Food is universal and serves as a way to communicating with people of all cultures.   Food is necessary to sustain ourselves, but one’s choices of what is eaten is another story.  As the saying goes “You are what you eat.”

Tablespoons and Teaspoons is created to show that it is possible to eat healthy and feel better without breaking the wallet.  There will be posts on places to eat and drink in moderation.  But more importantly there will be posts on cost-effective recipes and each ingredient will be dissected to briefly discuss the food history and evidence-based research on its benefits on combating illness.

As a first generation Asian American Native New Yorker, it is easy to develop a deep connection of food and its potential benefits of alleviating symptoms of disease.   This passion was unraveled during my undergraduate studies as an intern for the long running  Project Health Care program at NYU/Bellevue in 2002.  Fast forward 13 years later with a MPH degree in Community Health Education at the CUNY School of Public Health, a MS degree in Health Communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign  and most recently a certified food literacy educator, I want to share this passion of 25 years in the making of food and medicine to help people live a healthier lifestyle.