Eating better, one pot of homemade soup per week at a time. Join me for a Soup Sunday Challenge! Are you looking to eat better in the New Year? Less convenience food, more whole foods? More vegetables and less processed food? Perhaps, like me, you have a busy schedule but would like to make a…
Family
The 13 Desserts: A Provençal Christmas Tradition
This is one French Christmas tradition that is easier to create than it sounds. The 13 Desserts are a Provençal Christmas tradition that have much more to do with laying out a sweet spread for your family and guests to pick from then making thirteen intricate desserts. A sweet grazing board, if you will, that…
Healthy and easy school lunch ideas
In this article I share my 5 favorite healthy and easy school lunch ideas. Does the thought of making packed lunches again every day for your kids make you shudder? Trying to make a healthy, balanced lunch (that they actually eat) on top of everything else that you have to do? For me, getting back…
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a Romantic French Menu
Are you cooking at home for Valentine’s Day? As a Chef’s wife I have gotten used to not celebrating Valentine’s Day on the actual day. Instead, Le Chef and I enjoy cooking a romantic meal together at home the day before or after Valentine’s. We plan ahead for a restaurant-worthy meal that will feel special….
Healthy Freezer Meal Batch Cooking
How I cook 24 made-from-scratch meals in one hour with my healthy freezer meal batch cooking technique As a working mom with two kids I don’t have a lot of time to be cooking every day. However, it is a priority for me to be able to serve healthy, tasty meals to my family. I…
Simple French Toast Recipe
Le Chef’s Wife Simple French Toast Recipe First published on Little Birdies Blog Like many people this year I have been at home with my kids. I am blessed with a beautiful, head-strong 3 year old daughter and a, so far, mild tempered 2 month old son. While I have LOVED all the time that…
How to host a drive by Baby Shower
If, like me, you are pregnant and worried about having a baby shower during a pandemic, I think you will find these tips on how to host a drive by baby shower useful. After months at home with barely any contact with the outside world, having a drive by baby shower was one of the…
How a French Riviera study exchange turned into a career in luxury hotels
By: Anina Belle Giannini Article first published on Renatahaidle.com May 26 2020 What started out as a 3 month study exchange program to the French Riviera… I was 23 years old when I arrived in Nice for my university study exchange. My expat experience began as most study abroad experiences do. I made a great…
French Easter Traditions
French Easter Traditions in the South of France France, and especially the South of France, has a strong catholic heritage and Easter weekend is not only a three but a four day public holiday. With the temperatures between the high 60s and mid 70s in April on the French Riviera, you can imagine how busy…
Introducing Le Chef’s Baby Books – A children’s book series for foodies.
Follow along on our journey to publish a children’s book series about good food and healthy eating habits with a francophile twist, bien sûr! Almost two years ago I began working on a children’s book series together with my husband and the exceptionally talented illustrator, Elena Fay. In reading bedtime stories to my daughter I…
