Welcome!

In 2006, I had a defining moment when I simply just got tired of feeling crappy, eating boxed and frozen foods and wasting my money eating out. Up until this point, I hadn't really "cooked" much of anything ...so began the kitchen science experiments --- aka dinner. I fell in love with cooking and with whole foods... the magnificent colors of fruits and vegetables, the vibrant taste of in-season produce, their healing and nourishing properties and the empowerment I had in my own kitchen to provide a delicious, homemade, healthy meal for my family, my friends and myself.

In 2007, my brother (at 26) became very ill. I was so desperate to find something health restorative to help his body with this fight for his life. It was then that I realized on a deeper level, food matters. What you put in your body every day does indeed have an effect on your health and wellbeing; and it all adds up over time. I searched and researched for healing foods that weren't laced with chemicals and strange additives to help my brother during this critical time in his life. And despite my many questions to the hospital staff, there were still no answers. I felt woefully inadequate, helpless and simply did not know enough.

This lack of knowledge and options in the realm of natural health and nutrition burdened me. What also burdened me was that the general population in VA didn’t have access to this information either. This lit a fire within me that was unquenchable and it set me on this mission to go get educated at the best school in the US for whole foods nutrition and natural health. My husband and I picked up our roots from Virginia and moved our lives to Seattle, Washington in 2009 so I could earn my degree in Nutrition and Culinary Arts at Bastyr University.

My heart is to share with others the healing power of food, that we are whole beings... mind, body and spirit, so what we eat, what we think and how we connect to each other, to God and to the things around us, they all matter and have direct impact on our quality of life.

While "Pickled" is about simple living, it's also about getting stuck in a pickle. We all want to slow down a bit, eat better, take better care of ourselves, invest our time in things that are important to us, but who has the time? It’s this perpetual pickle most of us are stuck in. I hope to offer some relief, some fresh air, some inspiration, one recipe and one blog at a time.

Here are a few topics you’ll find here at “Pickled”:

- Whole foods recipes and cooking tips
- What food to buy, where to buy it and how to choose good quality food
- Food history, energetics and therapeutic properties
- Balanced meals on small budgets
- Mindfulness and having a healthy relationship with food
- Building your home medicine cabinet with herbs and food
- Tips on organic gardening and living more sustainably

Thanks for stopping by!

All the best,
Shelly