About the Cowgirl

At the heart of it all, I, Heather Hunter, am a self-taught cook and baker. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, I sometimes think they replaced the sand in my sandbox with flour. However, now that I am older, my eating habits have evolved and I pretty much stick to a flexitarian way of life that includes a combination of being gluten-free, Paleo and vegan.

My maternal grandmother, Annie, and her mother, my great-grandmother, Oma, taught me the ins-and-outs of cooking when I was very young. I feel fortunate to have been taught to cook by two talented women who could tell you when a homemade pasta or cookie dough, meringue, soup, jam or even a pot roast was ready by the way it felt, looked or smelled. We would spend hours upon hours in the kitchen cooking and baking for the Sunday family lunches, or "supper" as it was called, as well as for holiday celebrations and our every day consumption.

These are the memories I most cherish. For me, time stands still when I am cooking. Sometimes, if it's quiet enough I can even hear one of them tell me to "add a little more salt" or "stop whipping that now or else it will be tough."

But the truth is that after a half-century of eating, I have become a well-rounded cook that is driven by nutrition, flavor and seasonality. And I have my husband to thank for that. Throughout the course of our nearly 25 years together, he inspired me to move out of my comfort zone and expand my culinary repertoire. 

We have traveled together, eaten our fair share of incredible food and had meals that will be with us forever. We lived in Mexico at our resort for four wonderful and glorious, albeit hair-pulling and tequila sipping (or slamming), years where we foraged for the freshest ingredients, ate fish that was less than a few hours old, revamped our menus every quarter with the changing of the seasons, worked with some fabulously talented chefs from the US and Mexico and thoroughly loved when our guests never left the resort because the food we served was "the best in town." Of course, the service, privacy and views of the Pacific Ocean and Ziuatanejo Bay weren't so bad either.

Ever since I was born, my world has revolved around food, although my passion has blossomed in the last two decades. Now I love food--I eat and breathe food and allow it to permeate my every being. So much so that I started sharing some of the food I love with others when I launched Cowgirl Granola in 2009. This healthy, nutritious and delicious granola brand launched my platform to promote the importance of eating well and choosing food that is good for you. I firmly believe that good-for-you-food should taste great.

And through these rich and intoxicating conversations, The Cowgirl Gourmet was born. Customers were interested in learning know how to eat healthier, how to prepare certain foods, how to get away from processed foods, how to reduce sodium intake, how to eat after a heart attack, how to live with and/or control (or eliminate) diabetes, how to reduce inflammation, how to eat when you have IBS, how autism can be curtailed with the right foods and more.

This blog is my way of sharing with you what I am passionate about. Food. Real food. With the hope that the stories and recipes I offer will inspire you to get in the kitchen and cook. And to also get your family involved. Kids love learning about food and the farmers market is a great place to start.

Eating well makes me feel good and it will make you feel good. It's the way my grandmother, Annie, raised me. Use the finest quality ingredients, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and nothing processed. (I cook for my dogs as well, but that's another story.) 

My commitment to you is to share recipes that are always delectable and mostly healthy. I mean, a girl's gotta live, right?

So here's to living well. It's the best revenge.

I would love to hear from you, your thoughts, any questions or just a note to say hello. You can email me at hwhunter[at]gmail[dot]com.