And these microplastics and hormone-disrupting chemicals in the everyday products you use (that you didn’t know were toxic) could be hurting your health.

Overhauling your kitchen and making every non-toxic swap possible won’t happen overnight. And it won’t be cheap. But investing in your long-term health is worth it.

Allow me to get you started . . .

Here are five non-toxic swaps you can make today for a healthier kitchen.

In each case, I have provided a link to Amazon for what I use in my kitchen or a recommendation you may find helpful.

Today is an Amazon Prime Big Deal day, so you should be able to find some of the items below on sale.

5 Non-Toxic Swaps for a Healthier Kitchen

1. Cutting Boards

✅ Swap your plastic cutting board for a wooden cutting board. Plastic boards may leach microplastics into your food.

Use a plastic cutting board? Get rid of it today. You can learn why from my post Stop Using a Plastic Cutting Board. Buy a wooden cutting board instead.

Wooden Cutting Board on Amazon.

2. Cups

✅ Swap your plastic cups for stainless steel cups.
Plastic cups can leach hormone-disrupting chemicals, especially when exposed to heat, while stainless steel is safer and long-lasting.

Those Starbucks plastic coffee cups? Extremely toxic. Use a Keurig for your coffee? Don’t. Those K-Cups are … extremely toxic.

This is why putting your coffee into a plastic cup, whether at Starbucks or staying at a hotel, should be avoided.

Those plastic cups have a plastic lining on the inside that prevents the coffee from seeping through. The problem is, the plastic can get inside your coffee. It has been shown that these plastic cups even have heavy metals in them.

Stainless Steel Cups on Amazon.

3. Frying Pans

✅ Swap your Teflon, non-stick pan for a ceramic or stainless steel pan. Teflon pans can release toxic fumes when overheated and may contain PFAS, while ceramic and stainless steel pans are free of these risks.

Non-stick frying pans are nice. After all, the food doesn’t stick, and it’s easier to clean. But the Teflon, when overheated, can make you sick. There’s even a name for it: Teflon flu. They have what are referred to as forever chemicals, and those chemicals can get into your food if overheated or scratched.

Avoid: Copper, Aluminum, or Teflon.

Get: Ceramic, Stainless Steel, or Cast Iron.

Ceramic Pan on Amazon.

4. Tupperware

✅ Swap your plastic Tupperware for glass Tupperware. Glass doesn’t leach harmful chemicals into your food, even when heated, unlike many types of plastic containers.

Never heat your food in plastic Tupperware. If you forget everything from this post, remember to avoid plastic at all costs, and never heat plastic (in a microwave, for example), and then eat or drink what you heat.

Glass Tupperware on Amazon.

5. Cooking Utensils

✅ Swap your plastic cooking utensils for wooden cooking utensils. Plastic utensils can release toxins into food when heated to high temperatures, whereas wooden tools are natural and heat-resistant.

Use a wooden cooking utensil. Never plastic.

Wooden Cooking Utensil on Amazon.

Recipes: High-protein recipes that helped me and my wife lose a combined 70 pounds — that actually taste good.

Non-Toxic Swaps: Because most of the stuff in your kitchen and the stuff you put on your body is slowly killing you, and you don’t even realize it.

Nutrition Information: Everything you should have learned about nutrition in school — but didn’t.

And now the last category: Product Recommendations.

I’ll show you which brands are the best, and I’ll also show you exactly what to buy in every imaginable food category to help you lose weight and be healthy.

Let’s start our first food product recommendation with bread.

Which is the best bread to buy on the market?

What to Look for When Buying Bread

Many people think they should avoid bread altogether.

There’s erroneous thinking in most people that says “bread will make me gain weight” or that you should remove all carbs from your diet.

Here’s the truth: bread in and of itself won’t make you gain weight; eating too many calories will make you gain weight (what is referred to as a calorie surplus — aka eating more calories than you burn).

As long as you stay in a calorie deficit (burn more calories than you consume) and choose the right bread, you can eat bread daily and lose weight and get healthy. I personally eat a 3x egg sandwich multiple times per week.

Let me tell you what ingredients to avoid and which ones to pursue. Then I'll give you my five bread recommendations, and even tell you which one is my favorite.

Ingredients to Avoid:

Don’t buy Sara Lee. Or Wonder Bread.

They have the ingredients you precisely want to avoid.

