Wellness Mama®
Simple Answers for Healthier Families
My kids really like beef jerky, and actually I do too. For a long time, we never had it in the house because a) it’s expensive and b) unless its full of sugars and nitrates, it is really expensive! When a road trip left me desperate for some kind of portable protein, I tried an …
The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson was one of the first books I read on the primal/paleo way of living. I had already arrived at many of the same conclusions but was glad to find such a well researched and well written summary. Though Mark approaches healthy eating and lifestyle from a slightly different perspective, …
I’d been wanting sushi for a while, but hadn’t yet found a way to get it without rice. As I’ve found with many things, if you want a healthy option, you have to make it yourself … so I did. If I’d known it was this easy to make sushi, I would have done it …
I’ve talked before about how much we use coconut oil and shared my list of 101 uses. We use coconut oil in everything from deodorant to toothpaste to cooking. I even use it in my coffee… I often get asked and wanted to share my favorite brand of coconut oil: Tropical Traditions Gold Label. (check …
I’ve written before about my Irish heritage and the foods I’ve adapted from my family’s traditional recipes. One traditional Irish favorite that I’ve adapted to my real food lifestyle is Irish bangers & mash. Like many Irish dishes, it involves meat and potatoes, but I make it without the potatoes. This is a simple and satisfying …
I resisted trying Jamaican jerk seasoning for years. It seemed strange to me to add cinnamon to savory dishes. Then, I married someone from Cincinnati and was introduced to Cincinnati Style Chili which also uses cinnamon in a savory dish (along with chocolate!). I figured if I could learn to love cinnamon in chili, I …
When I first became a mom almost a decade ago, I started to question the ingredients in everything I put on my baby. Unfortunately, there were not good answers to most of my questions. One product I was surprised to find had problematic ingredients was baby powder. The Problem with Baby Powder… Innocent though it …
Note: this article is long and goes into a lot of science. If that isn’t your thing, watch the movie Fat Head. It explains much of this in a very entertaining way! I’m sure you’ve heard or seen the commercials telling the dangers of high cholesterol levels and the various life saving drugs that lower cholesterol …
Mayonnaise has always been one of my favorite condiments, but while the store bought stuff is a convenient and cheap option, it is filled with such nastiness as soybean or vegetable oil, preservatives, and chemicals. My homemade, healthy mayo on the other hand is packed with protein and good fats, and it tastes delicious! This …
Healthy eating doesn’t have to mean forgetting pizza forever. This gluten-free pizza recipe tastes like regular pizza but is much more filling and protein packed. The basic idea is that instead of a flour crust, you use ground beef and spices instead. The texture is amazingly similar, and this “Meatza” is great cold for breakfast …
Keeping active during pregnancy is always a good idea. It is important to check with a doctor or midwife to make sure there aren’t any particular concerns for your pregnancy, but in most cases, a woman can continue normal exercise routines during pregnancy and even add exercises like walking or swimming to have a fit pregnancy. …
Apple pork chops are an easy and fast recipe that my kids love. I keep pork chops in the freezer for nights I know I will be in a rush. The apples add great flavor to the pork and the balsamic vinegar gives a bit of a sweet and tangy taste. I love that this …
This recipe is almost too good to be healthy, and amazingly, it is one of my family’s most delicious and healthy dessert recipes! Chocolate Coconut Clusters These chocolate coconut clusters also have only 5 ingredients, are simple to make, and kids love them! My kids eat these like candy…. in fact, they prefer these to …
Asian five spice is a blend of five spices (of course) and often salt. It is great for seasoning fatty cuts of meat like pork or duck but is also great on seafood. It is a staple in my kitchen. I make a large batch so I always have some on hand. The core five spices …
If you haven’t already gotten rid of the junk in your pantry, now is the time! To make the transition easier, I compiled a list of ways to use those non-foods for other household purposes. I hate to waste as much as the next person, but I finally had to realize that my body is …
Being of Irish/Scottish descent, the adjustment away from potatoes was a tough one! I used to make shepherd’s pie regularly every couple of weeks because it was easy and the kids loved it. When we first got rid of grains, potatoes, and sugars, I thought this was a recipe I would have to forget. Until …
I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease almost a year ago and I’ve felt incredibly better by following a modified autoimmune protocol and making sure to eat enough protein in the morning per my doctor’s recommendation. At first, it was difficult to get enough protein first thing in the morning and I was getting tired of …
Outer beauty is at least partially a reflection of inner health and a healthy, well-nourished body will shine with great skin, silky hair and bright eyes. It seems ironic then, that most “beauty” products contain chemicals that are so dangerous to the skin. Take for instance, Apricot Scrub by St. Ives, my former beauty product …
Conventional wisdom (at least for the last few decades) says that saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for you and contribute to heart disease…. but what does the evidence say? How it Began… The fear of saturated fat began in the 1950s when Ancel Keys published a paper supposedly linking saturated fat/cholesterol with rising rates …
The season that brings warm tidings and visions of sugarplums often brings sniffles, fever, and flu, too. In my family, these things seem to only hit at night, on weekends, or on holidays. Since doctors are not always a viable option at those times, and because I prefer to avoid prescriptions if possible, I keep an …
A light and fruity chicken salad that can be made on the go, this salad is a reminder of summer, even when there is snow on the ground. I often make a salad like this for lunch at least a few times a week. A bed of leafy greens topped with citrus chicken, cucumber, apple, …
Sausage-stuffed winter squash is an easy and healthy recipe that can be made and re-heated for lunch the next day. My kids loved the “bowls” made of squash, and I loved that these were a filling and healthy dinner. You can change up the inside mixture to fit your tastes. I’ve done this with grass-fed …
The most common objection I get when recommending a no-grain diet is: “What about the healthy whole grains? Don’t I need the fiber?” I covered this in depth in my grains post, but it seemed that a more thorough explanation of the role of carbohydrates in the body would be a good idea. What are …
Fitness is a touchy subject for a lot of people these days. Everyone has an opinion and a favorite type of exercise to help get in shape (from none at all to excessive and everything in between). What is truly the best type of exercise? Is it different for men and women? What about moms …
