Hey! We’re The Yum Taste (And We’re So Glad You’re Here)
Our Purpose
I’ll never forget that Wednesday evening when my youngest daughter looked at me with those big, tired eyes and said, “Mom, can we please just have something that doesn’t come from a box tonight?” I was standing in my Austin kitchen at 6:47 PM (yes, I remember the exact time because I was panicking about dinner… again), holding a package of frozen something-or-other, and I realized I’d lost my way.
Here I was – Ashley, a Registered Dietitian who literally counseled families about nutrition for a living – and I was failing my own family every single night. The irony wasn’t lost on me, but the guilt? That was crushing. My kids deserved better than drive-through dinners and microwaved meals, but between my practice, their activities, and life just happening, I felt like I was drowning.
That’s when Christine called me, crying. Her story was different but eerily similar – she’d just spent her Denver evening fighting with her kids about vegetables while her crockpot sat unused on the counter. Again. And Erin? She was texting us from her Nashville office at 8 PM, eating vending machine crackers because she’d missed dinner entirely while helping a client create their “perfect” meal plan.
We were three nutrition professionals who couldn’t figure out how to feed our own families without losing our minds. That’s the messy, honest truth about how The Yum Taste was born – not in some inspired moment, but in our collective realization that we were all struggling with the same impossible equation: healthy + delicious + quick + affordable + kid-approved = ???
Our Mission
Every single day, we’re in our kitchens (yes, plural – Ashley burns things when she’s distracted, Christine over-complicates simple recipes, and Erin thinks throwing everything in the crockpot counts as “cooking from scratch”). We test every recipe until it works for real families with real budgets and real picky eaters. Because over 150,000 families trust us with their dinner plans, and honestly? That keeps us up at night in the best possible way.
We’re not just creating recipes – we’re solving the daily 5 PM panic. You know the one. When you open the fridge, see nothing inspiring, check the clock, and feel that familiar knot in your stomach. We’ve been there. We ARE there. Most days, we’re figuring this out right alongside you.
Our crockpots are our secret weapons, our meal prep is imperfect but functional, and our families are our toughest critics. Every recipe that makes it to this blog has survived what we call “the Tuesday night test” – tired parent, hungry kids, 20 minutes max prep time, and ingredients you can actually pronounce.
Our Vision
Picture this: your kid asking for seconds on vegetables (yes, really). Your partner actually getting excited about the healthy meal you’ve planned. Your grocery budget AND your energy levels both feeling sustainable for once. You, sitting down to a family dinner that didn’t require a PhD in meal planning or three trips to specialty stores.
We’re working toward a world where healthy family meals aren’t a Pinterest fantasy – they’re just Tuesday night in your actual kitchen. Where busy parents don’t have to choose between career success and feeding their families well. Where “what’s for dinner?” becomes an easy answer instead of a daily crisis.
And here’s the thing – we’re not trying to create perfect Instagram moments (have you seen Christine’s kitchen after recipe testing?). We’re building a community where real families share real solutions for the never-ending challenge of keeping everyone fed, healthy, and happy.
Our Core Values
Real Food First: If Erin’s 7-year-old can’t pronounce an ingredient, we don’t use it. Period. (Yes, this rule came directly from him rejecting everything “scientific-sounding” at dinner one night.)
Family-Tested: Every recipe survives what we call “the Tuesday night test” – tired parent, hungry kids, 20 minutes max prep. If it fails in our kitchens, we start over. No exceptions.
Honest About Failures: We’ll tell you when recipes flop (looking at you, cauliflower pizza crust v3.0) because learning from our disasters saves you from yours. Ashley’s family still brings up the “great quinoa incident of 2019.”
Budget-Conscious Always: We shop at regular grocery stores with regular budgets. If a recipe requires ingredients that cost more than most families spend on dinner for a week, it doesn’t make the cut.
