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The Raw and The Cooked

Simple Meals + Honest Book Reviews + Practical Living

Pumpkin-Oat-Blender Muffins

Earlier this week — or was it last week? Winter break has that blurry effect — I finally tackled a big pantry declutter and re-organization. It felt so good to reset. Somewhere in the back, I found a lone can of pumpkin purée leftover from Thanksgiving and started wondering what I could turn it into for the kids.

The two big kids each need two snacks for school. My go-to is a combination of a piece of fruit and a homemade muffin. I typically default to banana-chocolate chip, but this week, I decided to experiment with that lone can of pumpkin purée + rolled oats. Enjoy the easiest muffin recipe ever. All you’ll need is a blender + muffin tin (and maybe some muffin liners).

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Genesis 47:28 – 50:26 | Vayechi | “And He Lived”

Happy 2026! It’s wild to me that we’ve not only finished up the holiday season — a particularly hectic and full one for our family this year (a birth, a death, and a broken bone) — but that this is also the last week with the beautiful book of Genesis. From the Jewish New Year, when I first decided to embark on this project, through the Gregorian New Year, I have learned so much by sitting with the text, going line by line. This project has truly been a gift.

The plan is to continue on through the book of Exodus, as it’s Dennis Prager’s favorite and the first in his series. I really hope you’ll join me, as I plan to post each Sunday morning going with the motions of the parsha.

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Carrot & Ginger Soup

If you have a cold or a sore throat, this is the soup for you. It’s been a sick staple in our household since 2017. Ginger is a soup-er star [pun intended] for gut-healing, immune-supporting meal, as ginger helps open sinuses, loosens congestion, soothes a sore throat, and relaxes tight chest muscles.

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Episode 204: My Favorite Baby & Toddler Books (That I Actually Enjoy Reading)

You guys… it is 2026. Happy New Year! 🎉✨

We made it. We survived the holiday season. And now we’re officially in that beautiful, fresh-start January energy — and I am so here for it.

To kick off the year, I thought it would be really fun to share something close to my heart: my favorite baby and toddler books. These aren’t necessarily tied to a strict age range. When I first sat down to make this list, I thought I’d organize it from birth to age three — but that list got very long, very fast.

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Genesis 44:18 – 47:27 | Vayigash | “And He Drew Near”

The week between Christmas and New Year is always a black hole of time, space, and energy. The rules don’t apply, and I’m typing this up 12 minutes before posting. This week, in the spirit of stretchy pants, no gym, and a glass of wine at 3pm on a Wednesday, I tried baking a chocolate pavlova, with homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit. I couldn’t get my egg whites and sugar to give me the stiff peaks I was supposed to get, but decided to bake anyway. It came out way better than I imagined for something that demanded stiff peaks. The chunk missing at the top… well, I have four children that also demanded they try it, before serving it after dinner. Anyway, our Joseph family drama continues!

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Why The Signature of All Things Took Me by Surprise

I’ve read (or rather, listened to) a lot of books, but The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert landed in that rare category: the kind of story that makes you want to slow down and savor it – because it’s rich and thoughtful. It’s a beautiful story that fills you up with the sheer fascination of nature, the history of science, country, and God. It’s a story that’s heavily character driven and has a lot of unpredictable wonder. In addition to lots of unpredictable wonder, there were many times where I had no idea where this book was going… which added to the fun.

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