Reading Time: 3 minutes 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 …
Gluten-free
Quick & Satisfying HOMEMADE CHILI
Reading Time: 2 minutes 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
Reading Time: 7 minutes 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 …
GOLDEN MILK | No-Fuss Golden Milk
Reading Time: 5 minutes 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
Reading Time: 3 minutes 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
Reading Time: 4 minutes 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 …
POWER-PACKED GRANOLA BALLS
Reading Time: 4 minutes 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)
Reading Time: 5 minutes 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 …
PARMESAN-CRUSTED CHICKEN BAKE | A Naturally Low-Carb, 30-Minute Meal
Reading Time: 3 minutes 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
Reading Time: 4 minutes 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
Reading Time: 5 minutes 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, …
FISH NUGGETS | Cajun Fish Fry
Reading Time: 5 minutes If you’re like me, you grew up believing that fried foods are unhealthy. And if you’re health conscious at all, you would then feel a little sense of guilt every time you ate fried foods. For me, it was much more than that. Not only did I feel a sense of guilt from eating fried …
SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS & SMOTHERED POTATOES: At the Same Time
Reading Time: 5 minutes Most Cajuns have their own version of smothered pork chops and smothered potatoes. I’m sharing my version, and a way to do both at the same time!
SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS & SMOTHERED POTATOES: At the Same TimeRead More
PANCAKES | Gluten-Free or Not
Reading Time: 4 minutes I’ve tried MANY pancake recipes over the years, and I’ve finally recreated my own to fit our lifestyle. This is our go-to, essential pancake recipe that hangs ever so beautifully on my menu clipboard in our kitchen 🙂
JAMBALAYA – Pork, Chicken, and Sausage
Reading Time: 6 minutes Cooking a jambalaya involved many attempts before I finally mastered it. I think the first five jambalayas I made were total disasters. Well, not totally. But, they surely didn’t quite make it on the list of “good-looking” and “brown” jambalayas! The first one I made came out “white,” and tasted good, but not like a jambalaya. It …