My husband snapped a picture of me about to trim this massive brisket— for the soul purpose of gloating to my dad in an attempt to convince him to move across the country. This tactic hasn’t worked yet (I think more grandkids would have a better effect, even though my dad loves a good brisket).
Hi! Welcome to Lunch with Lynzee! I’m Lynzee, a lover of cooking and a hater of dishes. I have a passion for making meals and treats for my family. I believe any and all families can benefit from frequent home cooked meals— it’s better for your body, for your bank account, and it even tastes so much better. I think that everyone who cares to try can cook, it’s even easier than most people think! My mission is to empower my friends and family in the kitchen, and give people the skills and recipes to really wow their dinner crowds.
Food is the sixth (and forgotten) love language— I don’t think there are many things better than bringing homemade soup to a sick friend, a spontaneous freezer meal if they’re having a hard time, or cookies just for the heck of it. It is so important to have an arsenal of easy to follow recipes for any occasion, and that’s what I strive to provide here.
My Family
My loving husband, James, and two sweet daughters are my eager taste testers. My husband is a tall drink of water, and you wouldn’t guess from looking at his lean frame— he is a bottomless pit; the man can eat for days! My oldest daughter loves to help Mom in the kitchen, even with dishes. My baby girl is pretty busy perfecting her wobbly steps to be too concerned with what goes on in the kitchen, but she’s very passionate about lasagna. If I’m not in my kitchen, I’m running a trail somewhere or at TJ Maxx with my girls, likely picking up clothes, cute dishes and random trinkets. With my family being my first love and priority, and aside from cooking and baking (which I obviously adore or we wouldn’t be here!) distance running, gardening, books, and DIY dip manicures, are among my other favorite things.
The Advantages of Home Cooking
Home cooking has so many advantages! First and foremost: Home cooked meals often turn into family meals. I am a huge advocate for family meals! They are so important and have a plethora of benefits— to name a few: family meals strengthen family relationships, they reduce the risk of depression, reduce high risk behavior in kids and teens, increase self confidence and self esteem, improve vocabulary and literacy in children— the list truly goes on and on! And no, I’m not making this up! If you’re curious and want to know more about this subject here is a fascinating episode of The Harvard EdCast podcast. It is an interview with family therapist Anne Fishel (of thefamilydinnerproject.org) on the benefits of family meal time. If you’re not already prioritizing family meal time, those resources have the inspiration you need to do so!
Save Money and Preserve Health
More reasons to cook at home that apply to everyone is the positive impact that it can have on your finances and health. I am neither a health expert nor a financial guru, but health and finances are two of the top reasons I choose to cook at home for my family. At Texas Roadhouse the 20oz Bone-In Ribeye Steak is $24.99 (plus tip, and tax if applicable), at Kroger that same piece of meat is $15.49 (not to mention potentially even cheaper at Costco). Ribeye is super easy to make, fairly quick, and so delicious! By preparing it yourself that’s roughly $10 saved— and those dollars add up when you cook at home more than you eat out! Plus, you get to prepare your meal exactly how you want it, and then serve it as soon as it’s ready— versus the potential wait at a restaurant. Win/win/win.
You Are in Control of Your Health
As far as health goes you have the option to significantly and easily reduce calories, unhealthy fats, sodium, and chemicals. You can buy organic if that is important to you, and/or healthier substitutes for pantry staples that taste either exactly the same or better, and it’s so easy! Some of my frequently used substitutes are: Olive oil mayonnaise over classic mayonnaise— the calories are nearly cut in half and saturated fat is cut in half, and tastes so good! I substitute traditional Soy Sauce with Braggs Liquid Aminos, which is a good way to sneak in some micronutrients, and really tastes no different in recipes. With some products we choose whole wheat or grains instead of processed grains/white flour, to increase fiber for digestion— we especially enjoy whole wheat pasta (with some dishes), and my kids don’t notice or care. The list goes on! All you have to do is learn to read nutrition labels, and see what pantry staples make you raise your brows— then find a decent alternative. Rest assured, this is not a health food blog. Knowing and understanding healthy choices is very important, but I am also a firm believer in Chocolate Chip Cookies (made with white flour, loads of butter, sugar, and chocolate! YUM! All things in moderation, right?).
