How Easy Meal Recipe Started
The idea for this blog came to me on a Wednesday evening in 2019. I was standing in my kitchen at 6:30 PM, exhausted after work, staring at the ingredients I had on hand, and scrolling desperately through food websites looking for something — anything — I could actually make with what I had. Every recipe I found either required a shopping trip, took over an hour, or had 47 steps and assumed I owned a stand mixer, a mandoline, and the patience of a saint.
I closed my laptop and made something up from memory. It turned out great. My husband asked if I had the recipe written down. I didn't. That was the moment I realized I had been cooking this way for years — improvising, simplifying, adapting — and it was time to start writing it all down.
I launched Easy Meal Recipe in early 2020 with about a dozen recipes and zero idea whether anyone would find them useful. The response surprised me. People weren't just visiting — they were writing in. They were telling me that these were the recipes they actually made on repeat, that their kids finally ate something green, that they'd served my chocolate cake at a birthday party and people asked for the recipe.
That feedback kept me going. It still does.
My Approach to Recipe Development
I have one non-negotiable rule: if I wouldn't make it again, it doesn't go on the site. Every recipe gets made at least twice — usually more — before I write it up. I'm looking for consistency. Does it work every time? Does it work when I'm distracted or rushing? Does it work if you use salted butter instead of unsalted, or substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream?
I also try to write instructions the way I wish other recipes had been written when I was learning to cook. That means telling you what things should look like, smell like, and feel like at each stage. "Cook until golden" tells you nothing if you're not sure what golden looks like. "Cook until the edges are lightly browned and the center no longer jiggles" actually helps.
Ingredients are kept simple on purpose. I don't keep exotic spices or specialty items in my pantry, so I don't cook with them. If a recipe calls for something you might not have on hand, I always suggest a common substitute. Cooking should feel accessible, not intimidating.
About the Ingredients I Use
I shop at regular grocery stores — mostly the local Kroger and occasionally Aldi when I'm feeling budget-conscious. I don't use affiliate codes for specialty ingredients or get paid to feature particular brands. The ingredients in my recipes are the ingredients I actually buy and use.
That said, I do have some strong opinions. Salted butter is fine (I know bakers will disagree with me, but I stand by it). Fresh garlic is almost always better than garlic powder. And if a recipe says "a pinch of salt," I mean actually taste it and add salt until it tastes right to you — not a literal pinch.
I cook mostly omnivorous recipes, but I include vegetarian and vegan options where they work naturally. I note dietary info in my recipe cards and try to give substitution suggestions for common restrictions.
Life Outside the Kitchen
When I'm not cooking or writing, I'm usually spending time with my husband Dave and our two kids, Ellie (10) and Sam (7). We live in a neighborhood with a good farmer's market — which is part of the reason I started leaning more seasonal in my cooking over the past few years. There's something about seeing what's actually at the market that week and building a menu around it that makes cooking feel less like a chore and more like a small creative act.
I'm also an avid reader, a mediocre runner (I keep signing up for 5Ks and then undertrain every single time), and someone who has watched The Great British Bake Off approximately four times through. It hasn't made me a better baker, but it has made me a more enthusiastic one.
A Word on Recipe Testing
Recipe testing sounds glamorous. It is not. It means making the same dish over and over, sometimes getting it very wrong, and eating a lot of slightly-off versions of things before getting to the one that works reliably. I've made cookies that spread into puddles, soups that were inexplicably bitter, and at least one cake that I still don't fully understand.
But those failures are what make the final recipes trustworthy. When I publish something, I know where the pitfalls are. I know if you need to chill the dough or the whole thing falls apart. I know if the oven needs to be truly preheated (and not just technically preheated). I know if the timing will vary based on pan size. I tell you all of this, because I wish someone had told me.
Connect With Me
I'd genuinely love to hear from you. Whether you tried a recipe and want to share how it went, have a question about a substitution, or just want to say hello — my inbox is open. You can reach me through the contact page, and I read every message personally (though I can't always reply instantly with two kids running around).
You can also find Easy Meal Recipe on Pinterest, where I save recipes from other sites I admire alongside my own.
Thank you for being here. Whether you've been reading since the early days or just found this site for the first time today — I hope you find something that makes dinner a little easier tonight.
