It’s no secret here or to anyone I know I crave Mexican food all of the time, everyday. I love the balance of flavors it offers with acidity, sweetness, sour, and sometimes spicy, but always so good. Being on the cleanse I needed to find a way to eat tacos. Yes, it is difficult for me to not eat tacos for 21 days. I love tacos, clearly. I can eat tortillas on this cleanse, so long as they do not contain weird ingredients, they must be…

Did you know pears are a year round fruit? We think of them as winter bearing fruits, but in fact you can fresh of the tree fruit whenever you want. Especially here in the Pacific Northwest, pears are abundant and beautiful. I took this opportunity to add natural sweetness to a butternut squash soup recipe using pears. Also seeing as I just finished my 21 Day Food Lovers Cleanse, I am easing into eating meat again. So it was fun balancing…

This is a serious business kind of chicken. Although I gotta say, it is pretty easy as chicken cookery comes, it seems way fancier that it is. Appearance is everything right? It is as juicy as they come with the best lime flavor you could hope for. Am I selling this enough? I absolutely love this brick grilled lime chicken recipe, and have cooked it five times in one month, addicted much? In all seriousness it is really easy to put a flattened…

This is the easiest no heat using soup that the Summer can offer! Yes it’s soup. But it’s tortilla soup, so it doesn’t count in my book. You know when you want good food, but are running around enjoying Summer, working, and playing but also don’t want to eat out? That is what the crock pot is for, I think. I rarely use my crock pot, but it saves so much time, and avoids using hot stoves and ovens. Plus this tortilla…

Disclosure: This is a compensated post in collaboration with Gourmet Garden Herbs. As usual all opinions are my own. Thank you Gourmet Garden for making NJB awesomeness possible! Herb squash biscuits?!!! Yes. Ok, it’s just a smidge of squash but it’s there, and it is totally necessary. The squash made friends with the Gourmet Garden Oregano that I used in this recipe. They played off one another to give this biscuit a deep savory…

I love buttermilk cakes, they are my favorite. I am not just saying, oh I love buttermilk cakes, I mean, really they they are always the best. They lend a tangyness and light texture to the crumb of the cake. That is what I look for in this type of cake. Also technique plays a huge roll in this light texture. Buttermilk helps the team out, if you know what I mean. I enjoy sharing my tips and tricks learned from culinary school and working with…

It’s cold, rainy, and perfect weather to crank the ovens for this recipe. I make this granola throughout the year, using different ingredients, typically seasons flavor. So for now, I’ll stick with this exact recipe. I love the maple syrup and cardamom. It exudes Fall and makes me feel cozy. I topped my oatmeal with a scoop of this for a different texture, with a fresh pear diced in there. Breakfast bliss. Original: This recipe is…