Hi there, I'm Alyssa!
I'm so glad you're here! A Houseful of Love is your home for easy, affordable meals that nourish your family, as well as for some occasional musings on homemaking and liturgical living.
Our Houseful of Love
My husband, Kyle, and I met in college. We became best friends and, after three years of urging from our family and friends, eventually started dating. Still intent on living a more "girl-boss," career-oriented life, I was shocked when he went down on one knee - but the answer couldn't have been anything but yes!
Gleefully, I traded in my slacks and blazers for skirts, dresses, and aprons. Thus began my journey to learn the lost art of homemaking. Over the course of a few years (and following our conversion to the Anglican Catholic faith), our vision for our life changed from the typical dual income, no kids lifestyle of our peers to one where he works and I stay home to care for our children. For now, we have a baby boy, but are ready to welcome as many children as God blesses us with.
We do our best to keep God at the center of our busy family life, always striving to pray without ceasing - whether it's while cooking dinner, mopping the floors, or changing a diaper. The rhythms of the church inspire the rhythms of our home. My goal is to have a warm, welcoming, and loving home that is just a little glimpse of heaven for all who dwell within, and I hope to inspire you to do the same!
My Food Philosophy
When I was newly postpartum, I discovered how misguided traditional nutritional advice is and how bad the Standard American Diet was making me feel. Just the idea of getting pregnant again left me in tears because of how exhausted and depleted I felt. I knew that if we want to be radically open to life, we need to be radically committed to good nutrition.
My recipes are largely based on ancestral diet principles, with a focus on animal proteins and fats. Because cooking from scratch is daunting enough, I strive to keep my recipes simple while maximizing their nutritional value. In my recipes, you won't find any seed oils. If it's not a dessert, there won't be any added sugar. I even share some sneaky ways to get organ meats into meals that your family loves!
As a single-income family, we have to be very mindful of our budget, just like so many other families, and quickly learned that convenience foods come at a huge cost, monetarily and health-wise. Once I left the workforce, we committed to preparing our own meals at home, largely from scratch. Now I'm excited to share with you all the ways I've learned to make meals affordable, easy, nutritious, and delicious!