Entirely Emmy
Feeling like your new year’s fitness routine is starting to unravel? Don’t be too hard on yourself. “Health and wellness can be a really overwhelming space,” affirms Emmy Clinton. “People believe that if they’re going to eat healthy, they’re really going to have to compromise on all the things they love.”
And no one wants that.
Such dietary misconceptions are part of why Clinton began publishing easy, wholesome and delicious recipes on her website, Entirely Emmy. But her food blog is also deeply personal: Clinton began creating recipes after being diagnosed with celiac disease ten years ago, during her sophomore year of college at the University of South Dakota.
“I was pretty much forced to completely reimagine the way I cooked and ate overnight,” recalls Clinton, who now lives in Colorado Springs. “But instead of feeling limited by it, I saw it as a really good opportunity to get creative in the kitchen.”
She started developing her own gluten-free dishes after discovering that many ready-made options at the grocery store are ultra-processed and full of sugar. “I didn’t want that to be a part of my new diet, so I started creating recipes,” she explains.
From mains to desserts, everything on Entirely Emmy is gluten-free and contains no refined sugar. Many recipes are also high protein; while undeniably trendy, that aligns with Clinton’s lifestyle. After running a half and a full marathon, she completed a half-Ironman triathlon last summer. “I upped my protein by almost double, and I have never felt as good training,” she recalls.
While not everyone aspires to be a high-performance athlete, many Coloradans are on the move, with this state consistently ranking as one of the most active in the country. Anyone can benefit from balanced meals made from the whole foods she emphasizes in her cooking, she notes.
“The refined-sugar-free desserts and the bowl recipes have been my favorite things to create,” she says. “They’re probably the things I make the most often in my daily life, too.”
Because they’re guilt-free, you could take a shortcut to the sweets, but let’s start with the main course. Clinton shares three of her current favorites, some of which are “copycat” recipes inspired by restaurants, food-delivery services and social media trends.
She recommends her homemade Cava bowls featuring harissa-honey chicken, lentil tabbouleh, hummus and tzatziki, as well as her Sweetgreen copycat crispy rice bowl made with colorful vegetables and a spicy cashew dressing. Seasoned with a zesty soy-ginger marinade, the fifteen-minute chicken poke bowl is another one of her favorites.
Grilled, boneless chicken thighs appear in many of Clinton’s recipes, but if you’re not a fan of poultry, no problem. Many of her bowls, salads and one-pan meals are easy to customize with recommended swaps for proteins and veggies, often with things you might have on hand. Her dishes generally come together in around thirty minutes and are simple to recreate.
By the time you get to dessert, you won’t mind the lack of white sugar in her fudgy, gluten-free brownies or salted caramel date bark, which layers sticky Medjool dates, peanut butter and a satisfying snap of salted dark chocolate.
While unquestionably health-conscious, Clinton doesn’t shy away from sweets for breakfast, either. Try her protein-packed banana blackberry oatmeal muffins made with rolled oats, Greek yogurt and a couple of scoops of vanilla protein powder, or spoon up her cinnamon roll baked oats, a recipe that’s racked up millions of views on TikTok and Instagram.
All Entirely Emmy recipes are free to access, despite the blog being Clinton’s full-time job; display ads and brand collaborations pay the bills. But Clinton plans to expand beyond the digital space soon; she’s working on her first cookbook and hopes several more will follow.
Regardless of how home cooks come across Entirely Emmy, though, Clinton wants them to know that self-care and eating well “doesn’t have to be this big, complicated, restrictive, overwhelming, crazy-expensive thing,” she says.
“I want healthy and whole cooking to feel accessible — and for it to be actually delicious, too.”
