For years, we've been told that saturated fat and cholesterol are the enemies of good health, leading to heart disease, obesity, and more. But here’s the truth: they’re not the problem. The real culprits? Sugar and seed oils.

Let’s face it—going out to eat with kids is a mixed bag. You might be excited to get out of the house, but you know what’s coming: the eternal battle of getting your kid to eat something that isn’t covered in cheese or ketchup. As parents, we carefully review the menu for ourselves, choosing grilled chicken, veggies, maybe even a salad if we’re feeling particularly ambitious.

This dish was such a hit at Thanksgiving that it’s making an encore appearance at the Christmas dinner table! If you have never like Brussels sprouts in the past… you will LOVE them now! Stop everything and make these tasty little sprout! OMG! As you have probably noticed by now a lot of my recipes are not super precise… more “eye ball it” kinda recipes and this one is no different! Here ya go…

I am kicking myself over here for JUST NOW realizing how EASY IT IS TO MAKE YOUR OWN MAYO! I am a mayo girl. Always mayo for me over mustard. However, I have not been able to find a mayo made with avocado oil that I really like and I have tried them all! So I decided to make my own.

I noticed a few weeks ago that my eyes were constantly irritated. I had major eye strain from looking at my computer for way too long! I was squinting at everything and it took days for my eyes to feel normal again. Have you ever felt that way after too much screen time?

Need a super easy dessert? This chocolate mousse can be whipped up in under five minutes! It is sugar free, low carb, and TASTES AMAZING!!!

No need to avoid eggnog this Christmas season just because you are avoiding sugar! I LOVE eggnog, or as we call it in the south, boiled custard. This recipe is easy to make and will even have the most enthusiastic eggnog connoisseur asking for the recipe! Staying low carb during the holidays is not always easy but it is totally possible! This yummy nog is sugar free and full of flavor!

Stop right there!! Put down the can opener and slowly back away from the sugar filled (basically candy) canned cranberry sauce!!! I know it’s so easy to just open the can and put it on a plate. I mean it has the little ridges in it to make it easy to cut and everything. DON’T DO IT! I am here to tell you that the cranberry sauce is the easiest dish you will make during the holidays! It takes 10 minutes…maybe 5! AND… IT’S JUST AS EASY TO MAKE SUGAR FREE!!! It takes 3 ingredients and a pot.

Creme Brûlée is MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE DESSERT! Now there is no reason to give it up! A dessert that is usually filled with sugar can now be 100% KETO! This keto creme brûlée is amazing and in a taste test with a classic creme brûlée you cannot tell a difference.

FALL IS HERE!!! Well, kind of. Right now in Tennessee it’s 97 degrees! WHAT? It’s October! Where is the cool air? Cool air or not I know it’s on it’s way and lately I have been trying out recipes for the holidays. This apple crisp is the first one I just had to make! I LOVE A GOOD APPLE CRISP!

It’s summer time! The lightening bugs are out. The 4th of July is right around the corner, and that means HOMEMADE ICE CREAM!! I remember my mom making ice cream all the time when I was growing up. The sound of the ice cream churning was almost more than we could handle! She would shout, “stay in or out,” as we would run through the door, check the status of the ice cream and then back out into the yard squealing with excitement.

Anyone have a kid that likes candy? OF COURSE YOU DO! My oldest was in preschool this past year and I was faced with a tough candy reality. No matter how hard I try to make healthy choices for my kids they will always bring candy home from somewhere else at some point. This year I realized that school was the candy nemesis! I learned it the hard way.

I sent this same information out in one of my newsletters (It’s not so much a newsletter as it is a nutritional inspiration letter) a couple weeks ago and I got so much amazing feedback that I decided to turn it into a blog post! If you are not a part of the Living Essential newsletter, I would love to have you! You can join below!

Artichokes are one of my top 5 favorite foods to eat! There is not much better than a steaming hot artichoke dripping with lemon butter. They have been one of my favorites since I was a little kid. I am so fortunate that my mom always made us try everything and never made a different kid meal from what the adults ate. I really think this early introduction to food variety stretched my kid-size food comfort zone in a good way.

When I first started out on this Paleo journey I was a total fish out of water. When you have learned to cook one way and then have to relearn EVERYTHING, it can be overwhelming! I really believe that the “relearning” or the “unlearning” is what keeps people from changing their unhealthy habits.

It’s that time of year that has me thinking about… EGGS! We are all about to take one of the most perfect foods in the world, dye them all sorts of colors and hide them in the grass! And yes, I will participate, because I love a good Easter egg hunt! But I actually think about eggs every single day. I eat at least one egg a day, most days I eat two. Why? BECAUSE EGGS ARE BASICALLY THE PERFECT FOOD!

This recipe is so easy and SO YUMMY! I order a couple whole chickens in my Butcher Box every month just so I can make this Chicken pot roast! I especially love this dish on a day when I have a lot going on.

Collagen is a key element for longevity! It supports younger, healthier skin, hair, and nails, but it’s not just skin deep. Collagen is the essential protein that holds our body together, so you can imagine that eating more collagen is VERY IMPORTANT! Homemade bone broth is a fantastic way to deliver collagen to the parts of your body that need it most. You can also choose from many different collagen powders or collagen peptides.

My kids are not sugar free but we are getting there. It’s not because I don’t want them to be and it’s not for my lack of trying. The truth is that my kids, like most, are already sugar addicts. One day I opened my eyes to all the sugar in my kid’s lives. I looked closely at what they were eating, even the “healthy” stuff.

I love Alfredo sauce! Fettuccine Alfredo was my absolute favorite dish growing up. Then when I got a little older I learned how much fat and how many calories were in Fettuccine Alfredo and so I never ate it again. At that time I had no idea that it was the pasta that was the enemy, not the sauce!