Eating With Our Eyes: Food Bloggers We Love

Planning your next meal but don’t know what to make? Potluck coming up and you want to show off your one-pot-wonder culinary skills? No matter what, food should be the least stressful part of your day, and these family-friendly food bloggers are here to help us all with that.

No Time to Think Recipes

When it comes to quick meal planning, these blogs can single handedly redefine “Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.” Bookmark your favorite under 15-minutes-or-less, one-pot pastas and, of course, slow cooker gems that’ll have your house smelling so good.

photo: woodleywonderworks via flickr

The Fresh 20
The Fresh 20 blog is all about getting your picky eaters to trying something new. We love their Oatmeal with Toppings post, which reminds us to get our taste-testers involved with their own meal. And for their members, The Fresh 20 offers a meal planning service that takes out the humming and hawing over grocery lists. Online: thefresh20.com

Recipe Tin Eats
Simple. Fast. Creative. Clever and fresh. Those are the only words you need to know about food blogger Nagi’s tantalizing meals. Just look at her Ham & Cheese French Toast Roll-Ups as an ingenious example. Her 15 mins or less recipe collection is also life saver for busy parents.

Family Fresh Cooking
From travel to crafts, lifestyle to healthy foods, Marla Meridith is all about enjoying natural foods and getting that positive energy from the inside out. Check out this dreamy Spaghetti Squash Baked Eggs with Salami & Parmesan dish that’s comes in one perfect portion. Be sure to bookmark her casserole recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

For The Love Of Cooking
There’s no reason to dread cooking when For The Love Of Cooking is on your radar. Stay at home mom of two Pam whips up amazing eats. Filter through her recipes by how much time you have on hand — many of her hearty fulfilling creations can be done in under 30 minutes! Your lil ones will be half way through those Crispy Cauliflower Carrot Fritters before they realize it’s not hash browns they’re eating.

Foodie With Family
Give it up to Rebecca, mom of five and freelance food writer, to give tips on removing makeup with one hand while satisfying a variety of palettes with the other. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert looking for something easy to take the pressure off the cooker, Foodie With Family is your go-to resource. Jump right into her slow cooker specials to get your house smelling nice and toasty when you get home.

Amy the Family Chef
Logging onto Amy Fothergill’s food blog is like having a personal chef right there with you. As a mom of two and a cooking teacher in the Bay Area, she makes healthy, fast (and gluten free) meals look easy. Try out her dairy-free mashed cauliflower.

Real Food By Dad
Just like the title says: Dads can cook too. This pops focuses on everyday, easy to make meals and snacks along with comfortable doses of family life. We can’t keep our eyes off the culinary home-cook genius that is the Waffled Tuna Melt.

Strict Meal Planning

Food restrictions? Need to read the label twice to make sure the ingredients are okay for your sensitive tot? For families who need to jump start a diet plan or want to stop eating strictly anything, recipes from these blogs will brighten you up inside and out.

photo: woodleywonderworks via flickr

Our Family Eats
Bye, bye artificial ingredients and hello nutritious, wholesome ingredients. Start the change from inside out with recipes from Our Family Eats. Busy mom of two, Susan, writes about more than food, but also living a calm and peaceful lifestyle. Try out these homemade marshmallows for a worry-free dessert. 

Mom’s Kitchen Handbook
Your munchkins won’t even care about fried food when you’re cooking with Mom’s Kitchen Handbook on hand. Food writer Katie is also a dietician, and she brings her expertise into her food musings. Check out her Kitchen Wisdom page for all kinds of food tips, nutrition tips and more.

Veggies Don’t Bite
90% vegan, 90% sugar free, 90% gluten free — we love the great mindset behind Veggies Don’t Bite that encourages us to eat stress-free one step at a time. Just one bite of the Blueberry, Peach and Pecan Smoothie Bowl will have you convinced.

Lunchbox Bunch
If anyone tries to convince you that vegan food can’t be found, Lunchbox Bunch will prove you wrong. Just look at these Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers as an appetizing example — crispy, crunchy and savory, you won’t believe your meals are just veggies.

