween pumpkins, just note that the big ones you carve into jack-o-lanterns typically have quite fibrous, watery, and not very tasty flesh. The flesh of this Odette pumpkin was gorgeous! A super dark orange colour, very dense and flavourful. I’ve posted some photos of my process in case you want to give it a try! If you need a few squash/pumpkin recipes, just type squash or pumpkin in the search bar at www.perfectresonance.com

🎃💕🎃💕🎃💕🎃💕🎃💕🎃

11/01/2025

My brother has some fancy hens!