About Us {The Spirit Squad}

Greetings! I’m Morgan. And this is my virtual home where I talk all things food, spirited children and the adults who raise them, and the shenanigans of my family, which I have come to accept is purely genetic. Keep reading. You’ll see what I mean. K-Hubs also resides in this virtual home as do our daughters, Toodlebug and Twinkleberry. Keeping it real in the Midwest, together we comprise the 21st-century Spirit Squad.

When I’m not taking pictures of tasty food and writing about it, I own a marketing business. I also teach at a community college and for an adult continuing education program. Adult learners are my jam.

In 2013, we learned our oldest daughter, Toodle, has an autoimmune disease. Alopecia. She also had horrible eczema and fourteen food allergies, not to mention allergic reactions to cats, anything outdoors, and perfumes. About a year later, we embarked on a journey to see what a holistic approach would do for her. We’re still on that journey, progress, setbacks, and all. You’ll hear about it from time to time.

This holistic approach mostly revolves around food. Which is perfect because the original members of the Spirit Squad, aka The Women Who Raised Me, were totally into food. But this new approach meant that the tried and true recipes of my childhood (mostly from The Gram) were now off limits. K-Hubs and I were a little sad about that. So I decided to channel my inner foodie freak to see if I could concoct equally mouth-watering recipes using the new foods we eat.

Now I take pictures of delicious food, striving to learn new recipes and crisp techniques for photographing them.

Here you’ll find whole food recipes that are gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free. But we aren’t skimping on flavor. Because no, I will not. Speaking of flavor, a few of our favorite foods come in the form of chocolate and dip. Also I love vegetables…as long as they are hidden. In dip.

THE ORIGINAL SPIRIT SQUAD

Mom was my rock, The Gram was my home away from home, and Auntie (not pictured) was my before and after school program when the weather was bad and the walk was long. These ladies rocked. They also raised me WAY differently than K-Hubs and I are raising our girls. And you know what? Both ways are pretty great. Families come in many shapes, sizes, and crazy, zany dynamics that are worth celebrating.