Avoid breads with long, complicated ingredient lists. If you see artificial preservatives, stabilizers, or sweeteners, put that loaf back on the shelf.

The big three red flags:

Enriched wheat flour. Very common in bread. The problem? It’s highly processed and stripped of nutrients. Stated differently, during processing, much of the fiber, vitamins, and minerals are removed. It’s basically refined carbs that can spike your blood sugar. This is the main ingredient to avoid when buying bread.

Added sugars: Like high fructose corn syrup or cane sugar. You want to buy breads with no more than 0–1 gram of added sugar per slice.

Seed oils: Like soybean, canola, or cottonseed oil, which are highly processed and inflammatory.

Other red flags:

• Artificial colors and flavors.

• Excess sodium and salt additives.

• Artificial preservatives and dough conditioners.

What to Look For in Healthy Bread

• 100% whole grain or sprouted grains as the first ingredient. If you see this, it’s usually golden.

• Organic: In case glyphosate may be used at any point in the process, you want to buy organic if you can.

• Little or no added sugar, or just a touch from natural sources like organic honey.

• No seed oils — instead, look for olive oil or none at all.

Now, let me give you five bread recommendations that are clean options for you and your family.

5 Bread Brand Recommendations for You and Your Family

Here are five bread recommendations in no particular order.

My favorite is Rustic Italian Boule Bread.

1. Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Bread.
The OG of bread. This is a classic. It’s made from sprouted grains and legumes, offering complete protein, fiber, and no added sugars. You need to put it in the fridge after you buy it, though, because it doesn’t have preservatives.

2. Rustic Italian Boule Bread.
Only available at Aldi. This is my favorite bread on the list. My family and I absolutely love it. Ingredients are clean and taste amazing.

3. One Mighty Mill Bread.
Made the old-fashioned way, using a stone-milled process.

4. Base Culture Keto Bread.
Gluten-free and Keto lovers, this is for you. Most gluten-free breads contain rice flour, cornstarch, potato starch, and gums. But this one does not.

5. Dave’s Killer Bread Powerseed.
Does not have seed oils, which is not true about every Dave's Killer Bread option. This one is sweetened with organic fruit juice. I love the story of Dave’s Killer Bread (founded by an ex-con), and I love this bread.

I assumed he’d delegate grocery shopping to his assistant. But he doesn’t.

O’Leary uses Instacart to have groceries delivered to his home, but he also physically goes into the grocery store and doesn’t just buy food for his family; he also reads food ingredients before putting them in his cart.

“I don’t buy any products with cane sugar in them,” says O’Leary.

He continues: “That’s just pure suicide. That is absolute poison.”

Despite O’Leary’s outlandish assessment of cane sugar, which I try to avoid at all costs as well, if one of the most widely recognized business personalities of our time sees grocery shopping and reading food ingredients as too important to delegate to someone else, it serves as a wake-up call for the rest of us to start getting serious about reading food labels.

But where should you start?

Should I Eat This? The Most Important Factor to Consider

It’s not carbs. It’s not protein. It’s not even calories.

The most important factor when deciding whether you should eat something is the ingredients.

Prioritizing food products with first-in-class ingredients is the fast route to better health.

But here’s the problem: most people don’t know what most food ingredients mean on a label. Making matters worse is the deceptive marketing at play with food companies.

I’ve done the work for you, so let me give you a rough, quick, and easy framework you can take with you the next time you go to the grocery store or order groceries through an app.

9 Tips to Help You Know Which Foods to Buy (and Which Ones to Avoid).

Instead of making this post read like a scientific textbook, let me give you nine simple pointers.

1. Look at the first ingredient. The first ingredient listed means it has the highest quantity in the food compared to all the other ingredients listed. It’s crucial to know what it is ― and what it means.
   

2. The fewer ingredients, the better. Usually, the fewer total ingredients, the better. I hear health influencers boasting about eating only single-ingredient foods. While it’s optimal to eat only single-ingredient foods, it’s not always possible nor necessary. Give or take, focus on foods with 1–5 ingredients in them. Less is better. If you see a food product with a long list of ingredients, that’s a bad sign. It’s almost always loaded with junk.
   

