My cooking and baking style is "HUGE with healthy and a dab of decadence!" I love living a healthy lifestyle which includes exercising, eating healthy and cooking well.  I aslo enjoy eating delicious food.  I don't believe in crash diets, but I do believe in conscientious and conscious eating habits.  Some amazing food recipes are worth their weight in calories, but others can be tweaked to be healthier! Through much of my own experimentation and research, I've gleaned a multitude of "inspired" recipes and cooking hacks such as...not everything good has to be made from scratch and not everything good needs to be made with tons of butter! It is my pleasure to share my and selective guest contributors' baking or cooking recipes and findings with you all.

Michelle Sam profile

Many of my recipes are "ethnically" inspired as a result of my upbringing as a Chinese in South Africa and my travels around the world where I love to "live and eat like the locals".  After being diagnosed with pre-diabetes a few years ago, I started researching the wonders of sourdough and am on a mission to create recipes that are healthier while keeping them interesting and delicious.

Check out my recipessourdough digesttips & tricks as well as my helpful tools section.  So, tie on an apron and come join me in my kitchen!  Also,  please send me requests, questions or comments in the comment section.  I'd love to hear from you. Lastly, I would love and appreciate a follow on social media.  Thanks!



My Latest Recipes


Growing up in South Africa, one of my family's favorite baked goods besides Black forest cake was Boston brown bread.  My family loved slices of this molasses-sweetened, hearty bread, lathered with butter! When I decided to develop my own Boston brown bread, I wanted to change 2 things.  It needed to be healthier and more moist without compromising the taste. READ MORE

DELICIOUS EASY CHILI

A few weeks ago, I came to the disappointing realization that I had never uploaded one of my favorite, go-to GET THE RECIPE

CRISPY SKIN SALMON SALAD

Fish oil is very healthy, especially as we age.  According to some research, fish oil helps with reducing heart disease, GET THE RECIPE

EASY BASIC VINAIGRETTE

I believe a salad is truly enhanced by the quality of the dressing.  When I was in high school, I GET THE RECIPE

SHAKSHUKA

Many years ago, one of my daughter's introduced me to shakshuka.  She kept raving about her roommate's shakshuka and wanted GET THE RECIPE

FAMILY FAVORITE MEATLOAF

Being South African, I never grew up with meatloaf.  During my years at an American boarding school and college, I GET THE RECIPE

TACO SALAD

This taco salad is one of my favorite salads to eat as well as to serve.  I've been making this GET THE RECIPE

HEALTHY CILANTRO PEPITA DRESSING

  This healthy cilantro pepita dressing is a delicious salad dressing that just wraps up a taco salad or served GET THE RECIPE

TENDER, JUICY CHICKEN BREAST KEBABS

I know chicken breasts (white meat) are healthier than chicken thighs (dark meat) and when it comes to ordering grilled GET THE RECIPE

EASY SHRIMP SALAD with all purpose seasoning

If you ever come to my house and look in the freezer, you'll always find a bag of individually quick GET THE RECIPE

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Cooking Tips & Tricks


If you enjoy the outdoors and foraging for food, especially fishing, then cleaning a whole (Read more)

How to clean a whole fish

What is better than a healthy avo toast for breakfast?  For me, avo toast with (Read more)

Easy, homegrown sprouts

I love the outdoors, especially fishing.  On a recent trip to Nantucket, I had the (Read more)

How to clean and prepare squid

Many sourdough starter recipes out there are derived from professional bakers who bake multiple loaves (Read more)

Sourdough starter for the home baker

Many people think that scoring your sourdough is just for aesthetic purposes.  I used to (Read more)

Scoring your sourdough

Making GOOD and healthy sourdough bread is a labor of love.  It takes time and (Read more)

Making the bread dough

What is a starter?  What is a levain? Some recipes use the word starter and (Read more)

Maintaining the starter, making the levain

Environment It took me a while to figure out how my environment was a huge (Read more)

Understanding sourdough: adapting to the environment

Baker's percentages and hydration percentages are two math concepts that are helpful when baking bread. (Read more)

Bread Math: Baker’s Percentages

Need some quick meal ideas?

EASY, HEALTHY, DELICIOUS!

EASY CREAM OF PUMPKIN SOUP
TACO SALAD
GRILLED CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICH
SPLIT PEA, VEGETABLE and HAM SOUP
MARBELED SOY SAUCE EGGS

About Michelle Sam

Michelle was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and has been a passionate eater since birth and cook since age 7. She later started experimenting in the kitchen, recreating and tweaking dishes she discovered on vacation and her travels to countries around the world. Michelle currently lives in Irvine, CA and manages a tech company that she founded ten years ago. When she isn't working with her engineers to write code, she can be found in her kitchen absorbed in a new project. When Michelle's two daughters moved to the East Coast, she filmed a few cooking tutorial videos to help guide her girls to make their favorite "Mom dishes" on their own. To Michelle's dismay, it appeared that thousands of anonymous viewers enjoyed her tutorial videos...but not her daughters! They would still call her for instructions. Michelle also started The OC Supper Club, a group of foodies that get together for member-lead cooking class meals, potluck competitions, and tastings through the many hidden culinary gems of Orange County.


Update:  I recently posted a very silly video that has nothing to do with cooking.  My girls apparently watch it almost every day!

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