“You eat with your eyes first”
…Hi! I’m Noreen. A huge foodie. I love to cook, eat, read cookbooks, watch cooking shows and talk a whole lot about food. Food to me is an endless topic. I could learn, eat and talk about food every day of my life and not get bored. I find comfort in my kitchen whether it’s making a complex meal for guests or simply fixing a grilled cheese for one. Cooking to me isn’t a chore, it’s more of a creative outlet that expresses who I am and what I am feeling. To taste a dish that turns out well is an expression of myself that I couldn’t put into words and it is greatly fulfilling. Even if you aren’t a cook you can’t deny that the simple act of eating good food does more than just nourish your body, it creates memories, comforts, excites and does wonders for the soul.
After meeting the love of my life and moving to the United States from India in 2011, it didn’t take long for my husband to see my obsession with food, as I spend the majority of my time in the kitchen testing new recipes, while watching the food network or eating. He also quickly learned to be patient with me as I took pictures of everything we ordered at restaurants, before he could dig in. I never shared the pictures with anyone but my family on occasion to tease them of my delicious escapades. With the encouragement and persuasion of my husband, I started this recipe blog to share my passion and recipes with more of you out there.
Part of my childhood I lived in the Middle-East and then later in India. We traveled a fair amount and as a family loved eating a wide variety of cuisines. Mediterranean was always one of our favorites and often made a feature on our meal rotations. Greek Moussaka, Indian Biryani, Burmese Khow Suey, Chinese Lemon Chicken, English Shephards/Cottage pie… weren’t exotic dishes in our household. My mom experimented and made these dishes a part of our daily meals …we ate Indian one day, Lebanese the next, Chinese to Italian. There didn’t have to be a special occasion to eat good food. It was just part of our everyday life. Which is why you’ll find I don’t really have a set cuisine or niche as to say. It’s really just a hodge-podge of different cuisines and food I like eating here on my blog. The only common factor is nothing will lack flavor!
After a few years of hobby blogging, just whenever I felt like it I hit a little downward spiral of plain ol’ being lazy about food and cooking, a lot of junk food and eating out. Which is why I stopped posting as much. Last year I decided to turn things around kick-starting with the Whole30 Program (See Why I did the Whole30 Program here). It really helped me hit restart and get back into cooking good wholesome meals from scratch. The one’s that just nourish your body and soul and don’t make you feel guilty or crappy after eating them. I had every intention of getting back to blogging new and improved clean-eating recipes in 2017. But a series of health-related things popped up and off the wagon I fell, straight into the pit of not-so-healthy eating again.
Here I am in August 2017 and I’m ready to pick myself back-up, quit making excuses and start fresh again! I am putting it down here in writing, to hold myself accountable.
Even though it’s trendy to cut out all grains, all sugar, all carbs, eat lots of proteins and “good” fats, eat Paleo, eat Keto, eat plant-based and vegan….it’s really about listening to your own body. Only if you really listen, can you make a real sustainable lifestyle change. In the process of doing Whole30 I started to actually crave clean, made-from-scratch foods because I felt so much better and had more energy. After doing the re-introduction stage of Whole30 I learned a lot about myself. My body still felt good and more satiated when I included some whole grains and legumes & beans, in moderation of course. I didn’t feel so great after re-introducing a lot of dairy like cheese and milk, however plain Greek yogurt was ok. And not so shockingly, any processed food, white flour and sugar however made me feel back to my bloated sluggish self and it also made me crave more unhealthy foods.
Based on listening to my body and everything learned over the past year and a half, I am committed to making my own lifestyle shift. My clean eating may not be gluten, grain, carb, meat or sugar free so as to say, but it will be real ingredients, balanced, made from scratch with healthier substitutes when needed. I won’t moralize my food choices as “good” or “bad” and I won’t deprive myself completely of something that I like, but rather include it in my lifestyle as a treat instead making it a habit. I do intend on splurging once in a while and ordering whatever I want when eating out, but the rest of the time…I am determined to be fairly good.
As part of my fresh clean eating and blogging start, you can expect to see more wholesome balanced meals, more ethnic-inspired recipes, adaptable recipes for people doing whole30 or paleo diets and just simple scratch meals. That’s not to say there won’t be the seemingly “unhealthy” recipe thrown in sometimes as everyone needs some decadence and comfort from food to nourish your soul on occasion. I hope you enjoy the recipes and all I have to share on here. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions or e-mail me at [email protected] You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest & Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my NEW YouTube Channel
Nice reading about you as I am also like you to some extend. cooking is my passion yet I am in learning process 🙂
Thank you so much for your falafel recipe. Very good!