3. Don’t go to the grocery store alone — use an app. Use an app to help you decide whether a food product is healthy or not. After scanning a food product at the store, the app will quickly recommend or not recommend a product, and tell you why. Lots of people like the Yuka app, but I use the BobbyApproved app. It’s been a life-changing app for me, which has taught me a ton about nutrition and how to read food ingredients.
   
   After scanning any food or drink products at the store (and even beauty products and kitchen cookware), the app provides a green light, yellow light, and red light score, encouraging you to buy, be cautious, or avoid. I know it’s an overused expression, but the app truly is a “game-changer.” I’ve also enjoyed using the app from the Environmental Working Group.
   

4. Look for numbers and colors in the ingredients. AKA artificial food dyes. Examples are: Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, and so on. You’ll find it in many snacks, and even in items like pickles, cereal, and soda. There are no nutritional benefits from these dyes. It just makes the product look prettier. They are, however, harmful to your health, so avoid them.
   

5. Can you pronounce the names of the ingredients? If you can pronounce all of the ingredients, good sign. If you can’t easily pronounce all of the ingredients, bad sign. I’ll go further: if the product has even one ingredient that you can’t pronounce, it’s likely unhealthy.
   

6. Avoid “Natural Flavors.” “Natural” flavors are misleading. They are sometimes packaged on a label as “natural” or “flavor.” They are commonly found in food and drink. While artificial flavor sounds bad to the ear because of the word “artificial,” natural does not mean natural at all: natural flavors are a mix of chemicals created by flavorists in labs that mimic the taste of food. They can contain over 100 chemicals, and by law, food companies are not required to tell you what those chemicals are, so you can’t be entirely sure what you’re putting in your body. Definitely not good for those of you with allergies or serious dietary restrictions.
   

7. Avoid most ultra-processed foods. Some people quickly bemoan, “Stop eating processed foods.” This statement lacks the nuance to be helpful. Some processed foods are healthy for you. Processed foods mean the food composition has changed from its original state. For example, an apple is an unprocessed food. But after you slice it (altering it from its original state), it’s now processed. Are you saying it’s unhealthy to eat sliced apples? Nonsense. But fruit snacks with apple flavor? That’s an ultra-processed food, the kind of food you want to avoid. Lane Norton provides a helpful X (formerly Twitter) thread on the difference between unprocessed, processed, and ultra-processed foods.
   

8. Know the difference between the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen when buying produce. This is a list released by the Environmental Working Group every year that tells you about the pesticide residue levels in your produce. My takeaway from the list is that it shows me which produce is safe to buy non-organic and which produce I should buy organic. Strawberries and spinach, for example, are usually at the top of the “Dirty Dozen” list every year, meaning you should always buy those organic. You can view the list for 2025 here.
   

9. Avoid Seed Oils. The debates online about seed oils are endless. Most say you should avoid them. Others say they aren’t harmful — and they have the studies to prove it. I’m in the first camp. Examples of seed oils are sunflower oil, canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, etc. I believe they are bad for you because they are highly processed. They’re also high in omega-6 fatty acids, and, when consumed in excess, can cause inflammation. And chronic inflammation is linked to all kinds of health issues. Do not use seed oils. Instead, opt for good cooking oils like extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, and beef tallow.

Your health will improve if you prioritize foods with clean ingredients. Use the advice above to find those foods.

ICYMI: We posted an Instagram reel of healthy back-to-school snacks to buy at Costco for your kids! If you have little kids at home and want to ensure they get healthy snacks, you can check out the reel here.

Now, on to this week’s recipe . . . 😊

Pizza is probably one of your favorite comfort foods.

However, the typical pizza you order from a restaurant or grab from the freezer aisle is objectively not a healthy option.

It’s usually filled with refined flour, excess sodium, greasy processed cheese, and fatty meats. Eat a few slices, and you’ve consumed more calories, carbs, and saturated fat than your body needs in an entire meal. Over time, that kind of eating can take a toll on your energy levels and heart health.

But here’s the good news: you don’t have to give up pizza to eat well.

You just have to make it smarter.

Our Healthy Protein Pizza keeps the flavor and taste of pizza, while swapping in clean ingredients. By using Greek yogurt in the crust, for example, we boost the protein content.

After years of testing various healthy pizza recipes, with much trial and error, we’re finally ready to share a healthy protein pizza recipe that is delicious, and you and your family will love. And because you’re making it at home, you can customize toppings without the extra grease or hidden additives.

