olive oil

You guys. I’m not exaggerating when I say that meal prepping saves me thousands of dollars. THOUSANDS. And THAT’S how you meal prep like a boss. $$$ Consider this: I’ve been meal prepping every Sunday for years. That’s thousands of meals I’ve grabbed out of my fridge instead of grabbing out of Chipotle. I love me some Chipotle, but that shit gets real expensive. Not only does meal prepping save money, it’s infinitely healthier, ya’ll. When eating at a restaurant or fast food places, you never really know what you’re getting. You don’t know if there’s olive oil or canola oil in the salad dressing, you don’t know if they’ve cooked your food in soybean oil, or if there’s soy hiding in the ingredients (soy is in almost everything, especially at restaurants). When you make food at home, you know not only the ingredients but the quality of the food.…

Breastfeeding is serious business. Another tiny human is depending completely on you for their vitamins, minerals and overall nourishment. If you’re not eating well – then the baby isn’t eating well. If you’re not getting enough vitamin A, the baby isn’t getting enough vitamin A. And yes, of course, it’s best to get your vitamins and minerals from food and that should absolutely be the top priority when it comes to healthy breastmilk, but let’s face it. Eating the number of vitamins and minerals necessary to obtain an optimal amount for you AND baby is freakin’ tough. It’s really hard. I am a nutritionist and it’s even hard for me. In light of that, it’s still important to eat well and supplement. You cannot out-supplement a bad diet. A bad diet is just that and no amount of vitamins is going to change that. Eating well is the foundation, mamas.…

After my water unexpectedly broke at 23 weeks and I had my son at 24 weeks (he’s now 40 weeks!), I’ve been exclusively pumping for the last 16 weeks. I’ve got a second freezer full of breastmilk and at this point, I consider myself a pro at pumping. I always thought I’d just breastfeed, and I still plan to when my son is out of the NICU, but the reality is that the best-laid plans often go awry. Shit happens, our kids won’t latch, they’re born early, they have a tongue tie, who knows. And then you have to pump. And that’s okay! In fact, that’s amazing. Because pumping is hard. It’s a process. It’s not just putting your kid on the boob – it’s assembling parts and being tethered to an actual pump, it’s cleaning and steaming those parts, it’s a lot of freaking work. And it’s not the…

A typical breakfast in my first trimester, when I was craving a bit more carbs. I had two eggs fried in butter with bacon on the side, hashbrowns and gluten-free sourdough from Bread Srsly – with more butter. Butter is great for building a healthy baby so I make sure to eat a lot of it (which let’s face it – isn’t hard).  Majority of my meals are simple and quick. Here is an easy dinner I tossed together. I used leftover pork, topped with tomatoes, avocados, jalapeno and romaine with a side of kraut for probiotics. The tortillas are completely paleo and from Seite Foods. Another perfect example of a healthy breakfast. Pastured eggs and bacon, hashbrowns and shredded Brussels sprouts. So good and so nutrient dense! This is from Greek Easter, when my husband, mother in law and I went to our favorite Greek restaurant. They roasted a…

People ask me this (in one form or another) all the time. What’s your food philosophy? What did our ancestors eat? What IS ancestral eating? How do we eat like our ancestors? They were hunter-gatherers. FIRST, LET’S CLEAR UP WHAT ANCESTRAL EATING IS NOT. The motivation behind eating ancestrally isn’t to mimic exactly what our ancestors ate. It’s to eat what they would’ve had reasonable access to. It’s about avoiding modern, processed, industrialized food. Eating ancestrally is more about what you don’t eat than what you do; let me explain. Ancestral eating is not a strict set of rules that need to be adhered to. It is not one size “diet” fits all. It is not necessarily black and white – eat this and avoid that. Ancestral eating varies. Some followers of an ancestral diet eat corn, rice and/or dairy – foods that were not widely available prior to ten thousand…

It’s not hard to keep these foods on hand. Majority of them live in the freezer, like beef, raspberries and frozen veggies. Others keep well, like coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. The others, like avocados and leafy greens, are on my grocery list each week. Keeping these foods on hand is great because you will always have a healthy meal to cook. Whether that’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack or a smoothie. You will never be able to say “I have nothing to eat!” if you have these foods in your house. There are endless combinations to be made with these. Some of my favorites are: stir-fry ground beef with onions, tomatoes, garlic, and greens scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado guacamole salmon with broccoli and mashed potatoes a fiber-rich smoothie (so much fiber in avocados and raspberries!) hard boiled eggs (my favorite snack) soup – tomato soup, veggie…

Even though I’m totally down with white rice (find out why it’s healthier than brown rice here), I often like to use riced cauliflower instead. It tastes great and it’s incredibly nutritious. Cauliflower is a great source of vitamin C, folate and a whole buncha’ minerals. Another benefit is that it’s low-carb. While I don’t think low-carb is necessary for everyone, it is helpful for certain people, especially those with digestive issues. Subbing cauliflower for rice is an easy, healthy and tasty swap. It’s also really easy to make riced cauliflower. Just break apart a head of cauli into florets, then add them to a food processor and pulse until it resembles rice. If you don’t have a food processor, you can grate the cauliflower. Cauliflower Fried “Rice” Subbing cauliflower for rice is an easy, healthy and tasty swap. This Cauliflower fried rice tastes great and is incredibly nutritious. Cauliflower…