I often have a cantaloupe around in the summer.  I love cantaloupe and I love that they are so inexpensive and just the perfect size to pig out on for 1-2 people (I married with no kids).  Cantaloupe is also very high in vitamin C and A.  I cup has 95% of RDA (recommended daily Allowance) and 106% of vitamin A along with other vitamins and minerals.

My husband and I were invited to a cook out at our friends house.  They were making burgers on the grill and a salad.  While they didn't ask us to bring anything I thought it would be nice to make something.  The tricky thing is the couple hosting follows the Paleo diet and one of them hates all veggies and fruit.   Hummmm...   So I had to think what would be Paleo that most people would like, that wouldn't need to be refrigerated, and doesn't have veggies or fruit?   I scoured through my pinterest boards, (finally all my time putzing around on pinterest has paid off), and then I had it, brownies.  Who doesn't like brownies? They're always great for a picnic or pot luck!

This chocolate peanut butter popcorn is so easy to make from home!  This popcorn is perfect for movie night, game day, or any day really.  I know I could eat a big bowl every day.  It's super addicting!  :)  Not a fan of peanut butter?  No problem just substitute it with almond butter.

I'm currently addicted to these muffins.  I seriously can't stop eating them.  I can eat them for Breakfast lunch and dinner right?  Think cheesy sausage omelet cooked to perfection crossed with a muffin.  Next time I make it I plan to use my large muffin pan so I don't feel like such a pig eating 4 or 5 muffins at a time!  These are great for brunch or an easy hearty breakfast to go.  They'd even be great for a picnic! 

While I don't follow a strict Paleo diet (the caveman diet), I do try to limit the amount of grains I have in my diet and replace it with vegetables.  I only use grains when very necessary in a recipe.  And then I try to have whole grain gluten free if possible.

My husband and I were invited to a friend's for the 4th of July yesterday and while we weren't expected to bring anything, I decided to try to make something to bring.  I wanted to make something most people would like that could hold up for a half in our in our car with no air conditioning, was picnic friendly (don't need a fork to eat!), healthy, and easy and didn't require baking (cause who wants to bake in July).

My husband and I have been eating a paleo diet most of the time (no grains, refined sugar, or dairy) and reserving non paleo foods for when nothing else will really do.  Luckily pancakes is one thing we can easily make without grains now because these pancakes are just as good as any pancake mix if not better! These are so fluffy and seriously addicting.  I've been having this nearly every day since I created this recipe.  I can't stop myself!  Lately I've been making it as a waffle because it takes less time (since it cooks bigger than a pancake) and I don't have to check it to worry about flipping it.  I've been making extra and freezing the rest (instructions are below for that).  Wow is that awesome.  They heat up just as good as when they are fresh and it only takes 8-10 min in the oven.

I think I'm in food love and I just had to share it with everyone.  I just made the most moist delicious healthy cake ever.  Seriously, no joke this cake is soooooo good you'll find yourself dreaming of it.  But the best part is since it's healthy you won't feel guilty for falling in love and pigging out.  I'm not a fan of dry sheet cake that has overly sweet frosting.  This is the complete opposite!  It's super moist with almost a spongy structure to it (versus a crumbly texture), with a strong chocolate flavored ganache (the stuff in the middle of a truffle) frosting (that's crazy easy to make by the way).  I know everyone has a different ideal of what healthy really is.  So why do I call this recipe healthy?  Well it's mostly comprised of just beans (packed with protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals, eggs (complete protein and vitamins), and coconut oil (a healthy oil that your body burns faster).  That's it, seriously.  It does have sugar, but is really low in it (only 1/3 cup of honey plus the sugar in the 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips ) and the fiber and oil in the cake should help keep your blood sugar stable and make this cake GI (Glycemic Index) friendly.

For over 6 months I've been trying to avoid grains as much as possible, and when I do have them I try to go GF (gluten free) and whole grain as much as possible.  This means bread and bread like products such as crackers have not been a big part of my diet for awhile.  I have started to miss it after awhile, so I am so excited to have finally learn how to make my own grain free crackers that are seriously good.  I almost bought some to go with my Sun Dried Tomato Bacon Bean Dip I made for a pot luck, but even the whole grain fiber crackers I saw at the store had bad fats in them, unbleached four and likely GMO (genetically modified Organisms) ingredients in it, not to mention preservatives. I decided after my trip to the store to finally cross of learn to make crackers from my list. 

Lately I created a salad I just can't get enough of, so of course I had to share it here!  We've been harvesting 3 1/2 to 4 lbs every 3 days (although it's starting to wind down now) and I love strawberries in salads with a vinaigrette dressing.  I started thinking of creating a recipe for chipolte chicken to contrast with the sweet of the strawberries, and I'm so glad I did.