Progress Over Perfection: Some nights, frozen vegetables are perfectly fine. Some weeks, crockpot meals happen three times because life got crazy. We’re here for the long game, not the perfect week.
Meet Our Expert Team (The Humans Behind the Screen)
Ashley Grant – Registered Dietitian & Founder (Plus Chief Recipe Disaster Investigator)
I started my nutrition career thinking I had all the answers. Ten years, three kids, and countless kitchen failures later, I’ve learned that the best nutrition advice comes from the trenches of real family life, not textbooks.
My “aha” moment came during my second pregnancy when I was so exhausted I literally fell asleep standing up while stirring soup. That’s when I discovered that my crockpot wasn’t just a wedding gift taking up counter space – it was my sanity saver. I started experimenting with nutrient-dense, one-pot meals that cooked themselves while I napped.
Now, from my Austin kitchen, I focus on creating recipes that pack maximum nutrition into minimal prep time. My specialties are hidden-veggie meals (my kids still don’t know about the cauliflower in their mac and cheese), protein-rich slow cooker dishes, and what I call “accidentally healthy” comfort food.
Credentials: MS in Nutritional Science, Registered Dietitian (RD), Certified Diabetes Educator, 12+ years clinical experience
Expertise: Pediatric nutrition, meal planning for families with dietary restrictions, budget-friendly healthy cooking
Reach Ashley directly: ashley@theyumtaste.com
I personally read and respond to every nutrition question – usually while my coffee’s still warm!
Christine Taylor – Culinary Nutritionist (And Professional Flavor Fixer)
I’m the one who makes healthy food actually taste good. My journey started in culinary school, where I fell in love with flavors but quickly realized that most restaurant-style cooking wasn’t exactly family-friendly or health-conscious. Then I spent years in clinical nutrition, helping people eat foods they hated for their health.
The breaking point came when my own daughter pushed away a perfectly nutritious, completely flavorless dinner and asked, “Mom, why does healthy food always taste like punishment?” Ouch. That night, I decided to figure out how to make nutritious meals that my family would actually crave.
From my Denver kitchen, I specialize in transforming traditional comfort foods into crockpot-friendly, nutrient-dense versions that don’t taste “healthy.” I’m also our spice expert – I’ve probably tested 200 different seasoning combinations for our signature chicken recipes alone.
Credentials: BS in Culinary Nutrition, Certified Culinary Nutritionist, ServSafe certified, 8+ years recipe development experience
Expertise: Flavor development, comfort food makeovers, international cuisine adaptations for slow cooking
Reach Christine directly: christine@theyumtaste.com
Got a recipe that’s healthy but boring? I love flavor challenges!
Erin Douglas – Certified Nutrition Coach (And Master Meal Prep Strategist)
I’m the practical one who figures out how to make this all work in real life. My background is in corporate wellness, where I spent years helping busy professionals create sustainable eating habits. But it wasn’t until I became a working mom myself that I truly understood the daily juggling act.
My expertise was born from necessity when I realized I was giving clients meal prep advice I couldn’t even follow myself. I was working 10-hour days, commuting 90 minutes total, and trying to feed my family something better than takeout. The crockpot became my lifeline, and meal prep became my survival strategy.
From my Nashville kitchen, I create systems that work for the busiest families. I’m talking batch cooking strategies, freezer meal prep, and what I call “assembly line cooking” – minimal active time, maximum results. If there’s a shortcut that doesn’t sacrifice nutrition, I’ve probably found it.
Credentials: MS in Health Promotion, Certified Nutrition Coach (CNC), Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certified, 10+ years corporate wellness experience
Expertise: Meal prep systems, time management strategies, nutrition for busy professionals and families
Reach Erin directly: erin@theyumtaste.com
Struggling with meal prep? I’ve probably been there – let’s figure it out together!
How We Actually Do This Work
Here’s what happens behind the scenes: Every recipe starts with one of us having a real problem in our own kitchen. Maybe Ashley’s kids rejected another attempt at healthy tacos, or Christine’s husband asked for “more flavor” in the millionth bland chicken dish, or Erin realized she’d been eating the same three crockpot meals for two weeks straight.