If you try the recipe below and enjoy it, please let me know!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup self-rising flour (or make your own by mixing 1 1/4 cups regular flour with 2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp sea salt)

• 1 1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• 1/8 tsp garlic powder

• 1/8 tsp Italian seasoning

• 1 cup low-fat part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1/4 cup organic marinara (adjust to taste)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475°F.

2. Mix together the self-rising flour, sea salt, and Greek yogurt until a dough ball forms. Use your hands or a mixer―if mixing, start on low and add flour gradually. If the dough feels sticky, add a little extra flour until you have a workable texture.

3. Flour a flat surface or counter, then divide the dough ball in half.

4. Roll out each half into a thin crust with a rolling pin, sprinkling extra flour on the pin or crust if it sticks.

5. Transfer to a pizza pan (perforated pans help the crust crisp) and sprinkle with garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

6. Top with marinara and 1/2 cup of mozzarella per pizza. Add more Italian seasoning if desired.

7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

8. Garnish with basil, extra seasonings, or a drizzle of olive oil.

This recipe makes two small pizzas. Enjoy! 😊

Parents today want more than just convenience—they want clean, nourishing ingredients that support their children’s energy, development, and long-term health. But with so many options on the shelves, it can be hard to separate the truly healthy from the cleverly marketed. That’s why we’ve rounded up five parent-approved, clean-ingredient snacks you can feel confident about buying for your children—all found at Costco.

Whether you're packing school lunches, prepping for sports practice, or stocking the pantry for summertime adventures, these snacks offer better ingredients without sacrificing taste.

In each case, I’ve linked to Amazon for each product below so you can learn more about them, but they’re all available at Costco.

It goes without saying, but as a parent, you can enjoy each snack as well!

1. Chomps Grass-Fed Beef Sticks

Remember those Slim Jims? Chomps are similar, but healthier.

Chomps are a game-changer for protein-packed snacking. Made from 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef, these sticks are a clean alternative to the overly processed meat snacks you’ll often find on store shelves. What sets Chomps apart is what’s not in them—no added sugar, no soy, no gluten, and no artificial preservatives.

Each stick offers around 9 grams of protein, making it perfect for active kids who need fuel on the go. The mild flavor is kid-friendly, and the individually wrapped packaging makes them ideal for lunchboxes, road trips, or post-soccer game refueling. Costco sells Chomps in multipacks, so you get great value for a high-quality, shelf-stable snack.

Why it’s healthy: High in protein, zero sugar, grass-fed beef, clean and minimal ingredient list.

2. Simple Mills Sweet Thins Honey Cinnamon

This is my favorite snack on the list. They are seriously so good, but I might be biased because I’m a sucker for graham crackers.

If your kids crave something sweet and crunchy, Simple Mills Sweet Thins are a fantastic option that won’t spike their blood sugar or expose them to artificial additives. Made from a base of watermelon seed flour, cashew flour, and sunflower seed flour, these snacks are grain-free, gluten-free, and crafted with purposefully chosen ingredients.

The Honey Cinnamon flavor is a hit with kids—it’s subtly sweet and warm without being overpowering. You won’t find artificial flavors, refined sugars, or inflammatory oils here. Costco offers large boxes of these Sweet Thins, perfect for stocking up your pantry with a snack that feels like a treat but functions like nourishment.

Why it’s healthy: Grain-free, made with nutrient-dense seed flours, no artificial ingredients, low in sugar.

3. Boulder Canyon Classic Sea Salt Chips

Surprisingly, there are lots of healthy chip options for your kiddos, and Boulder Canyon is one of them. Yes, potato chips made the list. Not all chips are created equal. Boulder Canyon’s Classic Sea Salt Chips are made with just three simple ingredients: potatoes, sea salt, and avocado oil. That’s right—avocado oil, not canola or soybean oil.

Avocado oil is a heart-healthy fat that’s far more stable at high heat than most seed oils, making it a superior choice for frying. While chips should still be enjoyed in moderation, Boulder Canyon offers a clean, crunchy snack option when you want something salty without the chemical additives and inflammatory oils found in most mainstream brands.

Why it’s healthy: Cooked in avocado oil, non-GMO, minimal clean ingredients, no artificial flavors or preservatives.

