May is Lyme Awareness Month

This month is Lyme Awareness Month. As someone who has suffered from Lyme for the last nine years, trust me when I say... wear your chemicals! I know, I talk constantly about a natural, non- toxic lifestyle but when it comes to Lyme Disease permethrin and Deet (over 40% concentration) are your best friends. You can get Lyme all year round but now is when the new nymphs are hatching, so their is a larger prevalence.

New Food Post

Cooper is waiting (not so) patiently for another food post... I promise there will be one soon! So if you like raw yogurt and cheesecake keep checking back!

Vegan Speedy Dessert

So, the other day I was seriously craving dessert but I didn't have the energy to make anything from scratch or go to the store.

Well, did you know that a lot of cake mixes and frostings already packaged are vegan? (Just use egg replacer instead of eggs when making it)

So, I made spice cupcakes and cream cheese frosting in a flash and ate way too many.

The frosting tasted nothing like cream cheese and of course I worried about all the ingredients in the mix that I couldn't pronounce, but I'd probably do it again if I was in another dessert jam...

Eating Healthy on a Budget

This post mostly pertains to living in San Diego, but the stores may be in your area too. This post helps me to figure out where to get my healthy groceries while saving the most money, but it isn't as gas- efficient as shopping all in one place, so keep that in mind when figuring out your own shopping needs.

Trader Joe's

no sales, but always low prices.

best price on:

nut butters

protein bars (when other places aren't having sales)

cereal

oatmeal

frozen vegetables and fruit

coffee

tea

salad dressing

agave

hummus

general needs vitamins

flowers

eggs

milk

butter

yogurt

Henry's

has weekly sale items and stocks more variety of items than Trader Joe's included health food items as well as supplements and vitamins.

best price on:

bulk bin items such as nuts, grains, pasta, snacks, granola, flour, etc...

organic produce

Whole Foods

Has more variety than Henry's or Trader Joe's but generally more expensive. Has coupons available in weekly flyer that can make items the least expensive of the three. Amazing amount/ quality of free samples.

Is perfect for finding those sought after health- food items and emerging trends in the health industry including cookbooks, magazines, and personal products

Has an excellent variety of quality organic produce

best price on:

couponed items

Red, White and Blue Oats

So the other day I was craving oatmeal but I wanted to add a little protein to it so I thought to throw in some of my new red quinoa from the store. Made with coconut milk and topped with fresh blueberries it tasted incredibly decadent even though it was healthy. Steel cut oats and quinoa take a little longer to cook than regular rolled oats. If you want to cut down on the cooking time listed in the recipe, soak them in the milk overnight and then you only have to heat them through in the morning.

In a couple of weeks it's memorial day so this would be a patriotic and tasty breakfast to make for your family. I'm hoping, though, that the weather will have finally turned around here and the last thing on our minds is a hot breakfast!

Click here for the recipe...

An oldie but goodie... Hummus!

I made hummus for the first time! I know people have been making their own hummus for forever, but it was a new treat for me. I started with dried chickpeas instead of canned and kind of guessed at the other ingredients so I have no idea if it's actually authentic. It tasted like hummus to me, and it tasted amazing! This makes a thicker hummus, not quite as thin as the kind you buy in the tub. That was on purpose, because I get tired of making veggie sandwiches where the hummus falls out of the bread! If you want to make yours more of the traditional consistency then just add a little extra lemon juice. I highly recommend using the dried chickpeas as well, it made for a great flavor and only takes a little thinking ahead and some water!

Click here for the recipe...

Cabbage, Spring onion and Potato Cakes

This recipe was inspired by the mashed potatoes my fiancee, Ian and I had in Ireland over the summer. On a farm in Southern Ireland we had Colcannon- mashed potatoes filled with cabbage that was cooked in butter. In Northern Ireland we had Champ- mashed potatoes filled with chopped, cooked spring onions. Both were delicious and we ate more than our fill of them. So I put the two recipes together and made potato cakes to make them slightly more unique. They tasted great, but didn't make great leftovers micro-waved so make sure you finish them up or reheat them in the oven for the best turnout.

Click here for the recipe...