Welcome to another whet your whistle wednesday. Each we I cover a new topic to get you inspired to try something new or find a new product. This week is all about paleo and Whole 30.

Maybe you are thinking about paleo or trying your first Whole 30 and need a place to start. You are at the right place my friend. Since I did my first, so far only, Whole 30 in February I have eaten a largely paleo diet. The benefits I have seen from this have been so good I can’t even think about stopping. Even after a stressful day when I really wanted to run to my comfort food, mac and cheese. I quickly remembered that I haven’t had that in months and the meal might just make me feel worse not better. I highly recommend it for everyone but if you need more info there are some great resources below.

The pictures in this weeks whet your whistle link to a couple of my favorite Whole 30 meals.

The book It Starts with Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways is one of the most informative and helpful thing you can do if you are interested in this diet. I read it after we completed our Whole 30 to find out why the diet had worked so well for me.

If you don’t want to buy the book you don’t have to, though I think you will be missing out, the Whole 30 program is described in detail on their website and is completely free for you to use. They have some great downloads that you can take the store to help you shop and stay on track.

If Whole 30 doesn’t seem like the way to go then try checking out primal palate’s information on what is paleo to get you started eating better.

One of the keys to making it through a Whole 30 or changing to paleo is to find some new recipes. Nom Nom Paleo is a great site to get started. She also has a great round up to help get you through all 30 days.

There are some amazing sites that have tons of recipes to help get you through the diet. Here are some of my favorites.:

Paleo Grubs
Stupid Easy Paleo
Civilized Caveman

If you want some new blogs to follow that talk in detail about paleo this resource from Cave Girl in the city with steer you in the right direction.

Find out how my first week of Whole 30 went and my overall Whole 30 Experience.

Come back by on Friday to see some of my favorite Whole30 & paleo foods.

Are you thinking about changing your eating habits? What is your motivation?

Grilling has always been a favorite of mine. I watched my dad do it growing up and when I got out on my own and had space I quickly purchased a grill. Even in California I have reserved grilling for summer. There is something special about the first time you pull something off the grill. Hope you enjoy my ode to summer and grilling this week. This weeks photos are some to the recipes I have made so far this summer.

grilled chicken on a bed of thyme

Since sweet potatoes are such an important staple to the Whole 30 diet I am always up for some different ways to cook them. The grill never crossed my mind. These skewers look extremely enticing. Why do things on skewers always seem more fun?

We love our vegetables and are working on grilling more and handy veggie cooking time chart is going to come in handy.

When we eat at Bengal BBQ in Disneyland the bacon wrapped asparagus are the thing I look forward to the most. So this recipe is definitely hitting the grill this weekend.

These squash ribbons with prosciutto look beautiful. I don’t know how functional but they get me with the beauty and the prosciutto doesn’t hurt.

Lemon salt zucchini spears sound delicious. We are still working on seasoning technique for our veggies and this plastic bag trick looks like a winner.

When you are ready for dessert just throw the whole pineapple right on the coals and serve with ice cream!

cilantro chili lime shrimp

Did you know that you can help make your grill a little more non-stick?

Use the hand test to tell how well done your steak is. No need to guess and wonder with this clever technique.

Not sure if you should cook your food over direct or indirect heat? Lucky you there is an infographic for that. Infographics are like apps there is one for everything.

To make cleaning even easier brush it off right after you take your food off while the grates are still piping hot. If that isn’t enough try a DIY cleaner for your grill.

You know you need want stuff. We all have stuff we want but what if by getting your stuff others benefited? And not just the business owner. I am talking about a kind of shopping I call philanthropic shopping. You may be doing it without realizing it or maybe you have just forgotten that because you bought that pair of TOMS someone else has shoes to wear. Want to do some of your own philanthropic shopping then I have some great links for you. Some are one for one companies like TOMS others just donate a portion to of the sale to charity. Some are large companies that sell just one or two items that give back.

Like last week the images in this post are etsy shop owners. These shops also give some of their proceeds to charity. If you are interested in a product just click the link and it will take you right to the etsy story.

Sevenly has a great variety of fun, clever products and they change the charity every seven days…Check the donation totals on the site to see their weekly progress

Looking for a new watch? Get one from 1:Face. The color of watch you choose will determine which charity gets your hard-earned dollars. Feeling generous, buy all 9 and give some gifts!

Maybe you have seen this next one at Target. The FEED project joined up with Target to create products that benefit the hungry in the USA. The FEED project started by helping to feed and educate hungry children in the world.

Need some invitations cards or other stationery? Check out Paper Culture and have a tree planted when you place an order.

Not just for Christmas card UNICEF has a lot more to offer. I am loving some of the products in the for the home collection.

zippered cases from Gorillas Thrive

These next few companies give new meaning to BOGO. Instead of buy one get one, you can buy one give one. These are one for one companies like TOMS. You buy glasses they give glasses. It is that easy. Every time you use your new backpack you can smile know a kid somewhere is excited about his new backpack.