Then comes the testing phase. We make each recipe at least 5 times in our own kitchens before it ever sees this website. We test with different crockpot sizes, different brands of ingredients, different cooking times. Ashley’s family rates everything on their brutally honest 1-10 scale (her 8-year-old once gave a recipe a “2 because at least it wasn’t burned”).
We photograph our actual food in our actual kitchens – you’ll see our real countertops, our mismatched bowls, sometimes our kids’ hands sneaking into shots. Because that’s what real family cooking looks like.
Every nutritional analysis is calculated using professional software, and we include practical tips based on our clinical experience. But more importantly, we tell you how our families actually responded to each dish. Because knowing that a recipe has 22g of protein is useful, but knowing that it got three picky kids to eat their vegetables? That’s gold.
Why Trust Us? (Fair Question!)
We’re professionally trained – Between the three of us, we have 30+ years of combined experience in nutrition, culinary arts, and wellness coaching. We keep our certifications current and stay up-to-date on the latest research.
We’re personally invested – These aren’t just recipes to us; they’re solutions to our own daily challenges. Every dish has been tested on our toughest critics: our own families.
We’re transparent about everything – When recipes fail, we tell you. When we modify traditional dishes, we explain why. When we don’t know something, we research it or partner with experts who do.
Our community keeps us honest – Over 150,000 families follow our recipes and aren’t shy about feedback. We’ve modified dozens of recipes based on reader suggestions and real-world testing.
Our Community (That’s You!)
The best part about The Yum Taste isn’t actually the recipes – it’s the incredible families who make them better. You’re the ones who figured out that our chicken and rice recipe works perfectly in an Instant Pot too. You discovered that our veggie chili is amazing over baked sweet potatoes. You shared photos of your toddlers eating our hidden-veggie pasta sauce and made us cry happy tears.
Every week, we get emails from parents sharing their wins: the picky eater who asked for seconds, the busy professional who finally found a meal prep system that works, the family who cut their grocery bill by $100 a month using our batch cooking methods. These stories fuel everything we do.
You’ve also shaped our content in ways we never expected. When dozens of readers asked for dairy-free versions, we created an entire series. When college students started following us, Erin developed budget-friendly recipes for tiny kitchens. When readers shared struggles with picky spouses (yes, grown-ups can be picky too!), Christine created her “gateway healthy recipes” collection.
Our Promise to You
We promise to always test our recipes in real kitchens with real families before sharing them. We promise to tell you when something doesn’t work and why. We promise to keep researching, learning, and improving because nutrition science evolves, and so do we.
We promise to remember that behind every “quick dinner question” is a tired parent trying to do their best. Behind every ingredient substitution request is someone working within real constraints – budget, time, picky eaters, dietary restrictions.
We promise to stay connected to the daily reality of family cooking, even as our blog grows. Because the moment we forget what it’s like to stand in front of an empty fridge at 5:30 PM is the moment we stop being useful to you.
And we promise to admit when we mess up. Like the time Ashley published a recipe calling for 2 cups of salt instead of 2 teaspoons (thankfully caught by alert readers before anyone attempted it!), or when Christine’s “30-minute” soup actually took 45 minutes in every single test kitchen except hers.
Let’s Stay Connected (We Actually Read Our Emails)
Seriously, we read everything. Ashley usually responds to emails while drinking her morning coffee, Christine answers questions during her afternoon kitchen experiments, and Erin tackles her inbox after the kids go to bed. We’re real people with real schedules, so give us 24-48 hours, but we will get back to you.
General questions, recipe feedback, or just to say hi:
contact@theyumtaste.com
Specific nutrition questions:
ashley@theyumtaste.com
Recipe modification help or flavor questions:
christine@theyumtaste.com
Meal prep strategy and time management:
erin@theyumtaste.com