Who doesn’t want more control over the things we feed ourselves and the people we love? Choose what is or isn’t important to you and run with it— you’re the boss of your kitchen!
No Reason Not To Become a Home Chef!
Being able to strengthen your family, choose exactly what you want to be putting in your body, and taking out of your wallet, are just some of the most obvious (and most helpful) benefits of cooking at home! Not to mention other reasons, like seeking to improve your talents, being more able to help others (having the skills to bring a meal to sick family and friends), and more.
Looks to me like there isn’t a reason not to cook at home! And if you’re new and nervous to start, fear not! Take your time, follow recipes and directions, ask questions when you need to and you’ll be crushing it in the kitchen in no time!
“But I really can’t cook.”
You don’t know it yet, but you’re a liar.
The yeast was dead, and the bread was a rock. The chicken got overcooked. The roasted veggies stuck to the foil and wouldn’t come off. These thing happen! Just because you failed once or twice or six times does not mean you can’t cook. I’ve had some crazy fails too, and though it’s annoying at the time it’s made me even better in the kitchen. James and I have been married for just over 7 years. In the very beginning of our marriage I began branching out from recipes that I was comfortable and confident in making and trying to include recipes that my husband was interested in, foods that I’d never made before— and I made some pretty interesting dishes… Okay, if I’m being honest, they were nasty. But that’s okay! Even in mistakes we can learn— we learn what not to do, which flavors don’t work well together, and that corn starch thickens over time (so when your sauce doesn’t immediately set up don’t just dump more starch in). So if you have a fail or two during your endeavor of becoming a fancy home chef, it’s okay! We all have been there, and if you haven’t made a single mistake yet either you will later and that’s okay or you’re literally a magical creature and need to figure out how to bottle that magic up and share with the rest of us.
Why Dairy-Free Recipes?
No, I’m definitely not vegan, or vegetarian, or even lactose intolerant— and we’ve already established that (though I care about health and wellness) this definitely isn’t a health food blog. So what’s up with the diary-free tab, you might ask? Both of my babies suffered from Cows Milk Protein Intolerance (CMPI) during roughly the first year of their lives. Anything that I ate that had even the slightest bit of dairy (even just cross contamination) would make them so miserably sick. This on-and-off phase of life for my family was a really hard adjustment, but eventually, I got the hang of it and was able to make dairy-free meals good enough to where my husband and I didn’t miss dairy, at least not all the time.
The two babies I would give up anything for— even cheese!
Since my daughters have both thankfully outgrown this intolerance life has gone on and my family is back on dairy without any issues. But I still find myself making meals I made during our dairy-free chapter(s) that are so good they’ve just naturally become a part of our frequent meal rotation. I’ve chosen to make the dairy-free tab so that if someone comes to my blog who is dairy-free, they can easily browse safe recipes and find one that suits them and their family. When I was living the diary-free life it was hard! And there are not many resources for people who are just dairy-free. Sure, there are a lot of vegan, paleo, and “nut-free, gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and soy-free” recipes— but I believe nobody should cut a food group unless medically necessary. It was discouraging not being able to find recipes that were safe and no more exclusive than necessary. I had no choice but to create the recipes myself. So no, I am not and my family is not currently dairy-free, and we are not health nuts (no offense to the health nuts, we love ya)— that being said, I do not post dairy-free recipes just to post a dairy-free recipe. If it isn’t good, I’m not going to post it. It’s tagged as Dairy-Free purely to help those who are in the shoes I have been in more easily find recipes their family needs. You can trust that my dairy-free recipes are just as good as the rest of them, and most are even naturally dairy-free, meaning you won’t see a lot of complicated substitutes.
(You can also trust that if I post and tag a recipe as dairy-free when it does contain a dairy ingredient with a dairy-free alternative ingredient the dairy version and dairy-free version will be equally as good. I will only offer tried and true alternatives for each recipe, not random guesses.)
What People Say
“You made pizza?! You’re the BEST MOM EVER” gives the chef a bear hug.
Cecilia
“This is a great omlette. Why don’t you have a food blog?”
My dad
“Your name isn’t Lynzee anymore. It’s Chicken Alfredo.”
Rich