Gluten-free Girl
If you are short of gluten free recipes, you must visit Shauna’s blog for yummy and healthy recipes and inspiration. Her delicious recipes will make you not miss gluten and her inspirational story has something for everyone.

Comfort Food

Nothing makes the tummy happier than comfort food. Be it summer or winter, special occasion or long day, there’s always room for that warm goodness, ooey-gooey or fried. Here are our favorite food connoisseurs, who we’re sure have outstanding degrees in creating homey dishes.

photo: Bing via flickr

Noble Pig
Welcome to Cathy Pollack’s life, a humble reading of what it’s like to live on a vineyard, take care of a family and stir up delicious meals in a huge pot. If we’re not drooling over her Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash, then we’re reading about her travels and ramblings about life and wine.

The Nourishing Gourmet
Go way, way back to traditional foods with Kimi Harris of food blog The Nourishing Gourmet. Her recipes focus on healthy eating with the family through simple meals that have roots in our great, great grandma’s time. Start off with any of The Nourishing Gourmet’s soups, which can be found here.

Ladles And Jellyspoons
Lucy Lean is a food judge for Masterchef and writer for Made in America: Our Best Chefs Reinvent Comfort Food, which says everything about how interesting her blog can get. On top of her fascinating life, she writes and features many fresh recipes that focus on farmers market picks. Mmm, local goods can be so food! Check out her take on the Italian classic Spaghetti Carbonara.

Curry and Comfort
Just the word curry fills up with warmth, and Ramona’s recipes from Curry and Comfort do just that. She cooks up a storm with flavors from all over the world. Try out any of her stir fry dishes for sure-fire way to make your kids happy — breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Rustic Plate
It’s all right there in the name with Serena Cosmo’s food blog, Rustic Plate. She plays with standard ingredients to get deep flavors, and gives video tutorials (thank you!) to show how things should look when preparing a dish. Serena is Italian, so of course we’re going to direct you straight to her pasta recipes!

Savory Sweet Life
After her three kids and husband have hit the bed, Alice Currah (cook, baker, writer and photographer) whips out her keyboard to detail scrumptious recipe after recipe for us. Her writings are chock full of lovely descriptions of family life and daily musings. Head to Savory Sweet Life for this simple, shareable easy breakfast pizza.

A Little Yum
Want to eat around the world? Follow our favorite A Little Yum for food adventures, from restaurant reviews in the Bay Area to easy recipes that even your tiny chefs can handle. This Banoffee Pie made during a kitchen playdate is a perfect example.

Conquer that Picky Eater  

Kid-tested, baby-approved — these blogs specialize in helping your cookie lick their plate clean and ask for seconds.

photo: Frédérique Voisin-Demery via flickr

Picky Palate
So-Cal mom Jenny keeps food exciting by creating and writing her own recipes. Not just kids but also adults will enjoy her delicious and original food. Try her Red Tart Cherry Toasted Macaroon Oatmeal. You won’t need anymore convincing after your tots have a taste.

Teeny Tiny Foodie
These yum eats by Jory have been taste tested by her daughter, Eliana, a young teeny tiny foodie in the making. With tips and general ideas to make the kitchen your precious’ favorite place, Teeny Tiny Foodie teaches you how to entice taste buds with healthy options — take this lesson on “How To Cook Quinoa So It Doesn’t Suck” as an example.

One Hungry Mama
Sort recipes by age, ingredient or type — One Hungry Mama has definitely kept our finicky eaters in mind with her organized site. With motto: “parenting from the kitchen,” NYC mama Stacie shares family-friendly recipes that don’t just fill your baby’s tummy but also a chance to foster good habits and behavior in them. Try out this no-bake white chocolate cheesecake with your sous chef.