Love your website and blog! I am going to try the apple coleslaw tonight. As a working single parent of two boys who are extremely picky, I am always looking for interesting and easy to prepare foods. I am also from the
Caribbean, so I do enjoys melas that are well seasoned and colorful. Your recipes fit that bill.
Thanks again!
great..
I was lucky enough to stumble across your site today by following a link from another website. Your Valentine’s mixed drink with the cute strawberry hearts looks delicious! I’m going to fix it after I have this baby in a couple of months.
Thanks Renee! It is one of my favorite cocktails…I do hope you try it and like it. Congratulations on the baby 🙂
Well can see how you want to cook being so far away from home. I can also see how you have such a wonderful site being a content writer and all that. I am an old fashioned writer who has stumbled onto the internet and despite being here for a long time am still struggling with the medium.
I am not an inspired cook but you have inspired me with these simple, beautiful recipes that I can follow with pictures of what I am supposed to be doing. I will be trying your Greek Marinated Salmon with Tzatziki this weekend and can’t wait – it looks so delicious!
Thanks Jackie! That salmon recipe is one of my favorites 🙂
Your site is amazing! I am a very visual learner so your website is GREAT! You also break it down so easily so it’s really simple to follow. THANK YOU!! 🙂
Thank you Cindy! 🙂
Hi Noreen, I’ve not try out any of your recipes.
But from the instructions, it looks simple enough and I’m braving myself to give them a try.
I come from a family whereby my dad, mom and sis are good cooks. Hence, there was never a need for me to do any cooking myself. I’ll be getting married soon and move to our own condo with my husband. I am so excited to start cooking for him.
Hi Winnie,
I’m glad you’re going to give some recipes a try. They really are pretty simple and I’m sure you can do it! 🙂
good.
Hi Noreen,
I liked your website and loved the presentation and pictures on the web. Please email me.
Thank you
Asma
Hello Noreen and congratulatios for you and your husband, I’m Adrián, and I’m from Costa Rica. It means, my english isn’t very fluently but I really love to know people who their passion about “everything”.
Keep doing it and, again CONGRATULATIONS.
Sorry ….people who SHARE their passion…
Hi Noreen!
I am so glad I found your Website. I can’t wait to try out your recipes! Thanks
Hi I’m Tahera
My husband is crazy and has a passion for food. He’s constantly asking me 2 try new recipes. I haven’t tried your recipes yet but my reading your blog, I’m inspired to try your recipes.
Many thanks
I tried the balsamic steak rolls and they are a hit! They are absolutely yummy and my daughter loves the veggies!
Liked your recipes, but it’s hard to read them on screen. The thin typeface you use is drowned out by the white background. Why not use verdana, which is created for web pages? Your legibility would be greatly increased.
Hi Noreen
Your website and presentation are amazing as are your recipes. Some of the amazingly simple recipes like the Oven roasted black pepper chicken taste awesome. I am from India so the ginger garlic touch was cool. The Santa hat brownies turned out great too. Thank you.
Thank you Abraham for you kind words. It warms my heart when someone tries the recipes and enjoys them! 🙂
Hi I was wondering if you know the calories for one lasagna roll up with meat? And one with tuna?
Thank you
Making your Lamb Bolognese sauce…but didn’t have carrots, so using chopped red bell pepper…and no feta, but will stir in some creamy goat cheese at the end. Kitchen smells awesome right now! Looks like you have lots of delicious ideas there! Thanks for sharing!
I am so glad to hear you trying my recipes. Goat cheese in the lamb bolognese sounds yummy!
Hi,
I love how you have presented your recipes. I am going to try your khow suey this weekend when my children come. I can’t wait for their comments.
Good luck with your site.
Love the presentation of your stuff. Thank you for putting up the recipe for Khow Suey!
Keep up the good work!
Himade your steak Guinness pie it was amazing thanks
Thank you for sharing your story and home cook culinary journey. I’m sure that you inspire many who may be hesitant to take the big step of trying out a new cuisine.
All the best
Noreen, I’m happy to discover your website, recommended by my good friends, growing up with the Hiskey family in Greenleaf, Idaho in the 1960s. I ran around with Kate and Ione, spent many nights at their house. I’ve gotten reacquainted with Sammy the last 12 years or so. I love cooking, have a big recipe book collection, etc. Anyway, I’m checking out your recipes and happy to discover you!!! Sincerely, Judi (Duncan) Andrews (lives is Kent, WA, but soon moving back to the Salem Oregon area).