4. That’s it. Fruit Bars

Fruit snacks without dyes, sugar, or additives? Yes, please. That’s it. Fruit Bars are made from—you guessed it—just fruit. Each bar contains only two ingredients: fruit and more fruit. For example, the Apple + Mango bar contains just dried apple and mango. Nothing more. I wish they were organic, but they’re still clean.

These bars are naturally sweet, chewy, and bursting with real fruit flavor, making them an excellent swap for the overly processed fruit snacks marketed to kids. They're gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO, and shelf-stable. Parents love them for their simplicity, and kids love them for their sweetness. Costco carries variety packs, so there’s always a new flavor to discover.

Why it’s healthy: No added sugars, just two ingredients, naturally rich in fiber and antioxidants.

5. Lovebird Cereal

Cereal can be one of the sneakiest sources of sugar and processed ingredients in a child’s diet—but Lovebird Cereal is changing that. Made with a base of cassava flour and sweetened with organic honey and coconut sugar, Lovebird is a grain-free cereal that’s actually good for your child’s gut and energy levels.

It’s free from gluten, grains, refined sugar, and artificial flavors. Plus, it’s packed with prebiotic fiber to support digestion and brain development. The lightly sweetened taste and crunchy texture make it perfect for breakfast, snack time, or even as a yogurt topping. Costco sells family-size boxes of Lovebird, offering a cost-effective way to make mornings healthier.

Why it’s healthy: Grain-free, low glycemic sweeteners, gut-friendly ingredients, zero refined sugar.

Final Thoughts

Feeding our kids well shouldn’t mean choosing between what’s easy and what’s healthy. It’s possible to do both—especially with help from stores like Costco that are increasingly stocking brands committed to clean, nourishing ingredients.

Keep them on hand for lunchboxes, car rides, or anytime hunger hits between meals.

If you're looking for more healthy food finds and family-friendly tips, make sure you're following us on Instagram at @kaywoodskitchen.

Here's to raising healthy kids—one clean snack at a time.

Follow us on Instagram

Our Instagram page has received over 15k views! We enjoy posting reels that help make clean eating and nutrition simple. Be sure you’re following us on Instagram to stay connected throughout the week!

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Amazon Prime Day Deals!

To celebrate Amazon Prime Day (July 8th-11th), I searched Amazon for the best deals for food and supplements with clean ingredients, as well as non-toxic products. There are so many great products on sale right now! It can be daunting to find all the best deals, so here’s a list I’ve put together for you.

Shop Now

Now on to this week’s article. . .

The most helpful tool I’ve found this past year to help me find foods with clean ingredients is the Bobby Approved app.

I don’t want to sound like an ad, but the app has been seriously life-changing.

Finding clean, healthy products at the grocery store can feel like navigating a maze. Ingredient labels are often filled with unpronounceable additives, preservatives, and misleading health claims. And it’s hard to know what ingredients mean without some kind of nutrition background. That’s where the Bobby Approved app comes in. All you have to do is scan a product, and the app lets you know if the product is:

1. Bobby Approved: Clean, trustworthy ingredients.

2. Almost Bobby Approved: Close, but maybe has one questionable ingredient.

3. Not Bobby Approved: Ingredients that don’t meet clean standards.

That’s it.

Once I switched to primarily only eating foods that are Bobby Approved, I enjoyed a drastic difference in how I feel.

But before we go any further, who is this Bobby person, anyway?

Who is Bobby Parrish?

Bobby Parrish is a trusted voice in the health and wellness community. He’s built a loyal following by exposing harmful ingredients in everyday products and highlighting clean, nutrient-dense alternatives.

While I sometimes don’t buy the products he recommends because they’re too expensive, he has become one of my favorite health influencers to follow.

Here are some of the strengths of the Bobby Approved App.

Browse Products by Store—and Know Instantly If They’re Healthy

One of the most powerful features of the app is that it allows you to browse your favorite grocery stores—from Target and Walmart to Whole Foods and Costco—and instantly see which products are “Bobby Approved.”

You can search or scan a barcode to quickly determine whether a product is approved, almost approved, or not approved.

Transparent Ingredient Breakdown

What truly sets the Bobby Approved app apart is its detailed explanations of ingredients. When a product is not approved, the app doesn’t just say “no”—it tells you exactly which ingredients are problematic and why. For example, it may flag artificial flavors, inflammatory oils like canola or soybean oil, preservatives like BHT, or added sugars under misleading names.

