Hi, I’m Rachel and Welcome to Little Chef Big Appetite!
I may be pint-sized (coming in at a HUGE 5 feet tall), but man do I love to eat!
A little bit about me…
I grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, and after attending college at the University of Pennsylvania, I moved out to sunny Santa Monica, CA. I moved in with my then-boyfriend, Travis, in 2013 and together we fostered over twelve rescue dogs. In 2014, we adopted Bessie (whom you’ll likely see LOTS of photos of, if you follow my Instagram!). In 2016 Travis proposed to me on our college campus in Philadelphia and in September 2017 we were married in Boston! Travis recently accepted a job in New York City, so in October 2017, just a few weeks after returning from our honeymoon, Travis and I moved back to the east coast and we’re starting to settle into married life in a new apartment.
So how did Little Chef Big Appetite get started?
Growing up, I had a pretty terrible diet. I was incredibly picky, and the only foods my parents could get me to eat were PB&J, macaroni and cheese, and frozen pizza. It’s a big shame because my dad is a fantastic cook and my mom is an expert baker, so I wish I’d taken better advantage and learned from them sooner.
In my sophomore year of college, I moved to an off-campus apartment and for the first time ever, I had my own kitchen. The food on Penn’s campus left a lot to be desired, and in an effort to start eating healthier, I began to cook many of my own meals. During vacations and breaks from school, I’d be at home in Boston and spend a lot of time watching my parents in the kitchen. My dad taught me a lot of what I know now, and I also learned new cooking skills from reading various food blogs and my favorite cookbooks.
Cooking in a college apartment had its challenges. I only had a small supply of kitchen gadgets and a very limited access to fresh ingredients (there was no Whole Foods nearby and even if there was, that would have been a big splurge on a student budget!). Quickly, cooking became my hobby and something I would do to de-stress at the end of a long day of classes. Very few of my friends were spending time cooking their own meals, so what I was doing was very unique. My then-boyfriend, Travis (whom I met my junior year of college), encouraged me to start a blog so I could share my recipes with friends and family.
So in 2012 I started a little Tumblr blog (with embarrassingly terrible food photography). Later that spring I graduated from UPenn and moved out to California for a job in financial consulting. After two years in that role, I decided to transition my career towards my true passion: food. I landed a job handling marketing for a California-based restaurant group, and loved being able to combine my passion for food with my day-to-day work. Over the course of those two jobs I continued to blog (mostly as a hobby) and eventually transitioned my little Tumblr blog to littlechefbigappetite.com! In January 2017, I left my restaurant marketing position to travel throughout Europe with Travis. You can read more about that decision here.
Now I am blogging full-time, doing what I love every single day! On the blog you’ll find original healthy recipes (I’ve included some of my favorites below!), tidbits from my daily life, and stories from our travel adventures around the world. I hope you like what you see here and that you find a recipe that excites you. I love when you try my recipes – let me know by posting a comment here or tagging me on social media with #littlechefbigappetite!
Some of My Favorite Recipes:
Homemade Whole Wheat Bagels
Healthy Turkey Meatballs
Farro Salad with Cherries and Walnuts
Salted Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
DISCLAIMER:
Some posts and pages may contain affiliate links to third party sites for products and tools that I use. This is to help you identify an ingredient or a specific tool used that I mention in a post or recipe. If you purchase one of these products, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. This money goes directly towards maintaining this blog. Thank you for your support!
USING MY WORK:
All of the pictures and recipes on this site are my own, unless otherwise noted. Please don’t use any of my photos or recipes without my permission. If you share one of my pictures on your site, please link back to the original image and recipe and give proper credit. Thank you!
