Recently, I ran into an old friend at the grocery store and we started talking about healthier foods and smoothies. When I told her what I use frozen strawberries for, she became interested in doing the same thing. She felt like she didn’t know where to start when it came to making smoothies and that …
All Recipes
Quick & Satisfying HOMEMADE CHILI
This week, Ernie was craving hot dogs and wanted to cook some on the grill and asked if I could make a chili to go with it. Sure! I already had ground beef and seasonings; all I needed was tomato sauce and beans. Although I normally use fresh, dry beans, I was going to be …
OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES
We love oatmeal cookies, but I don’t love the idea of all the refined sugar they usually contain. I also don’t like the taste of stevia sweeteners alone in a recipe, so I’ve created this healthier version of an oatmeal cookie that doubles perfectly as a breakfast item on-the-go. I took out 2/3 of the …
DEER (Venison) CARNITAS
I’m pretty sure that my new favorite way to eat ground deer is in carnitas! I’ve fallen more in love with tacos recently, and almost every week we celebrate Taco Tuesday at our house :). I put a spin on the typical ground pork carnitas, and I hope you enjoy this as much as we …
GOLDEN MILK | No-Fuss Golden Milk
Although I’m not the biggest fan of colder weather (summer girl here!), I do love ONE thing about it – warm drinks! Hot soups, gumbo, hot chocolate, and fires. Give me alllll the warm stuff! You may or may not have heard of golden milk, or maybe you’ve already tried to make it with a …
PIZZA DISCS | Healthier Pizza Lunchable
Use these protein-packed, yummy replacements for the lunchables pizzas! And gluten-free! Those lunchables catch their eyes like candy on the shelf, but I haven’t bought those things in years – and I don’t plan on it. I know, it’s easier to just grab them for $1.00 on sale, but what real nutrition do they have? …
BAKED BEANS | Sweet Maple & Honey Easy Baked Beans
If you’re like me, you’ve always bought your favorite canned baked beans and called it a day. But, as I’ve learned to cook more and more things from scratch, I’ve also been staying true to my word when it comes to baked beans. I had no idea you could cook baked beans from scratch! I …
POTATO SALAD for Gumbo
Apparently, different parts of the nation (and probably the world) have different versions of potato salad. Once, while on a women’s conference trip in Atlanta, Georgia, we were having lunch at a fancy restaurant. I ordered potato salad and soup, and to my surprise, it was not the potato salad I expected. It was absolutely …
GUMBO (with bone broth)
I grew up disliking gumbo, and as a Cajun, this is almost unheard of. This is basically a staple meal in every home in Cajun country, and every family has their own way of creating it. Actually, I didn’t care to eat any food that used a roux in the making of it. But since …
POWER-PACKED GRANOLA BALLS
Why do I make my own granola bars? Have you seen the price of organic snack bars? Have you read the ingredients? Not only are homemade bars cost efficient, but I know what the ingredients are, and I can choose what I put in them. You know, like custom made. Most snack bars’ first ingredient …
SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE (CRUNCH)
I haven’t exactly followed the original family recipe this whole time I’ve been making it and sort of “eye-balled” some things. So the last time I made it, I wrote down exactly what I did so I could share! I know many people who call this dish “Sweet Potato Crunch,” but the original recipe that …
BEST ROLLS EVER
I know the title of this recipe is an “opinion,” but it really is a reliable one! I had quite a few people asking for this recipe, so I definitely want to share the wealth. These rolls are slightly sweet, slightly yeasty, and fluffy. They’re not like “cafeteria” rolls (which I am NOT against by …
PARMESAN-CRUSTED CHICKEN BAKE | A Naturally Low-Carb, 30-Minute Meal
A few years ago, I found a Hellmann’s mayonnaise recipe online that looked really good. I’m glad I gave it a try because it has become one of my family’s favorite meals. I’ve tweaked it a little, and of course, I now use my easy homemade mayonnaise. This is a meal that doesn’t require much …
PARMESAN-CRUSTED CHICKEN BAKE | A Naturally Low-Carb, 30-Minute MealRead More
EASY HOMEMADE CREOLE MAYONNAISE
Mayonnaise is a condiment that I wasn’t always too fond of. The vinegar-y smell and the high-fat content wasn’t always very appealing to me. Now that I know the truth about good fats and how good they are for us, I look at mayonnaise a little differently – homemade mayonnaise, that is. It’s a matter …
CHOCOLATE SPREAD, DIP, OR SAUCE: 3 Ingredients
Chocolate has gotten a bad rap for too long. What we don’t always realize is that cocoa, all on its own, is not bad. It’s usually everything else that is added to the cocoa to create what we know as “chocolate.” Cocoa powder is full of flavanol antioxidants, which can help with inflammation, blood pressure, …