This isn’t just helpful; it’s educational. You’re not only finding better products—you’re learning how to identify red-flag ingredients on your own. Over time, this builds confidence and empowers you to make better decisions, even without the app.

Shop by Aisle for Easier Planning

The Bobby Approved app is organized in a way that mirrors how you actually shop. You can browse products by aisle—from meat and seafood, dairy, bread, pasta, baking and cooking ingredients, all the way to snacks, beverages, and condiments. This makes it incredibly intuitive when planning meals or building a weekly shopping list.

Curated Bobby Approved Shopping Lists

Another standout feature is the pre-made shopping lists of Bobby Approved products. These lists are curated by Bobby and his team, and regularly updated as new products hit the shelves. Whether you're shopping at Costco, Aldi, or Trader Joe’s, you can access a ready-made list of clean products that meet high ingredient standards.

These lists are a game-changer for busy shoppers who want to skip the research and get straight to the clean options. You’ll save time while ensuring you’re feeding yourself and your family food that’s truly healthy.

Goes Beyond Food: Non-Toxic Household and Skin Care Products

The Bobby Approved app doesn’t stop at food. It also covers non-food items like skincare, body care, and household products. That’s critical, because what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it. From toxic parabens in moisturizers to hormone-disrupting ingredients in cleaning sprays, the app helps you steer clear of harmful chemicals across your home.

You can go to the search bar and type in “deodorant” or “shampoo” and find a long list of products that aren’t approved, and some that are. That’s super cool. No need to Google search or ask a friend. Just search in the app.

By using the app, you can build a cleaner, safer lifestyle beyond the kitchen.

Any Negatives?

Sometimes I will scan a product at the store that I really want to know if it’s approved, but the app doesn’t have any information on it. That’s understandable. I mean, there are, after all, thousands of products out there. But it still feels like a let-down. Perhaps I have put too much stock in the app!

A Tool You Can Trust

Bobby Parrish is not afraid to challenge big brands and call out harmful ingredients, but he does it in a way that’s respectful and evidence-based. His app reflects that same approach—firm in standards, gracious in tone, and incredibly helpful for the everyday consumer.

Whether you’re just starting your clean eating journey or looking to fine-tune your choices, the Bobby Approved app is the single most useful tool you can bring with you to the grocery store. It’s like having a nutritionist in your pocket, but even better—it’s free, accessible, and constantly updated.

Note: I have no affiliation with the app.

Download the app

Chick-fil-A may be known for its friendly service and tasty chicken sandwiches, but one of its most beloved condiments—Chick-fil-A Sauce—comes with a nutritional cost that’s often overlooked. It’s a fan favorite, but if you’re trying to eat clean or live a healthier lifestyle, this dipping sauce could be working against your goals.

Let’s break down why Chick-fil-A Sauce is unhealthy. Then I’ll give you the recipe we use at Kaywood’s Kitchen. It’s tasty and you can make it at home.

What's In Chick-fil-A Sauce?

The original Chick-fil-A Sauce is made from a blend of honey mustard, barbecue sauce, and ranch dressing. While that combo sounds innocent enough, it hides a cocktail of ultra-processed ingredients.

Here's a closer look:

1. Soybean Oil

Soybean oil is the primary fat used in Chick-fil-A Sauce. It’s a cheap industrial oil that’s high in omega-6 fatty acids, which can contribute to inflammation when consumed in excess.

2. Sugar and Corn Syrup

This sauce packs 6 grams of sugar per serving, most of it coming from added sugars like corn syrup. That’s nearly 1.5 teaspoons of sugar in just one small dipping container. Eating too much added sugar is associated with weight gain, insulin resistance, and increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

3. Artificial Flavorings and Preservatives

To keep it shelf-stable and addictive, Chick-fil-A Sauce contains artificial flavors and preservatives like calcium disodium EDTA. These additives don’t add any nutritional value—and for those trying to avoid synthetic ingredients, they’re a red flag.

4. High Caloric Density

Each tiny 28g serving of Chick-fil-A Sauce contains 140 calories and 13 grams of fat—most of it from processed oils. For a single dipping sauce, that’s a lot. And let’s be honest: few people stop at just one packet.

