New Year, Welcome & A Little Bit About Me

+ a secret announcement coming soon

Hey! Welcome to my substack… My name is Krysten if you didn’t know that by now — it’s nice to meet you! When I started my blog in 2015, my blog motto was “Real Food. Made With Love. Hubby Approved.” It still is and will always be those things, however that morphed into “Be Real. Eat Real.” which encompasses so many things. I was taught at a young age “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” and it never really hit me until food actually became my “medicine” in 2009. I believe we should focus on eating real food that fuels our body. We are all different. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to nutrition or remedies. We require different nutrition depending on our own genetic makeup, our food allergies, food intolerances and so much more but in the end, fueling our own bodies with REAL FOOD is so important and healing in itself.

In 2009, my food journey began. Krysten’s Kitchen was born though I didn’t know it yet. At the time, I had some health issues which I talk about in this video and this video. I was incredibly tired all of the time. We weren’t eating unhealthy foods. Our diet consisted of vegetables, meats, whole wheat pastas, fish, desserts, salads, and other great foods. I learned that year that I was eating bad for “me” specifically. I had found a Naturopath Doctor at the time who turned my whole world upside down (in a very good way). I found out that I had PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and learned that I had to avoid a long list of foods to heal some of the health issues that I was having. You can learn more about my cleanse, here.

On February 15th, 2009, I started this crazy journey of eliminating wheat, dairy, corn, soy, sugar, fruit and processed foods in general as well as a few more things from my diet and basically ate meat and veggies for about 10 weeks. I lived on peanut butter when I had a sugar craving and enjoyed bacon almost daily. I reset my body with a cleanse, lost 60 pounds (without working out) and started fresh with my new lifestyle. This was not a weight loss cleanse, it was a reset diet (similar to the Whole 30) that was guided by my doctor. I don’t recommend this cleanse to lose weight, it is just what I did per doctors orders. I was able to lose weight simply by eliminating the foods that were giving me problems, causing inflammation, acne, weight gain and many PCOS related issues. 

After the cleanse I spent hours and hours at Whole Foods every single week (okay more like daily) trying new foods, researching new products and figuring out what I could eat all while avoiding a long list of ingredients. At the time, there weren’t as many new products on the market as there are today. At the time, I was doing this research for me. This was all for me, so that I personally could live and feel “normal” again and eat the same things as everyone else. But really, this was the beginning of Krysten’s Kitchen, as I was doing all of this research that would eventually turn into what it is today. Looking back, I didn’t know then that what I as doing was actually to help others in the future. Pretty cool how God works.

I have always loved food; I mean, who doesn’t love food?! I grew up in one of the best “food cities" in the country: San Francisco, CA. I have so many favorite restaurants in the city, and I enjoyed many different foods growing up: everything from gourmet to good home-country cooking. I am not super picky (well in ways I guess I am) and have always loved all styles and types of food. I am half Greek so you know how much I love my traditional Greek food. I started helping my grandma bake as a kid, and enjoyed the most important task ever - “bowl licker”! I was the best “bowl-licker” in grandma’s kitchen!

I remember the first thing I learned to cook (that I can really remember) was scrambled eggs. My dad taught me how to make eggs around the age 9. That was the beginning of my love for cooking and all things in the kitchen. I never grew up eating fast food. I never had McDonalds or Burger King. At mom’s house we ate crab sandwiches, salads and lots of Greek food - especially around holidays. My dad was, and still is, an organic, vegan and intentional when it comes to ingredients.. However, he did cook meat/tuna (thanks Daddy) and eggs for me. I still don’t eat fast food, drink sodas etc.

Nostalgia and food go hand-in-hand. They bring a type of emotion and feeling that nothing else can. When you have a strict diet or food allergies it can be hard to attain those food memories and that special feeling that the taste of a childhood food or family recipe can bring. A special goal of mine has always been to recreate those foods, treats and meals that bring my family so much joy, with using healthier, cleaner and real ingredients all while eliminating the foods that hurt my body. As of right now I avoid wheat, dairy (I can tolerate ghee, some goat cheese and occasional organic cheese), corn, soy, sugar, and gluten. The easiest way for me to eat is Paleo and Whole 30 as I know when a product or recipe has one of those labels I know for sure that I can eat it safely. I just check to make sure there are healthy oils used instead of seed oils. Creating those favorite flavors and childhood recipes has been a challenge, especially while keeping it paleo-ish, but it has been pure joy and has even brought me to tears on a few occasions. This is what has inspired my two cookbooks: EAT REAL FOOD & TOGETHER FOR CHRISTMAS.

Through my blog and social media, I hope to help you find recipes and products that are safe for you and your family to enjoy and inspire you to get in the kitchen and cook. I also hope to bring awareness to different health and wellness information as well. While my motto may have changed, one thing still remains that everything is “Hubby Approved” as my hubby’s job title has become the “Official Taste Tester.” My sweet toddler is now my “Junior Taste Tester” - I’d say they have great jobs. hah

Thank you for reading about me, my food journey. I’m glad to have you here. Thank you for being a subscriber and to those of you who are paid subscribers , thank you for supporting my work. I look forward to this year and have so much to write about and share with you. I’ll be announcing something soon … a new project / resource that I’m sure you’re going to LOVE and find so helpful when it comes to cleaning up your life, home, diet etc.

I wish you health, happy eating and a toxic free year!

Warmly, Krysten