For the last few months I have been trying to have low sugar and carbs (only complex carbs), because of a yeast imbalance that I have (sugar feeds yeast, and refined carbs break down to sugar).  And I've also been trying to gluten free as much as possible.  Given all my new restrictions their are certain foods I haven't had in a long time.  One of them is pancakes.   I came across a recipe on Blogiliates (I actually follow Casey Ho's pilates lessons online and was surprised to find she has amazing recipes too.  I had no idea) for pancakes made with protein powder as flour, hummm... interesting I  thought.  Could they really be good?  They looked normal.  It seemed to simple, I was skeptical.  I tried her recipe slightly altered.  I did not use psyllium husk, even though I had it on hand because I have found psyllium husk to get a gummy and weird texture when exposed to liquid for to long.  So I used flax meal in place of psyllium husk.  I was also worried about the fact that there was no leaveners used in the recipe (to produce the air bubbles).   I added some baking powder and just a little baking soda.  It turned out a little cardboard like and broke when I tried to flip it.  I could tell the recipe had promise but needed some work.  Enter my quest for the perfect low carb high protein gluten free pancake. 

I have come to realize that through the use of long term antibiotics, years of a crappy diet, and birth control pills I have completely messed up all my good bacteria (my GI Tract).  This is seriously not good for my long term health.  I can only assume my immune system is low, and my digestive tract is in bad shape, not to mention my liver (due to the toxins excessive yeast release).    I am off of my antibiotics now and pumping my body full of probiotics. I am taking a high dose probiotic (raw probiotics) twice a day and eating yogurt once a day as a snack or drinking my banana shake with keifer (recipe will be posted soon).  I wanted to find even more ways to add probiotics to my diet.  I keep hearing about kimchi, and was tempted to try it but scared, what if I hate it?  When I saw Kimichi fried rice in the freezer aisle at Trader Joe's I knew I had to try it. If you follow this blog you've probably noticed I've had a recent obsession with fried rice so this was right up my alley.   I rarely ever buy frozen meals anymore, but I figured it was worth it to try it and see if I liked it.  I figured this would be a safe cheap way to try it (it cost like $2-$3  word of caution I don't know if the frozen version I tried had any live good bacteria or enzymes).  My husband and I both loved it.  It really did taste good.  In fact once I got use to the taste I actually crave it sometimes.  I  recently made my own version using early spring veggies from my garden, wild rice and chicken and it was so good!I can't wait to try it with other dishes.  Gourmet has a kimchi quesadellia that's calling my name...

I was faced recently with wanting to make lunch for myself quickly, so I was thinking of what I had on hand I could use quickly.  I had rice in the fridge and shrimp so I started to think of making a stir fry.  Then I started thinking of making shrimp scampi.  They both sounded good and I couldn't decide.  And then it hit me, shrimp scampi fried rice?  Italian meets Asian.  So I totally made this up on the fly, and boy is it good and easy!  I plan to make this often.  I've been trying to have frozen wild shrimp in the freezer all the time so this shouldn't be hard.  I've decided to keep this always stocked in our house because sea food is so healthy for you and easy to make, but I worry about mercury and what farmed seafood is fed (they're only good for you because of the food they eat in the wild).  It doesn't leave me much to chose from, but wild shrimp I think should be good (plus it can go from frozen to cooked in like 5 min) due to the fact it's low on the food chain and therefore unlikely to have mercury.   I also always make a big batch of rice and freeze the extra in wide mouth freezable canning jars, so all I have to do is but it in the refrigerator to defrost overnight.

I love hash browns, and over the years I have developed tips to make the best and quickest hash browns from scratch, so here they are!

from chow

How To Make Hash Browns in Half the Time
Sometimes I skip hash browns because they take too long.  That was until I had a great idea about how to make them in half the time.  Are you ready for it?  Use your waffle iron or you could probably use a panini press or George Foreman style grill.  I used my Black and Decker  waffle iron/ griddle/grill. It turns out crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.  No turning or flipping.

• Just grate organic potatoes on the large holes of a box grater. 
• set your grill to medium temp
• Strain water out of the shredded potatoes (see below)
• spray grill with grapeseed or safflower oil (because it is non gmo oils that are high heat)
• put hash browns on the grill sprinkle with pink salt (or season salt, my secret ingredient) and shredded cheddar cheese if you want and cook for 8-10 min

How To Make Your Hash Browns Crispy
I heard on America's Test Kitchen that you need to squeeze out the water in the potatoes before cooking them.  I used a clean dish cloth (only to stain it brown due to the potato liquid) and have been using this method ever since.  I did however read on Simply Recipes that a potato ricer works better at squeezing out the water.  I will certainly try this next time and post here how it went.

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When your so busy you don't have time to cook, it makes you appreciate good food when you finally do have the time to cook!  I've been dreaming of cheesy grits with bacon for days and I finally was able to make it.  It was worth the wait!

My husband loves tacos, so do I, so I make this almost once a week!  So this recipe is very well tested. In the spring and fall when we have a ton of cilantro, I actually use it in place of lettuce!  This recipe is altered from America's Test Kitchen, my cooking bible, so you know it's good.