• Let’s start with the backpack OAK lifestyle stands for Ordinary Acts of Kindness. I think that probably simplifies the good they do. They donate backpacks every year through two organizations. Way to make an impact on a kid that might have never gotten excited to learn without it.
• Now doing more than just shoes is TOMS. The company that made this business model familiar to millions.
• Now on to one of my favorites. When my current pair wears out I would love to get a pair of Warby Parker glasses What’s not to like about stylish, affordable add-on that someone else gets a pair too and it is almost too good to be true.
• Rain boots and flip-flops to help put shoes on a child’s feet. Something about rain boots just make me smile and these from Roma Boots would keep the smile on my face for a while.
• Looking for a great baby shower gift with a little added bonus then these outfits from Baby Teresa might be just the ones for you. Like the other companies they give one for every one you buy. If you purchase an accessory they will help provide formula to babies in need.
• Is there anything more comforting than a warm blanket on a cold night? If you answered no then Blanket America might pull at your heart-strings.
• I am a sucker for helping children. I don’t need to buy a single thing from Everything Happy but I want to buy it all just to know that it could put a smile on a kids face when they get a cute toy.
• You wouldn’t want your doctor or nurse wearing scrubs that aren’t clean. If you know a Dr. or nurse head them over to Wear Figs so they can get some new work clothes and help a medical facility in need.

Photos from Altruistic Flair

These next few are companies I love to shop with because I know the quality will be good. Finding a few items that benefit others and not just me is a big bonus

Kate Spade is helping some Rwanda woman learn some new skills with the On Purpose collection. I would love to have a piece from this collection.

The products at West Elm change but the proceeds go to one of my favorite charities, St. Jude Children’s hospital. Right now they have a nice glass paperweight. Hopefully they will have some of the coffee mugs back in stock soon.

For years MAC has released a lipstick under the VIVA GLAM line with proceeds going to AIDS research. Not always in my shade but a worth cause sometimes justifies a $16 tube of lipstick.

I love cupcakes. I think they are adorable, tasty and perfect portion control. I want to improve my arsenal of cupcake recipes and decorating techniques. I have been scanning pinterest and think I have found some great ideas.

All the images in this post are from etsy stores. If you click the image it will take you to the store where you can purchase the item or just shop some of these great stores.

One of many great prints by Lily & Val available in various sizes

Decorating cupcakes is what is most fun about making cupcakes am I right? These offer some whimsy that I love for a baby shower or birthday.

Something about pennants just make me think of the word adorable these cute pennant flag cupcakes are no exception.

Since using pinwheels in my wedding decor I am a sucker for anything with a pinwheel. These would have been cute desserts at the wedding!

What could be cuter than a bunch of fishing cupcakes complete with a pole and a fish on the line?

I can think of a million uses for this next decorating technique. The bubble gum cupcakes are one of the cutest though.

print from Graphic Anthology

Can you own too many cupcake liners ? I hope not because I am want to buy all them from this Etsy store.

Do you want healthier cupcakes or don’t have the exact ingredients needed? This post has you covered with images, tips and recipes for cupcake ingredient replacements.

A cute print from eebookprints. Love the images printed on book pages.

There are no shortage of cupcakes flavors based on beverages.

I like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain….Even if you don’t like coconut this is a cute decorating idea of adding a drink umbrella for a decoration.

Topped with a cherry this shirley temple cupcake is sure to please guests of all ages.

Banana and chocolate can’t ever be a bad combination. Add malt balls and I am in hook, line and sinker with these banana malt cupcake

Summery and refreshing is exactly what these pink lemonade cupcakes sound like.

Personalized cupcake cards from Celebrate the Little Things Etsy store 8 cards for $12

I am still trying to learn how to frost my cupcakes. It isn’t as easy as it looks. Seems similar to learning how to write. I am going to need a lot of sloppy cupcakes before I get it down. On the plus side they still taste good even if they don’t look professional.

The term ice cream technique perfectly describes the finished look of these cupcakes

While this post isn’t in english the visuals of frosting tips for different tips can be understood by anybody.

As always welcome to the infographic portion of you wednesday

Anatomy of a cupcake
history of cupcakes
disney cupcakes
cupcake mania

Everyone could use a little organization in their life. I admit I am not tidy and I have cleaning. I actually hate most chores because I can think of a dozen things I would rather spend my time doing. I have found that if I have a system for organizing something I am more likely to put things away and cleaning up takes much less time. I still hate cleaning but this makes it a little less painful. Todays whet your whistle will be brought to you by all the great organizing ideas I have seen and should try. I type this as I sit at my desk full with piles of papers.

Do you have tons of papers that need to be filed and saved? Are you sure you need to keep them? Would you rather have them take up less space? Try going paperless and scan all you documents. I like lists and papers so I don’t know if I could do this but it sounds wonderful.

If like us you have a lot of electrical equipment plugged into a power strip you probably also have trouble figuring out which cord goes the appliance you want to unplug. Have you done the pull on the cord to see if it is the right one? This handy tip would eliminate the second guessing.

Figuring out how to sort the mail when it comes in is high on my priorities right now. I is the largest source of the piles on my desk. There is no shortage of cute ideas out there.

We just worked on our garage organization last week and the first idea of this post is giving me great ideas on how to store the rakes, brooms etc. Thanks again Martha. Click through this post and find 20 tips for organizing.

I love tins and jars for organizing. This cute solution out of old tin cans would be perfect for pins and pencils in the craft room. Would work well in the garage for tools and paint brushes you need often.

Need a way to corral all those spools of ribbon? Dollar store to the rescue.

There are so many ways to use a hanging plastic shoe organizer to keep your home in order.

I don’t have loads of wrapping paper but enough that it could use some organizing. I think I even have an extra garment bag to make this work.

Welcome to the organizing Infographic portion of your Wednesday