I developed a curiosity in cooking when I was pretty young; outside of my initial desire as a child to eventually be a zookeeper and study zoology, my other big phase was to be a chef and go to culinary school. But despite baking my own birthday cake for several years, and watching the Food Network quite a lot, my enjoyment of cooking didn’t lead me to follow that dream — instead studying journalism in college and moving my career into the broadcasting/marketing fields. When first living out truly on my own, working my first-ever job out of college at a news station, I rediscovered this enjoyment and really dove into it.
Everything But The Kitchen Sink
When I worked at that news station in Nebraska, it was the overnight shift. This naturally left my days free to do whatever I wanted. To pass the time and get more into living on my own, I really dove into cooking and baking. Recorded and documented on my now-named Nebraska Era blog, I kept a running list of all the different dishes I had tried to make for myself. Cooking and baking was how I relieved stress, how I helped cope with working the night shift, and how I found personal enjoyment; plus any baked goods I couldn’t eat I would bring to my office.
Fast forward a few years and I am living in the Greater Denver area with my boyfriend in our first apartment together. Continuing my love for cooking, I happily took over the majority of planning out and preparing any meals. And while I have accumulated a collection of cookbooks — currently packed in a storage unit, but adding up to maybe 20? — one in particular stands out and I would refer to it quite frequently.
Enter: The Tasty App
Have you ever heard of Tasty? It’s apparently owned by Buzzfeed and it’s an online community of recipes that honestly have an Instagram video feel to them. It is quite like Buzzfeed, just food-related. Think of little 15-second sped-up videos of people making very Instagram-worthy food that look amazing. I have no idea how I stumbled across this app (maybe through Buzzfeed?) but I started following it and saving recipes that I thought looked good. That’s where a fair amount of my “Food for Thought” dishes came from, like:
- Chocolate Muffin in a Mug
- Croque Monseir
- One-Pot Basil Pasta
- Salt’n Pepper Shrimp
- Ramen Carbonara
All of my research and exploration was done in the app. It wasn’t until I was back in Colorado at a Kohl’s that I found a Tasty cookbook (I believe the Tasty Every Day cookbook), and added it to my collection. This got a lot of use during the first two years of living with my boyfriend and I came across some that are easy go-tos.
Some Of My Favorite Tasty App Recipes
Baked Salmon: Very easy to put together as the protein and side vegetables can all be roasted in the oven and taken out at the same time. Essentially you season the salmon and bake it in a little tin-foil pouch with lemon slices and I frequently eat this with rice or roasted potatoes and vegetables.
The Best One-Bowl Brownies: These I started making in Nebraska for my coworkers and I sometimes make them for my boyfriend (who loves brownies) and guests. These make very moist, chewy, delicious brownies that are perfect for eating with ice cream, caramel, sauce, or your other favorite add-ons.
Southwest Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake: This one is basically a holy grail. This is the casserole I would make for myself in Nebraska, but also a casserole I would make for my coworkers who were on the day shift. As an MMJ/Reporter you are constantly on the go and it can be hard to find time to actually eat (not to mention when you get home you may not have the energy to really cook). So I would make the Southwest Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake for my coworkers so they could have a meal ready that has protein vegetables, pasta, etc. all in one. However, I always replace the Alfredo sauce with Salsa Verde and to me that tastes way better.
Mediterranean Flatbread: This one I had made for my boyfriend and he enjoyed it so much that he’d ask for us to have it again. I replace the flatbread itself with garlic naan and this makes a very delicious pizza-knockoff that has a lot of great flavor. Just make sure you cut the kale small and don’t include any really crunchy bits.
Fall Harvest Bowl: This one I can’t seem to find the link to but it’s in the cookbook itself. It’s basically roasted chicken thighs (and this is how I cook all my chicken thighs now) with Brussels sprouts, candied nuts, and crumbles of ghost cheese. Super duper yummy!
