Hey All!
I’m Taylor. I do my best to keep it REAL, I find myself frequently going off on a tangent (sorry !), I love me some Jesus, and I absolutely love eating good food! I’ll save all of the other super interesting details about myself for another post! 🙂
My husband would say that I’m obsessed with the perfect bite. He is always giving me a hard time about how everything I eat has to be SO GOOD or else I’m upset. Honestly… that’s the truth! I want all food to be DELICIOUS, COMFORT FOOD! What’s so wrong with that?! I love butter. I love gravy. I love cheese. I love gravy. I love butter. Did I mention that I love gravy? Growing up in my family, we each had our own gravy boat at the dinner table. NO JOKE. Gravy and butter are serious business in my household…along with homemade, comfort food. I don’t think anyone should have to give up flavor to eat better. Nope, it’s just not happening.
Anywhooo…(I get a little sidetracked when I go on a butter or gravy rant!) over the past couple years, my husband developed stomach issues that we thought were simply dairy-related…that meant no more cheesy soups, creamy casseroles, or chocolate chip cookies – or so we thought. He wasn’t much of an ice cream fan, so giving that up didn’t bother him at all – what the heck, bro? ICE CREAM IS LIFE. So, after some tears were shed, we started a semi-strict Paleo diet (we could never fully give up cheese though, let’s be real, people!) in January of 2017. After 8 months, and tons of researching by his crazy wife, we learned he has more of a leaky-gut problem than a dairy intolerance. So, me, the nutty, “gotta-solve-every-single-problem” wife that I am, changed things on him again! He was such a good sport about it all too! I hope our future children eat whatever I put in front of them like my Jon does! He was one of the lucky ones that saw an improvement within a couple weeks of strict dieting! Since January, I have learned a ton, cheated a lot, and converted so many favorite dishes into healthier versions! We are now on a journey to healthy guts while following a diet that is closest to paleo with some QUALITY dairy involved. It’s been great! We feel great and do not miss a thing!
These days, everything is overly-processed. Even the trendy, “healthy” options are filled with substitutes that are just not good for you. It’s a tough task to consciously eat better. I get it. Convenience is AWESOME and healthy options are not always easy to come by, particularly ones that TASTE GOOD and, again, aren’t overly-processed. It’s all about being mindful and preparing. In my opinion, healthy options do not have to be lacking, by any means. Let me just tell ya, there is nothing wrong with some meatloaf, made with grass-fed beef and a side of mashed plantains (the green ones taste just like potatoes!) all covered in…you guessed it – GRAVVYYYY! It’s all about the ingredients! You want your body to know what to do with the things that you are putting into it! You just gotta put in the time to learn about your options.
I’m beginning this blog by saying that I am NOT a recipe writer. I do not follow recipes and I rarely (and when I say rarely, I mean NEVER) write down my recipes. I just like to put together some tasty food. Just like my mom, I love to go into my kitchen and make a casserole out of completely random ingredients and have it turn out to be some dang-good comfort food! After years of being asked for my recipes, paleo or not, I decided it was time to consciously try to jot some things down and share them with all of you!
My goal is to provide you with the crowd-pleasing, simple recipes that I’m cooking every week at home. I’m hoping that this blog inspires you to make smarter food choices and to confidently get in that kitchen and make some good-for-you comfort food! Your gut will thank you!