Hi! I’m Natalie.
I started this journey in the food space as a photographer. My twin girls were going to 1st grade, and I was looking for something to do in the middle of the day that could make some money and fill the need I had to be creative.
However, my family takes priority over all other things, and as a working mom, I needed something that would give me the flexibility to be home when school was out or when one of the girls was sick.
I heard about a food photography course that you could complete online. I had a decent camera, and I loved to bake and cook. So, it kinda checked all the boxes, and I thought, “Why not?” I graduated in March 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic, and I have been photographing food for bloggers since then.
Not only do I photograph the food, but I also have to actually make the recipe. In the course of five years, I have tried thousands of recipes. I’ve also done some recipe development and testing for clients. It’s something that I really enjoy, and I’m still doing it today.
Here is just a small sampling of the photos that I have taken for clients.
About a year ago, when the food blogging landscape was changing and bloggers’ budgets were being adjusted due to the Google update, I was thinking of ways to pivot my business. I kept wracking my brain and trying to figure out a way I could use what I had learned in the last 5 years.
A friend and I were taking our girls for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch and we were talking about food, of course. It never fails - every time I’m in a social situation, people are always asking me if I “have a good recipe for this or that” because they know what I do every day - try out recipes. I’ve become an “authority” of sorts in my social circles for recipes.
And it struck me that recommending a recipe to a friend or friends is something I love to do. I share my personal experience with a recipe and give it to someone so that they can provide their families with a delicious meal. I guess you could say that food is my love language.
From that conversation, the idea of a meal plan was formed. I was so very excited that I could use all of my experience to provide a service to an audience of women or men just like me. Busy moms and dads. Working moms and dads. Stressed-out moms and dads who just want to feed their families something nutritious.
Here is my family, the reason that I am constantly baking, cooking, and meal planning!