Stuffed shells have got to be one of my all-time favorite meals.  In fact, when I need to feed a crowd on occasion, this is my go-to signature dish.  In my opinion, it's some of the best Italian comfort food, so easy to make, and a perfect setting for the healthy addition of good ol' holy basil.

Recently I stumbled across a recipe for grain-free stuffed "shells."  No pasta.  Really?  I was skeptical.  My mouth fell open, though, when I saw the picture showcasing delicate scoops of the traditional cheese mixture decorating the surface of a delicious meat sauce.  I knew I just had to give it a shot.

If you've been following our 42-day diet and fitness challenge, then you may remember that we've been limiting our sugar intake to just one healthy dessert option each week.  Key word here is healthy.  No refined flour.  No processed sweetener.  Just real food ingredients.

Take homemade ice cream, for example, made of real cream like the kind you scoop right off the top of raw milk, free-range eggs on pasture, and raw, unfiltered honey. That's what I call simple, nourishing ingredients.

In the country, I get more peace of mind that the wild plants and herbs I pick out there are safe and pesticide-free.  That's just not the case in my neighborhood.  So when I knew we were planning another trip out to my in-laws, I had every intention of picking fresh dandelion to bring back home with us.

Well, it didn't happen this time around.  We returned home empty-handed after my couple failed attempts to get outdoors.

So what did I do instead?  I purchased fresh dandelion leaves on a recent visit to Whole Foods.  Yes, true story.  I actually bought the most common weed on the face of the earth.

On this quest for vitality, I started making batch after batch of kefir soda for digestive health, immune support, and increased energy.  I was on the hunt for specific ways to increase my iron levels, too.

So the other day I added an herbal infusion of both iron-rich nettle and dandelion to my water kefir and  --  viola!  

I got everything I was looking for in an iced kefir herbal tea.

If you read about culturing milk earlier this week, then you know what amazing stuff kefir is made of.  High in calcium, phosphorus, K2, and a bunch of other vitamins, it may be termed a superfood.  

What you may not know, however, is that kefir grains have the wonderful reputation of lasting indefinitely if given the proper attention they deserve.  Add to this their special habit of multiplying over time and you've got yourself a lifetime supply of this "cultured gold."

Since feeding my kefir grains with fresh milk has become a regular kitchen routine, I usually have about 1-2 cups of finished kefir each day that stores nicely in the fridge.  The question naturally follows then... what do I do with it?

Here in the South it's considered crab season all-year-round.  But when March and April bring warmer water temperatures, crabs suddenly appear in abundance.

It followed then that after enjoying an entree of crab cakes while out for dinner last week, I decided it was high time to recreate them at home using a current favorite among my trusty stash of dried herbs.  You guessed it -- nettle leaf.

We were in the middle of hanging blinds and unpacking the last of the boxes from our move a couple weeks ago, and I forgot all about dinner.  It was almost 5 o'clock when I realized there was absolutely nothing on the menu.

No worries.  Soup to the rescue.  I usually keep the freezer stocked with homemade soup or stew for such occasions.  Or at the very least, homemade stock.  (Speaking of, have you tried this chicken nettle soup yet?)

I opened the freezer to pull out a frozen soup I had made the week before.  And now... what to serve with it?  Why, nettle sourdough crackers, of course.

There's no other experience (besides being in labor, perhaps) that calls for insane amounts of energy and stamina like the entire process of moving.

This would be our third move in over three years, and this time, I knew what to expect.  Through the month of March, I set to work packing, armed with adequate rest, a daily dose of cod liver oil, and... nettle chai tea.