Welcome to my kitchen, the heart of my home. This is a space dedicated to simple home cooking—where simple, nourishing meals are woven into the fabric of a warm and connected life. Here, you’ll find recipes that rely on the deep flavor of herbs and spices, tips for growing your own, and gentle guidance for creating a home filled with good food, nature, and love—all without stretching your budget.

What You’ll Find Here

• Simple Home Cooking
  • Dishes that turn out every time with easy-to-follow instructions and simple ingredients.
• Big Flavor, Simple Ingredients
  • Letting herbs, spices and a few good ingredients do all the work.
• Recipes for Real-Life Budgets
  • My recipes are designed with our grocery bills in mind.
• Grow Anything, Anywhere
  • Gardening tips for small spaces, including windowsills, patios and tiny plots.
• Recipes for Selective Eaters
  • Nutrient-dense recipe options that respect sensitivities to textures and flavors.
• Smart Kitchen Shortcuts
  • Ways to save time, money and reduce waste without giving ourselves a headache.
• A Community for Real Cooks
  • A place where the challenges and fun of feeding a family are equally understood.

Cooking With Confidence

My recipes require minimal hands-on time, because I know your time is precious, just like mine. At the same time, I have tested each recipe many times over, so they are almost guaranteed to work every time. I need to be able to count on my recipes working well while requiring minimal time and very few funds. If it sounds like I just described your life, then this space is for you too!

Please feel free to treat my recipe index as your personal online recipe box. Do you need to find the simple pasta dish you made last week that everyone actually ate? How about a batch of muffins that the little one thinks are cupcakes but are actually packed with fruit and vegetable purées? My goal is to get a delicious, nutritious meal on the table with minimal fuss, very little cost and no extra mental load.

Where Simple Ingredients Shine

The key to an amazing meal is rarely expensive or complicated, in my experience. I grew up with simple, inexpensive meals and always thought that when our food was bland, it must be due to the lack of fancy ingredients. I’ve since learned that while techniques do matter and ingredient quality counts, the truth is that some of the best meals I’ve ever eaten had access to neither.

A basic understanding of the use of herbs and spices in our food is the best way to ensure a tasty dish. You will often hear that quality ingredients are the key or that proper technique is paramount. The truth is, that we often do not have the luxury of either. That, my friend, is when herbs and spices (and a generous sprinkling of salt) rise to the occasion. I’m here to offer uncomplicated recipes (most of the time) that utilize simple, easily obtainable ingredients, inexpensive proteins and generous helpings of fresh herbs and dried spices to save the day.

My growing online index of simple, tasty recipes use a relatively small choice of ingredients. This helps keep your pantry minimal, your costs down and your time well spent, all while still delivering delicious meals.

They are also often focused on herbs and spices, though some are simply fool-proof family recipes. You can often use plenty of dried spices instead of fresh herbs, if you prefer. This is great for those of us who struggle to raise a cactus! The key is to not be afraid of quantity.

Budget Friendly Delicious Meals

Unfortunately, many of us have had to forgo couponing these days. Its a ghost of its former self, and that’s coming from someone who was so late to the party that I had barely gotten my ducks in a row when the pond dried up. These days I talk about current cost-saving strategies: choosing store brands, buying local when you can, using frozen veggies instead and simple hacks (like vinegar + milk for buttermilk) that save money without sacrificing the meal.

I’m well aware that my Buttermilk Waffle recipe praises using real buttermilk but the truth is, while it is more delicious that way, I have definitely ‘gone back’ to vinegar and milk. Because lets face it, when the 4 year old will only eat waffles at 9 pm on a Thursday after refusing to consume them for 3 months, chances are you may not have buttermilk on hand anymore. I, for one, am definitely not running to the store just for that one item. 

Tiny Gardening Tips

Fresh herbs make a huge difference between an okay dish and a delicious meal. My small apartment patio garden is my herb source during the warmer months, though my kitchen does not have any windows or other direct light source, which makes it difficult for me to adopt ‘windowsill’ techniques.

Winters are especially trying because my best light sources are near either the sliding patio doors or my child’s bedroom window. While this offers a windowsill option, it also incorporates the toddler chaos initiative which has been deadly for my basil in the past.

I’m a gardener making do with pots; a former forager (though my family eyes my wild greens with suspicion!), and a home cook at heart. You actually don’t need a yard to grow flavor. I’ll show you the herbs that are hardest to kill and give you the biggest return on investment for your cooking. Buying a bunch of basil at the store is costly. Growing your own makes more sense. (See what I did there?) If you can grow the plant instead, you’re much better off!

Winning Nutrition One Bite at a Time

My own child is on the spectrum and struggles with food textures. I know it’s not about being ‘picky’—it’s about how their brain experiences food. Truth be told, I’ve always had struggles myself, but my parents were of the generation where you powered through it.

I have spent quite a bit of time at this point developing specific recipes which focus on familiar, manageable textures and clever ways to incorporate nutrition without turning mealtimes (or snacks!) into a battle. Beginning with the ‘safe foods’ for each of us (or our kids), I am doing my best to make adjustments to recipes that make them healthier without changing the textures or flavors too much. Gradual change is much more sustainable long term, I’ve found.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

While the tips, tricks and shortcuts I share are not exclusively related to cleaning, some of them are, because let’s face it, if you have cooked, you’ve probably had to clean. I’ve cleaned kitchens and houses using all manner of chemical concoctions, including the especially strong commercial options often utilized in commercial kitchens. I’ve cleaned and sanitized work stations with 2 different solutions, scrubbed floors with yet another and soaked vent plates in the most toxic liquid of all. It got the grease off, but it also would take the skin off your hands.

When I say I’ve experienced the full gamut of cleaning solutions, I’m not kidding. The fact is that since having my child, I’ve been on a mission to find options that don’t cause noxious fumes or eat our skin while also having the ‘hulk’ cleaning effect on those stubborn pots, pans, ovens, stoves and whatever else ails you. Guess what? I found some…

We’re Not Alone

A couple years ago, at a time when I felt particularly unseen, I wrote about what moms really want for Mother’s Day (an actual break from the mental load!). I’d venture to say that this community gets that the mental load is real. We’re here to make that load a little lighter, one simple recipe, tip, or relatable motherhood post at a time.

I want to help you simplify your meals without sacrificing an ounce of flavor or your well-being. Because you deserve a break, and a delicious dinner that didn’t cost your last nerve.

This isn’t just a reference site or even a site about me; it’s an ongoing conversation. I invite you to read, cook, grow, and explore alongside me! If you try a recipe or learn something new, I’d love to hear about it. Thank you for visiting my kitchen—I’m so glad you’re here!

What to Do Next

If you’ve made it this far, thank you! Not sure where to click next? Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Explore My Guide of Favorite Herbs & Spices

Try One of My Most Loved Recipes

Almost every one of these recipes have been with me over 30 years. Some of them I’ve discovered along the way, because we are never too old to learn new tricks!

Sign Up for My Monthly Newsletter

If you’re overwhelmed or not sure where you want to go next but don’t want to forget that you found this resource, feel free to drop your email and I’ll send you tips, tricks and recipes once a month. I don’t know about you, but weekly emails are too much for me!