A Healthier Alternative: Homemade Chick-fil-A Style Sauce

If you love Chick-fil-A Sauce but don’t want the sugar crash and inflammatory ingredients, you can make a healthier version at home using real food ingredients. This DIY sauce is free from industrial oils, artificial sweeteners, and excessive sugar, while still nailing that tangy, sweet, and smoky flavor profile. We love eating it in our home.

Here’s how you make it:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sugar-free BBQ sauce

• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (preferably avocado oil-based, like the one from Chosen)

• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

• 3 tablespoons mustard (Dijon or yellow both work)

• 3 tablespoons raw honey (preferably organic)

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Bonus Suggestion: Check out Truemade Foods for many of the ingredients listed above. 

Directions:

1. In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth and creamy.

2. Taste and adjust sweetness, tanginess, or salt as needed.

3. Store in the refrigerator in a glass container for up to one week (we try to avoid plastic as much as possible).

Why Our Recipe is Healthier

• Healthy Fats: By using an avocado oil-based mayo, you avoid inflammatory seed oils. Greek yogurt adds healthy fats plus a little protein and gut-friendly probiotics.

• Lower Sugar: Even with honey, this version is much lower in total sugar and uses a natural sweetener instead of high-fructose corn syrup or refined sugar.

• No Artificial Ingredients: You’re getting flavor from real food, not lab-made chemicals.

Next Time You're Craving Chick-fil-A Style Sauce

Chick-fil-A Sauce may taste great, but it’s built on a foundation of processed oils, added sugars, and preservatives—ingredients that can sabotage your health over time. Making it at home allows you to keep the flavor you love without compromising on quality. Next time you’re craving it, skip the drive-thru and use the recipe above instead.

The sunscreen that you’re planning to put on your kids this summer?

It’s (probably) toxic.

When summer hits, most people don’t even do their research on buying the right sunscreen. They just trust the big box brands. They have been taught to look for a specific SPF number; they exclusively measure whether or not a sunscreen is a good option by how much they burn. This is a mistake.

Here’s the problem: the sunscreen that you use isn’t protecting your skin the way you think it is.

In fact, it could be exposing your body to a slew of toxic chemicals linked to hormone disruption and skin irritation.

There are two kinds of sunscreens:

1. Chemical-based
2. Mineral-Based

The solution? Avoid chemical-based sunscreens. And make the switch to non-toxic, mineral-based sunscreens — specifically those made with zinc oxide.

The Hidden Dangers of the Sunscreen You’ve Been Using

The majority of big-name brands use chemical UV filters like:

• Oxybenzone

• Octinoxate

• Avobenzone

• Octocrylene

• Homosalate

• Octisalate

They’re not good for your health.

Go grab your sunscreen. Look at the ingredients. Do you see these on there? Get rid of it.

These ingredients are designed to absorb UV rays, but at a cost.

Oxybenzone, for example, is a known endocrine disruptor, meaning it can interfere with your hormone system. The FDA has even acknowledged concerns about the long-term safety of oxybenzone and other chemical UV filters.

Octinoxate has been linked to thyroid hormone disruption. Both oxybenzone and octinoxate are also banned in places like Hawaii and Palau because of the damage they cause to coral reefs.

Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and what you put on it gets absorbed. That explains why I feel Magnesium cream more than when I take it through supplementation. And you don’t want those chemicals seeping into your body.

Zinc Oxide

What should you look for when buying a screen? Zinc oxide.

It protects against both UVA (aging) and UVB (burning) rays. It's non-toxic, reef-safe, and gentle enough for babies, which makes it ideal for anyone with sensitive skin or allergies. It’s a mineral. It’s safe for your body.

What We Use

Here’s what we use:

1. Badger. This is our favorite one! Their formulas are USDA Certified Organic, water-resistant, and incredibly smooth on the skin. Love this stuff.

2. Babo Botanicals. Love this one as well. Their spray option is legit. Made for sensitive skin and kids. Bonus: they’re a certified B Corporation, so you can feel good about supporting their ethical practices.

3. Pipette. Just got this one, but we trust the ingredients. Helpful if you’re looking for a sunscreen to rub on your face. It’s a favorite among parents because it’s gentle enough for infants but works for the whole family.

Make the Switch for Summer

Switching to non-toxic sunscreen isn’t just a “natural living” trend — it’s a critical decision for your health and your family’s future. Chemical sunscreens might be convenient, but the long-term risks are too significant to ignore.

