Meet Melanie from Melanie Makes

03/12/2015

Meet Melanie, the gal behind Melanie Makes – a food blog filled with everyday eats, delicious desserts and everything in between. Stop by to find inspiration for kid-friendly, adult-approved dishes. On a time crunch? Melanie’s got you covered. Meals like this Turkey Mac and Cheese Stir Fry and these Shrimp Tacos can be made in 30 minutes or less.

And did we mention that Melanie is the queen of dessert disguised as breakfast? Morning dishes like these Birthday Cake Pancakes or these Chocolate Yogurt Waffles are just what the kid-at-heart in us ordered!

Recently, we caught up with Melanie to get the dish on her blogging inspiration, favorite food and more.

What inspired you to become a blogger?
I’ve actually been blogging for 10+ years and started when my husband was interviewing for residency positions in his last year of med school. Back then, I was blogging more for our families to keep tabs on what we were up to, a few recipes and our journey to the next place we were going to be moving to.

In February 2013, I decided to purchase my own domain name and then in the fall of that year, decided to focus on recipes and food as I love to spend any spare time I might have in the kitchen. I’ve loved every minute of it and haven’t looked back since! It’s like my own online food diary.

Favorite food to make:
Totally dependent on my mood! But hands down desserts! Especially anything involving chocolate. I love having dessert each evening while watching the evening news. It’s a bad habit but one I refuse to break!

Favorite trick of the trade when it comes to cooking/baking:
I love to use homemade mixes to make time in the kitchen more efficient. Using shelf stable ingredients like my Oatmeal Muffin Mix and Baking Mix in my recipes shaves time off recipe preparation, which is always a good thing in my book!

Favorite food substitute when cooking/baking:
I use non-fat plain yogurt as a substitute for sour cream at all times. Why purchase two ingredients when you can use one for both? It helps make baked goods less dense and is such a versatile ingredient.

One piece of advice you would give to novice cooks:
Don’t ever think a recipe is “too hard.” Sure there might be a lot of steps, but simply take them one at a time. A recipe is simply an instruction manual to great food!

Favorite kitchen gadget:
Hands down my OXO Medium Cookie Scoop! I use it almost daily for meatballs, cookies, you name it! I love knowing that whatever I’m creating will be uniform in size.

What’s your biggest food splurge?
Meat. Quality beef and chicken always top my list of ingredients and I’m not willing to compromise on them. I love being able to buy local and found a CSA this past summer that allows me to do so easily. I also was able to purchase a locally raised turkey this past Thanksgiving that was harvested just three days before the holiday. Such an awesome experience!

Biggest food flop:
Three words – balsamic green beans. This is something I made for my then boyfriend – now husband – when we were in undergrad. I was trying to make something nice for him out of ingredients that he and his roommates had on hand. He still loves to tease me about them!

The quote you live by:
“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” I’m definitely a planner and love to cross items off of my never ending to-do list. I know that if I tackle something today, tomorrow will be a bit easier, so why not just do it and get it over with?

Favorite recipe you’ve posted:
It’s so difficult to choose! I’m definitely going the dessert route again with my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Egg Rolls. An unexpected dessert that’s always a hit!