One of the perks (or possibly negatives) about living on your own is that food no longer magically appears on the kitchen table at regular intervals. Because of this, and the fact that my roommates and I are trying to eat healthy, we have been keeping a Food Journal.

In it, we write down new recipes we try, with pictures, comments, rankings and suggestions for our next attempts.

We’ve tried plenty of recipes, including some juice ones with our wonderful and fantastic Breville Juice Fountain.

The recipes tend to be hit and miss, but trying them out is good practice for the girl who once melted a spoon making mac and cheese and broke her foot opening a jar of peanut butter (don’t worry about it; it’s a long story).

One of the things I’ve learned from this is experience is that whole lesson about not judging a book by its cover. For example, the above stir fry looks pretty delicious. However, since we made it before we actually had soy sauce, it was super bland and we ended up giving it a 2.25/4 ranking.

On the other hand, this pasta with avocado sauce was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten! (In fact, I gave it a 4.75/5).

In case you decide you want to start experimenting in the kitchen, this is a great and easy alfredo alternative:

Blend together…

1 avocado

1 garlic clove

1/8 lemon

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

dash of pepper

Pour over pasta and thank me later.

Oh, but back to the whole judging bit, I show you Exhibit A: Cashew Alfredo with Kelp Noodles. Despite looking like, well… don’t make me say it, this might actually be one of the best things I’ve eaten this summer.

It’s currently the only recipe in our Food Journal that I’ve awarded with a 5/5. Another alfredo alternative, my roommate and I made this when she was trying out a raw food challenge. It’s SUPER easy to make, and because it’s raw, it’s great for a hot summer day.

Once, again, whip out that trusty blender (or in our case, a Magic Bullet) and mix…

1 1/2 cloves of garlic

1 1/4 cup cashews

1 oz basil

1 tbsp lemon

Pour the mixture over a package of kelp noodles, and bask in the glory of your newfound cooking skills.

We’ve tried plenty of other recipes, including strawberry apple streusel oat squares, quinoa with sweet potato and penne tomato alredo ala spinach. Every single attempt has been a culinary adventure.

I know that this can be scary. (Literally. I once found some of my roommate’s ginger root and ran screaming to her, asking why we had mandrake root in our refrigerator.) But if I can do this, so can you!

If you’re bored over the summer, I highly recommend you mix it up and do this. All you need is a notebook, a pen and a lot of patience. Remember guys, adventure is out there!

(Psst: No, you’re not going crazy. The recipes I posted are slightly different from what they’re hyperlinked to because we were often missing some ingredients. Feel free to try either one!)