MY LATEST IDEAS FOR YOU

infographic showing the different types of food made from soy and their nutritional benefits

Soy Foods: Perfectly Good Source of Protein Caught in Misinformation

It's time to stop being frightened by a word and a bean. Estrogen and phytoestrogen are not interchangeable. And soybeans are not estrogen pills. I'd hate to see an extraordinarily useful, nutritious and ancient food pushed off our plates because we confused the two.

Cynthia

9m4 min read

Headlines often aren't telling the whole story about nutrition

Eat This, Never Eat That, Live Forever. Really?

After decades of nutritional whiplash, perhaps there's something reassuring about how unexciting much of the broad dietary advice actually is. Eat a variety of vegetables and fruits. Eat legumes, whole grains and nuts. Favor foods that aren't heavily processed. Diet that we can actually live with and thrive on can't be reduced to a single food.

Cynthia

23h5 min read

The late chef Charlie Abowd in his kitchen at Adele's Carson City, Nevada

Golden Beet Soup — For Charlie

Some recipes carry more than their ingredients. I first made this golden beet soup at least fifteen years ago. I took a photograph of it and, as one did in those days, posted it on Facebook. My phone rang almost immediately. It was Charlie Abowd. My friend, the late Charlie Abowd, in his restaurant - Adele's - in Carson City, Nevada Charlie was the chef and owner of Adele's in Carson City, a James Beard chef, a good friend, and someone who generously mentored and encouraged m

Cynthia

4d4 min read

Welcome!

I've been on this current path for about 15 years now — long enough to have made mistakes, changed my mind a few times, and figured out what actually works.

I started Simply By Cynthia as a place to share what I was learning about plant-based cooking and running a home well. Those things are still here. But the questions I was asking in the kitchen — about where things come from, what they cost, and what they leave behind — eventually followed me into every corner of my life.

Today my home runs on rooftop solar with Tesla Powerwall backup. I've been driving electric for more than a decade. I eat a whole-food, plant-based diet. And I spend a lot of time thinking about how the choices we make at the most practical, everyday level connect to much bigger things. My home has become something of a working model — for what's possible, what's affordable, and what genuinely makes life more comfortable and satisfying.

I'm not an expert in any official sense. I'm someone who has been paying close attention for a long time, asking questions, doing the math, and living with the results. What I share here is what I've actually learned — the practical stuff first, and the bigger picture when you're ready for it.

If you're curious about any of it — the food, the energy, the philosophy, or just how to make your home work better and cost less — you're in the right place.

Cynthia

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