Behind the inspiration…
Hi everyone! I’m Julie, and my passions in life are food, photography, and healthy living. I want to share my journey with you, along with amazing recipes and helpful tips for staying healthy and being your best you!
Food has always been a passion, an obsession…something I look forward to and savor. Seems like my passion for food grows each year, I think partly to food memory attachment…it’s a thing! I also believe it’s to everyone’s advantage to have a good balance between healthy living and what we consume. Yes, you can still enjoy some sweet treats or comfort food (just make sure the calories are worth it!) With a good balance of exercise and making healthier diet choices you will see a world of difference in how you feel, inside and out…but again, I stress…always allow some well-earned indulgences! …and by the way, prepared the right way or even eaten as is, healthy, whole foods can feel indulgent and be delicious also, just give it a try!
In my early 30’s I discovered my lactose intolerance, so a lot of my recipes are dairy free. Luckily now, there are a lot of non-dairy substitutes readily available locally or online to incorporate or substitute into recipes. After cutting out most dairy, I see now it was actually a blessing in disguise. It didn’t take long and the pounds were coming off, I felt better and had more energy (not to mention my digestion system immediately improved…good bye gas and bloating!) After seeing and feeling the results, I also cut my sugar and white bread intake and felt and looked even better. My skin was clear and glowing, the area under my eyes were less puffy, and eliminating those culprits definitely helped my waistline. I went from teeter-totting between 145-160 to my now happy average of 132 for the past 15 years.
One final thought:
Once a single mom, now happily married and “blending”, one of the most valuable things I’ve learned over the years is the attitude you put into the world, family, work…even strangers you meet…REALLY makes a huge difference in what you receive back and how you feel on the inside. That being said, I want to inspire you not only with recipes and tips, but also to wake up and look for something great in each day!
I hope you enjoy my mixture of healthy and indulgent recipes and also my healthy living tips!
A few fun facts about me: (Just in case you were wondering)
How I got started:
Let me be clear about this: I do NOT have any formal training as a cook and I am not a certified nutritionist. What I do have, is a bunch of self-taught, life training and passion for food, health, and photography. My desire and curiosity about food and health drives me to always research and keep learning. Much of my recipes are some of my family favorites from childhood, get-togethers, and new discoveries I’ve tried and loved along the way. The good news is….if I can make these recipes and have a healthy balance, SO CAN YOU!
I grew up with three older brothers in the country. We loved exploring the land around us and our uncle had a chicken and cow farm we would ride our bikes to and spend the day naming cows, feeding them persimmons, fishing at the pond or enjoying fresh plums or peaches straight off the tree. (occasionally the bull would chase us, but that made our day even more exciting…and now I have a cool story to tell when asked about the scar on my leg from the barbed wire fence) Those were the days!
Our parents instilled strong work ethics by delegating daily chores such as mowing the lawn, and working in the garden (…and countless buckets of snapping beans!) Of course, at the time I hated it, but looking back I am very grateful for everything our parents did for us. Thanks mom and dad! My main chore inside was to set the table and clean up the kitchen after dinner. I thoroughly enjoyed setting the table, folding the napkins, getting everything “just so.” Mom did most of the cooking, but since I was around eight years old, mom would let me experiment with making cakes, pies, and always let me help make Christmas cookies, loved it! (my favorite ones were candy cane cookies)
We had lots of cookbooks, my favorite was the big orange Betty Crocker one. When I moved out, mom wouldn’t let it go, understandably. I was so attached to it, I made it my mission to hunt one down, and behold…I found one in an antiques store a few years later, to have and cherish forever! I’m addicted to recipe books, I have over a hundred of them. To me, they are a new adventure awaiting with each recipe and I love to “tweak” or “reinvent” them in a new, fun, healthier way.
As a teen, I hated school, but loved soccer, dance class, and automotive technology was my favorite (love cars!) I excelled in automotive and went to national competitions two years in a row. Not sure of what I wanted do in life, I even took a year of animal care and management courses to start my journey to become a veterinarian, but decided that wasn’t for me (and thank goodness, because now I have severe allergies to cats!) It wasn’t long after, I got my first full time job as a Parts Specialist at a local car dealership at the age of 18 and made it a career for the next 25 years….and loved it! I’m currently still in the automotive industry as a car photographer and field representative and create recipes in my spare time.
My family:
My fun-loving husband, Kevin, helps with the photography sometimes and loves reaping the rewards of my hard day’s work by test tasting….oh, and he is my FAVORITE travel companion!✈ We are best friends and SO MUCH alike, and raised alike it is not funny. I have an amazing son that is a Marine…so proud of you Ryan! OORAH!!! I also have two sweet step children, Shelby and Hayden…also my test tasters, thanks guys!😉
My favorite foods:
I’m in love with sweet potatoes!!! I bake some almost every week to eat for lunch. I used to dust them with cinnamon and a little coconut oil, but now I just enjoy them plain…they are sweet enough if cooked just right. NEVER, EVER, boil sweet potatoes!!! …you’ll boil the yummy goodness and nutrients right out of them.
Close seconds: Chocolate (ONLY DARK, I don’t waste calories on the milk or white chocolate), coffee, eggs, hummus and guacamole….and my husband would be disappointed if I didn’t mention I drink a LOT of water, like I need it in arms reach wherever I go…he thinks I’m part camel.
Foods I avoid:
Corn! I avoid corn like the plague. It reeks havoc on my digestive system and is high in starch. Don’t get me wrong, at one time I LOVED corn on the cobb, popped corn, creamed corn….the taste is great, but not worth it. (Try finding a cereal without corn in it, VERY few out there!)
Dairy
Sugar…..ok, I want to fully avoid it, but lets be real…..I WILL still indulge in desserts at special times and occasions, or just to treat myself. (It also motivates me to workout harder so I CAN indulge a little! MOTIVATION BY FOOD!!!)
Peas. I just never liked the taste and texture….and as kids, we couldn’t leave the dinner table till we ate all our veggies, so I would slop on some A-1, or mustard just to down them.
Random facts:
I am an introvert (although I don’t seem like one when around people)
I am an extremely routine person - I even eat the same thing for breakfast almost everyday: Two eggs, scrambled in coconut oil, tumeric and pepper, and shredded wheat cereal with fresh blueberries (and a cup of coffee…of course!)
I am terrified of bugs and spiders, I would rather come across a snake.
I love cars and driving fast! I have even been to the Uvalde Proving Grounds in Texas to test drive vehicles with Continental tires, (my favorite brand tire of course.)
Favorite movies are Stand by Me, and all the Indiana Jones movies (ok, maybe not The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)….but Harrison Ford is the best!
My favorite season is fall for many reasons: Weather is just right, beautiful color in the trees, pumpkin everything, and it’s the start of the exciting holidays!