About Me

I am Melissa Joy – wife, mother and food lover.   I am lucky enough to stay home with my girls, which gives me the time and drive to slowly evolve with my kitchen experimentation.   I really do like to cook and I love to find inspiration online from fellow food bloggers and Pinterest posters.

I used to have a fairly set menu I would rotate through, often with the help of pre-packaged products. Then life threw us a curve ball when my husband required a quadruple bypass at the age of 39.  The diagnosis was heart disease due to genetics.  While I wasn’t an unhealthy cook, it became clear that the prepackaged items contained more sodium and some other junk that wasn’t great for anyone.  That’s when my search for healthier, home-cooked options really took off.

Now, I do not claim to cook exclusively heart-healthy, but I have learned to better balance what we consume.  I do believe in moderation and have also learned it doesn’t pay to skimp in some areas – for instance, butter vs. margarine.  There is NO substitute for butter in baked goods.  Period.  The secret is to eat a moderate portion of the baked goods, not the whole cake or pie for breakfast.  You get where I’m coming from, I’m sure.

I do believe whole-heartedly that God created food and drink for our enjoyment.  It is an art to create a perfectly balanced meal that delights all of your senses.  I also believe you do not need to be a Michelin star rated chef to achieve that at home.  Don’t get me wrong – I completely adore a chef-created masterpiece in a restaurant and obsess about watching professional chef TV shows and movies and dream of visiting their restaurants.  But I don’t think we need to be intimidated in the kitchen of our own homes where all the “rules” need not apply.

I am blessed to have a family that rolls with my whims.  Neither of my teenage girls are picky, nor have they ever been.  My husband didn’t branch out from meat and potatoes until he met me, but now he is all about trying new things.  We love Indian, Mediterranean, Asian, Italian, Mexican….the list goes on and on.

I am not an expert in anything, but I am deeply passionate about food, where it comes from, how it makes us feel, etc.  I hope to share a bit of my passion and hopefully inspire you to try something new, too.

Happy Eating!!