So before you slather sunscreen this summer, flip the bottle over, read the ingredients, and make the healthy switch. Your skin — and your body — will thank you.

P.S. If you’re not already, please follow us on Instagram to stay in touch!

But how can you get more protein?

There’s one simple way of incorporating more protein in your family dinners that you may not have thought of.

And that’s by adding nutritional yeast and cottage cheese to your ground beef and turkey.

We use cottage cheese from Good Culture and nutritional yeast from Bragg.

It will take your ground beef and turkey to a whole new level. It will taste creamy, cheesy, and delicious!

Be sure to add cottage cheese and nutritional yeast for your next Taco Tuesday night at your home!

Check out our video on Instagram, and be sure to follow us to stay connected.

Check out the video

Let me be blunt: you should stop using a plastic cutting board. Why? Because it’s toxic and could be harming you and your loved ones.

If you’re like me, you try to make good choices in the kitchen—prioritizing first in-class ingredients, focusing on high-protein recipes, and staying away from plastic as much as possible.

But when it comes to creating a non-toxic kitchen, one item you might be overlooking is your cutting board.

Plastic cutting boards are cheap, lightweight, and easy to clean. But here’s the truth: they are toxic. And if you're trying to keep your kitchen healthy, you should know exactly what to avoid.

Let’s break it down.

The Problem With Plastic

Many plastic cutting boards are made from polyethylene (HDPE or LDPE) or polypropylene. These are food-safe in theory. That’s perhaps why the FDA hasn’t banned them. But when you slice into them repeatedly with a knife, they shed microplastics. And these microplastics are getting into your body, which is what you don’t want.

Microplastics are so small that you can hardly see them with your eyes. How many microplastics are we talking about? It depends on the sharpness of your knife, how often you use your plastic cutting board, etc. But according to one study, scientists found over 1,000 microplastics each time a plastic board was used to cut carrots!

Studies have shown that these microplastics can enter the food you're preparing. From there, they can make their way into your body. Microplastics have been linked to inflammation, hormonal disruption, and gut health issues. And once they’re in your system, they don’t just disappear.

But it gets worse.

Your plastic cutting board is contaminated, long before it arrives on your kitchen table. For example, when a plastic cutting board is made during the manufacturing process, it is made with chemicals (like phthalates) that can disrupt your hormone levels.

If you have older plastic boards that are heavily knife-scarred or warped, it’s a good idea to replace them. But even if you just bought a plastic cutting board yesterday, I would throw it away and replace it with a better alternative.

So, What’s the Safer Choice?

Wood. Get a wooden cutting board.

At Kaywood’s Kitchen, we use a wood cutting board made from acacia wood, which you can buy on Amazon here.

Unlike plastic, wood doesn’t shed microplastics, and it’s not made with questionable chemicals.

Not all wooden cutting boards are created equally, though. You want to avoid ones made with glues or adhesives — or if you find one with adhesives you love, just make sure it is food-safe adhesives.

Bottom Line

Plastic cutting boards can be convenient, but some of them can also be harmful. Microplastics, chemical leaching, and poor-quality materials are risks that aren’t worth taking.

One of the easiest swaps you will ever make to create a non-toxic kitchen is switching from your plastic cutting board to a wooden one. It will cost a little more money, but the long-term impact on your health is worth it.

Stay well,

David Kaywood

P.S. Be sure to follow us on Instagram to get healthy recipes and non-toxic swaps. We’d love to connect with you there!

The perfect remedy for a healthy option is protein overnight oats. You make them the night before, and they’re ready for you to eat in the morning. You can make one or batch prepare your breakfast for the entire week.

This is a staple in Kaywood’s Kitchen. There is an endless amount of variety that you can utilize. You can find the recipe for our Chocolate Banana Protein Overnight Oats below.

Recipe

In one mason jar, put:

• 1/2 cup of oatmeal (preferably organic)

• 1 scoop of your favorite chocolate protein powder

• 1 tablespoon of chia seeds

• 1/2 cup of organic almond milk

• Stir all ingredients in the mason jar

• Add 1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt

• 1/4 slice of banana at the top

• A few chocolate chips

Place in the fridge for at least 8 hours. We usually make a batch on Monday nights for the week ahead.

That’s it for today!

And if you’re looking for healthy and high-protein recipes, be sure to subscribe to Kaywood’s Kitchen to get every recipe in your inbox.