About

A Bit About Me…

Hi, I’m Natalie!  I focus on creating simple recipes using seasonal real food ingredients.  I’ve loved cooking ever since I can remember.  My mom is from Greece (if you know a Greek than you know how food-obsessed we tend to be) and I’m pretty sure to blame for my cooking obsession. My dad was a health and adventure nut fascinated with Mexican culture… exploring little villages adventuring through nature and finding secret street food treasures was his idea of heaven.  Needless to say, my cooking influences stem from all sides of the world.  Growing up, my mom cooked homemade meals every night of the week, each a different cuisine.  One night it’d be Indian, then Thai, Greek, and so on.  It was always super healthy and delicious. Despite her many cookbooks, I never saw her use one once; she threw in whatever sounded good with whatever else was in the pan and ended up with a platter of amazingness every time. This is how I learned to cook. Thanks to my parents’ worldly eating and health-inclined ways, I now spend my free time cooking and getting creative in the kitchen!

My Other Life…

When I’m not in my teeny little kitchen (oh how I dream to one day have a beautiful kitchen to play in!!), I’m working with kiddos.  I started as an elementary school teacher (I taught second and third grade… such a cute age!) and am now a counselor at a middle school… there is never a shortage of excitement in my days!  Outside of work, I love traveling and exploring new places.  If I had my dream job, I would travel all the time, cooking and learning about the foods and cultures of each place I went.  Sounds dreamy, right?  I’m a sucker for farmer’s market and any local foodie events.  Street fairs with food trucks, produce stands, wine, and live music make for a happy little me.  I also love camping, playing on rivers, and being near the ocean… I grew up in two beautiful places- Montana and California- so mountains and beaches make my heart go boom.  

My Favorite Foods… 

Oh boy, where to begin?!  I love Southern Asian cuisine- curries, peanut sauces… all of it.  I’m also a fan of Mexican food- mole, I’m pretty convinced, is heaven on a plate.  Naturally, I love Greek food- I could live on spanakopita and Greek salads possibly forever.  I am slightly, no very, obsessed with pickles- and since I discovered deep-fried pickles, my life simply hasn’t been the same.  My main food weakness has definitely got to be chips and salsa.  Any kind of salsa, I’ll pretty much just eat it out of the jar with a spoon if you let me.  It’s true.  :/  I also have a major weakness for cheese… any cheese, all cheese, I don’t discriminate.  Oh and how could I forget… I’m literally crazy for caprese- anything caprese!!  Okay, I could go on forever… better stop now