Today, the idea of soaking grains, rice, and legumes feels like a foreign concept to most people.

And spending extra time in the kitchen isn’t exactly appealing…

But don’t let that deter you from this powerful ancestral practice. After all, soaking grains is easy to get the hang of—and it comes with a lot of health benefits.

You thought you were holistically minded before pregnancy. But now that you have a baby on the way, you’ve never checked ingredients or stuck to an ancestral diet so thoroughly. It’s normal for moms to protect their babies from the dangers of the world—including synthetic ingredients and environmental toxins.

The birth control pill is a pharmaceutical that’s offered to women for everything from endometriosis to period pain and hormone imbalances. It’s a fix-it-all remedy in the medical community—and it’s basically impossible to visit an OBGYN without getting a recommendation to start birth control.

The ancestral diet follows principles of eating that were perfected by “primitive” cultures. Ancestral eating focuses on low-waste recipes that rely on nature—rather than industrial processing—for health and nutrition. Essential minerals, vitamins, and nutrients are all gleaned from natural sources (hunting, gathering, and planting).

The Weston A. Price diet was established by a dentist, Dr. Weston A. Price. In the 1930s, he traveled the world, studying indigenous and untouched people groups to understand what contributed to optimal dental health.

The biggest factor he found? Nutrient density.

So exactly how did our ancestors eat? Many primal societies ate “nose-to-tail.” This means they used every part of a butchered animal—from its organs to its bones and eyes. Parts of the animal that were difficult to consume were often added to broth and soup, while other parts were used to make tools and jewelry.

Meeting your nutritional needs during pregnancy should be as simple as taking a daily prenatal vitamin…right? If only it were this easy.

Another thing we’ve focused heavily on is always making sure Colter gets plenty of protein in. And right now, breakfast has been especially hard because he’s going through a time of egg aversions… so my friend, Hannah, told me about these cottage cheese pancakes she was making, so I tried making a sourdough version and I have to say, they’re really good!

Our liver is responsible for a lot within the body! It’s responsible for making bile, converting thyroid hormones, activates enzymes, metabolizes fats, proteins and carbs, stores nutrients and more!

Now that it’s officially October, I figured it’s time to share a Halloween themed post. In case you’re wondering... no, I don’t think there is such a thing as healthy candy! By “healthy” I just mean better than the alternatives, meaning made from real food ingredients and without artificial dyes, preservatives, fillers and all the other junk found in conventional candy.

At the Weston A Price conference in October, I saw Dr. Bill Schindler speak and he said something that really resonated with me. He shared that one year he made an entire thanksgiving meal from scratch (he made the cheese, butchered the meat, fermented different foods, etc) and while it was exciting to make an entire meal from scratch, it didn’t change anything for his family on the day to day. He encouraged us to make small changes that eliminate unnecessary ingredients and reduce costs around grocery spending. I’ve taken this as my mantra for this year to get back to the basics in the kitchen and start making several of our daily staples.

I’ve been preparing some course material for my upcoming Preconception Group Coaching Program (which launches October 4th!) and I’m always so excited about the incredible role that optimal nutrition plays on preconception health.

Choline is critical for a number of physiological processes during the prenatal period with roles in membrane biosynthesis and tissue expansion, neurotransmission and brain development, and methyl group donation and gene expression.

With summer upon us, I’ve been finding new ways to keep us all well hydrated during the warm summer days playing outside, adventuring or gardening. We never got into the popsicle game before moving to the southeast and I have to say… they’re pretty much a summer essential here! I

Herbs can offer so much healing support and true nourishment. It’s important to try to optimize your vitamin and mineral intake to replenish those lost nutrient stores from birth. This herbal tea is one of my favorite blends to recommend to new moms and those trying to work on hormonal imbalance, mineral support, etc. These three herbs Red Raspberry Leaf, Nettle Leaf and Oatstraw are a few of my favorites and here’s why:

With summer just a few days away, it’s officially time to start focusing on seasonal eating for summer. Since we’ve moved back to the southeast, I’ve been blown away by the lush landscape of Tennessee and how FAST things grow here. I wouldn’t say that I innately have a green thumb, but the environment seems to be working in our favor because our garden is thriving! It’s exciting to pull so much produce out of our garden each week. Colter has been getting so excited and keeps saying “he grew it all by himself!”