The Functional Rd

Today I have a paleo, low-carb Chicken tortilla soup that I fell in love with last week. The cool thing is, I've actually found some AIP modifications that work very well with this particular recipe. Check it out! Prelude: Thanks to the crazy storms in Texas on Sunday night we have finally received some cool weather. Our winter has been dismal, at best, and really more like an extended summer. Thank you Texas! I also promised my fiancé that I would try out some of the awesome

I have seen an influx of folks with autoimmune diseases lately, which isn’t surprising when you think that upwards of 23.5 million Americans are affected by one of the 100+ autoimmune diseases that have been confirmed (1). Autoimmune disease is the biggest reason I went into functional nutrition because there is so much we can do to stop the onslaught of inflammation within the body just by changing up the diet. I know from personal experience that the autoimmune paleo protoc

I love pot roast so much I think it deserves its own food group. It was always the top of my request for my birthday dinner growing up (with a side of bread and brownies for dessert – I had a serious love for the carbs!) Surprisingly, as an adult I have never felt overwhelmed with the urge to cook pot roast. I’ve craved it plenty of times, but I suppose I never thought that I could make it like mama does. So, after I went home this weekend and got some good, home-cooked food

My favorite restaurant in San Antonio called Josephine Street & if you ever find yourself in San Antonio in need of some delicious steaks (& whiskey), this is your place! Their food is seriously unreal, but since I cannot spend all of my money dining out I had to learn to make my own versions of their best dishes in order to satisfy my cravings.. and since appetizers are always a good place to start, I decided to give their beef tenderloin Anticuchos a try. Now, what the hec

I. Love. Burgers. I think this is pretty unanimous among most Americans. Everyone has their own personal anecdote when they can imagine a certain food and how it made them feel during a certain point in time. When I was in elementary school I was addicted to a little burger joint in my hometown called "Dippity's". Keep in mind that my mom was also a dietitian and a wonderful cook; however, once a week my mom would order me one of these burgers "plain and dry" while hauling me

My first job out of college had me in an office with a Chinese & Thai food restaurant within walking distance... and nothing else! Sure I could have ordered Jimmy John’s freaky fast delivery or got in my car to pick up a salad from Chipotle, but I became slightly obsessed with this quaint little Thai restaurant. Especially the red and green curry dishes. The coconut cream with the all the spices made it such a unique dish that my Texas taste buds were hooked! When I learned a

MMM pork, the other white meat. The one meat I find to be totally drab and hard to work with – surprising, right? I would always end up with a tough and chewy pork chop. Most people find pork to be very easy to work with, but it took me several attempts to get it right. Finally, I figured out the best way to make pork work for me. My life-changing pork secret: a brining solution (AKA salt water bath) My amazing, energy-saving oven takes *forever* to preheat.. easily 20-30 min

I love soy sauce. I find that is one of the best ingredients that can kick up an otherwise boring marinade. Unfortunately, there are numerous reasons why I avoid soy sauce. Most pre-made soy sauces in America contain gluten which cause a lot of obvious issues for me. If it’s not the gluten than it’s the MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate) that can cause issues. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain – which sounds fun, but it really isn’t. It can be an excitotoxin w