Few challenges create more anxiety for the in-home chef than the idea of cooking the holiday meal. This meal can place two foundational hurdles to overcome for the cook.

Eating healthy on a budget can sometimes seem like a oxymoron but it is very much possible with a little extra food work and research on your part as a consumer. While it is very convenient to go to one grocery store to get every ingredient on your list in most cases you will spend more than you need to. As a chef shopping and ordering produce, meats and even dry goods is a everyday event. Finding the best prices when you are buying hundreds of pounds of items is always a priority and that has always spilled over to my private life of shopping for home. Here are my top tips for getting the best value on healthy foods on a budget!

Cooking for one or two people can be challenging. Let’s talk about it.

The essential guide to culinary creativity, based on the wisdom of Americas most imaginative chefs.

Meal prep can get confusing at times.  Your menu may have 5 different dishes with multiple ingredients in each.  What to do first??

Organic. The word alone is almost as big a hot button these days as politics, people are all too eager to jump in and give you their professional opinion on the topic even when its unsolicited. So, what am I going to tell you that you haven’t already heard? What can I possibly regurgitate that you yourself haven’t already been forcefed by social media, politicians, neighbors, your aging hippy uncle who stands strong and swears by tempeh burgers and avocado tofu chocolate mousse!? An opportunity to make your own choice, that’s it!

Everyone has had a Thanksgiving meal that didn’t turn out the way you wanted. Maybe you tried to defrost the turkey that morning? Or started the turkey too late and pulled it too early so it’s under cooked? The issue probably wasn’t that you don’t know how to cook it’s that you don’t know how to plan and manage your time! All great chefs rely on lists and timelines to execute large dinner parties and you should too.

Inviting over a group of guests always sounds like fun. Feeding a big group can send even a calm cook into panic mode. “Stress levels naturally run a bit higher when you’re having a party! Planning is the key to alleviating a lot of anxiety, and if you have a great time, your guests will, too.

Tired of all that bacon grease splattering all over you, your stovetop, and your counters? Yup, so was I. I also hated having to clean up all that bacon fat! Let alone getting burned by the rogue grease flying all over the place