MaryRuth Ghiyam is a certified health educator, mother of four, nutritional consultant, culinary chef, and wellness entrepreneur. You may recognize her best as the small illustrated face on her namesake product lines, Mary Ruth’s. 

To be clear, this story about MaryRuth is not sponsored. It’s just that everyone we know seems to be obsessed with MaryRuth’s lately, especially mothers of young children. Seemingly out of nowhere, this uber-clean and innovative wellness brand, with it’s charming labels and unique liquid formulas, has been dominating the space — and we’re not mad about it.

Each time a strong brand like MaryRuth’s pops up in wellness, we get a small thrill knowing that it appeals to a new cross-section of consumers, many of whom may be learning about their health on a deeper level for the first time. When it comes to nutrition these days, that’s important — especially for young families.

MaryRuth’s personal journey is pretty compelling. She launched her brand with her mother, after their tragic loss of both their father and brother. Through the business, she was able to get out from under $700,000 of debt and overcome the grief of three miscarriages — all while raising those previously mentioned four children.

Her story — and her stamina! — are the inspirations behind her newly launched book, LIQUIDS TILL LUNCH: And 11 Other Practical Actions to Move Forward Every Day.  To celebrate the book and get further inside the daily habits of a wellness figure who intrigues us, we asked Ghiyam to participate in our In My Fridge series. Gawk away below…

What’s in My Fridge: MaryRuth Ghiyam

What’s always in my fridge:I always have fruits and vegetables like lemons, limes, red pepper, potatoes, romaine, carrots, scallions, chives, garlic, shallots, onions, cauliflower and cabbage. Kite Hill almond cream cheese in everything, chive and plain. So Delicious coconut yogurts and Kit Hill almond yogurts. Coconut water. Kreation lemonade.

What’s never in my fridge: We have a gluten free and dairy free home.

No fail kids treats: One of my family’s favorite treats are Glonuts, which are little almond flour donuts. Some other no fail kids treats are cinnamon apple chips, butternut squash crackers and So Delicious vegan ice cream. We also love Three Wishes unsweetened cereal with coconut milk and Lakanto maple syrup, which is sweetened with monk fruit.

7 staples always on hand: I always have Erewhon’s cauliflower potato vegan soup in my fridge. Other staples are Siete grain free lime chips, Siete grain free nacho chips, Real Coconut grain free chips, Erewhon arugula guacamole, Erewhon kale guacamole, and Erewhon cashew keylime pie which is a monk fruit sweetened vegan pie. These are always great to have on hand when entertaining.

Go-to proteins: Beans! You can put beans on anything like nachos with vegan cheese. I like Violife or Follow Your Heart vegan cheeses.

Favorite veggies: Anything in the air fryer. I can’t say enough about the air fryer! I went to culinary school and think it’s an incredible tool. I like to make air fryer sugar snap pea, onions, cabbage, brussel sprouts, potatoes and jicama fries.

Must have munchies:I love making pecans with Lakanto maple syrup and cinnamon. I also like to snack on the Real Coconut grain free chips in lime and sea salt and any vegan/paleo almond flour desserts.

Sweets: Sweet Laurel’s cookbook is my go-to for sweets! She has a sweet and savory cookbook that is easy to use. I like to have a couple go-to recipes that I make once a week as easy to grab snacks. I often make their chocolate chip cookies and put them in the freezer.

Favorite condiments: My favorite condiments are probably guacamole and avocado mayo. We try to stick to the healthier version of condiments.

Ingredient that makes everything better: Guacamole, again! We live in California, and who doesn’t love pairing guacamole with a variety of salads, soups, crackers?!

Must-have pantry staples: I always have canned full-fat coconut milk. This is so great for desserts, whipped cream, and creamy pasta sauces. I like to make a garlic-lemon-coconut pasta sauce and a creamy shallot-basil pasta sauce.

I also always have gluten-free pasta, basmati and jasmine rice, nut butters, nuts and seeds, beans and everything from the Lakanto brand. Lakanto makes products sweetened with monk fruit including sugar cookie mix, blueberry muffin mix, brownie mix and granola.

In our freezer, we keep Siete almond tortilla wraps, which are great for vegan quesadillas, and sweet potato fries.

Non-Dairy Faves: Coconut ice cream and gluten-free ice cream cones, Kite Hill cream cheese, almond yogurts and almond milk.

Favorite places to shop: Erewhon, Erewhon, Erewhon! I go there every Sunday on a date with my husband.

Best bargain: I like to buy bulk grains, bulk beans, bulk nut butters and nuts and seeds. Anything you can buy in bulk is better for your budget and better for the environment.

Best label reading tip: For me, personally, I am looking at labels mostly to see if they are gluten-free and dairy-free. I know other people look for more, but I try to keep it pretty simple.

Craziest thing I buy:I’m not sure! I love everything I have.

Favorite splurge: Sometimes I like to splurge on flowers from the grocery store Erewhon. They are so beautiful.

For last minute entertaining: Many of the staples I mentioned earlier are perfect for entertaining. If people come over, I love to offer them the vegan cauliflower potato soup, guacamole and chips, vegan quesadillas, vegan nachos, crackers with Kite Hill cream cheese, chopped vegetables or chips.

For sweets, I like to have monk fruit chocolate, almond flour cookies, lemon bars or lemon poppy seed cake from Sweet Laurel’s cookbook. To drink, I like to offer lemonades sweetened with stevia, coconut water, or tea and coffee with coconut milk and monk fruit sugar. All of these things are treats people adore!