Weelicious
This site has us thinking outside apple-sauce purees and mashed avocados for our pickiest eaters (first timers and beyond). Weelicious keeps things simple by highlighting local and accessible ingredients and fun ways to shake-up mealtime (PB&J crepes, anyone?). Plus, the thumbs up widget lets us see how many people have fallen in love with the recipes.

Teach, Eat, Love
Want your kids to eat brussel sprouts? Because this maple glazed brussel sprouts recipe is exactly how to get your veggie skeptics to chow down on Brussels sprouts. Read through the Teach, Eat, Love’s ground rules to teaching kids to love food and then dive into trying out all her fun recipes with your foodie.

Leah’s Thoughts
Bursting with ideas, creativity, and delicious kid-friendly recipes, Leah’s Thoughts is a fantastic resource for moms and dads. Leah not only offers easy and kid-approved recipes, but she also provides us with musings on motherhood, crafts and whatever else comes to mind!

Food For The Eyes

Because half the pleasure of food is seeing how mouthwateringly good it looks before our family digs into it and leaves behind a carcass of leftovers. Not only are these foodies amazing cooks, but they have photography skills that go into the 4th dimension. We can almost taste their creations just by looking at them. 

photo: Lelivingandco

Smitten Kitchen
Deb Perelman is a NYC chef does everything in a tiny kitchen, but you wouldn’t believe it from her many photos. Every post showcases the delicious before, during and after progress of her recipes. Click on the Surprise Me! link on the side bar. It’s a guarantee hit for tummy-growling pictures.

Annies Eats
Cookbook worthy pictures, recipes from her readers and tips on freezing food (a home chef’s saving grace on busy times), Annies Eats even gives tips on taking stellar food pics. Check out her Roasted Pumpkin Pasta — it looks right out of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant!

Love And Lemons
Jennifer, the voice and photographer behind the clean, crisp Love And Lemons, displays her ingredients in a magazine issue worthy style. Her photos make food like fun and easy, and are even tutorials in themselves. Fancy s’mores anyone?

Pinch Of Yum
Former teacher, now full-time blogger, Lindsay from Pinch Of Yum fulfills all our hungry dreams through her decadent photography and enthusiastic food writing. Warning, don’t scan her blog while hungry because you’ll be too starved to function after. Here, we’ll make it easy for you — make her simple Hoisin Glazed Salmon, stat!

Averie Cooks
Sweet tooths beware, Averie Sunshine redescribes comfort in the form of baked goodness. Her pictures do what words can’t. Just look at this moist, angel soft cream Cheese-filled Banana Bread!

How About Cookie
Mom to three kiddos, Selena Kohng’s creations range from simple to ummm yeah, that is straight awesome. Her ability to “play with her kid’s food” is a win for anyone following How About Cookie. Amazing bento lunches, a slight obsession with boxes, cups and containers, and adorable food creations, like her “Gingerbread Men on Vacation” series combines the beauty of food with the musings of a modern mom — the results are delicious.

Budget Planning
Skimming a little here doesn’t mean eating cheap – just smart! Plus, we can put all those nickels and dimes towards that dream vacation trip we’ve been planning for.

photo: Br3nda via flickr

Brokeass Gourmet
A family meal for under $20? Sounds like a deal to us! Brokeass Gourmet is a lifestyle and food blog that helps you create high-quality five-star dishes for your family on the cheap. We’re bookmarking their DIY Cronuts because who has time for that three hour line in NYC?

Not Eating Out In NY
Here’s a prime example of “if she can do it, I can too!” There’s so much convenience and good food in the big Apple, but Cathy of Not Eating Out In NY opts to cook and eat-in, saving money and eating healthier while doing it. She even has a recipe for Pad Thai, a dish we can now resist ordering on the go.

5 Dollar Dinners
Couponing, bulk planning and with the help of Texas mom, Erin Chase — $5 dinners are possible. Save time from scrounging through booklets of coupons and check out her up to date list of savings. Now instead of paying $5 per BBQ Chicken taco, make four yourself instead!

Did we miss your favorite food blogger? Tell us about them in the Comments below!

— Christal Y.