And simplemeals is my little corner of the internet!
I launched simplemeals in the summer of 2018, right after I left my full‑time job as a software engineer in Austin, Texas. I was cooking for a tight‑knit group of friends on Saturday nights, swapping stories over a pot of simmering sauce. Those evenings felt like a tiny laboratory, and I started jotting down the recipes that kept everyone coming back for seconds. Within a few months I realized I had enough material for a website, and simplemeals was born.
Fast forward to today, simplemeals reaches about 150 000 visitors each month and our newsletter sits at 3 200 loyal subscribers. In 2020 I published my first e‑book, “Weeknight Wins,” which sold more than 4 000 copies in the first year. A YouTube channel launched in early 2022 now has 28 000 subscribers and over 1 million combined views. I’ve also added a searchable recipe index, a seasonal produce guide, and a weekly “Pantry Challenge” that keeps our community experimenting together.
I now call Asheville, North Carolina home, where I share a small house with my partner Alex and two rescue dogs, Basil and Juniper. When I’m not whisking a sauce, you’ll find me on the Blue Ridge Trail with a thermos of coffee, tending to my balcony herb garden, or digging through my dad’s old vinyl collection for a bit of Miles Davis. Simplemeals is my way of inviting you into the kitchen I’ve built around friendship, curiosity, and the occasional burnt toast.
Since 2021 I’ve started hosting a quarterly virtual cooking class called “Simple Sessions,” where 50‑80 participants cook along with me in real time. The feedback has been amazing; one participant even told me the class helped her land a job as a line‑cook at a farm‑to‑table restaurant. I also collaborate with local farms for our seasonal produce guide, highlighting growers like Green Valley Orchards, which has increased my readers’ awareness of where their food comes from.