Welcome to another marvelous Monday! 🙂 Today on Meet the Neighbors we are going to have a chat with Jenni Ward, who blogs over at The Gingered Whisk. She is a fun-loving redhead who majors in delicious, family friendly recipes, with a minor in getting kiddos to eat their vegetables. 😉 At my house, getting kids to even contemplate the green stuff takes an act of God or the brewing of WWIII, so I was super excited to see Jenni’s blog and chuckle my way through her humorous, approachable style of writing. She makes cooking easy for people of any skill level, and she has fun while she does it. It’s just great!
You can find Jenni on her blog, here, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. What are we waiting for? Let’s meet her! 🙂
What is your name, and where are you located? (Hint: if you live in Hawaii, I am packing my bags as we speak 😉
My name is Jenni, and I live in Iowa!
Tell us a little bit about yourself– what is the name of your blog, and how did you get started?
Hello!! I stay at home with my two girls who are 6 and almost 3, going on 13. My blog is Gingered Whisk (and I’m a red-head!), and I share awesome healthy, easy, weeknight dinner recipes and epic desserts. Because no matter how healthy your dinner is, sometimes you need to stuff your face with chocolate cake. And sometimes it happens after your kids go to bed. I love sharing super flavorful and fun recipes, and I totally believe kids can love food beyond chicken nuggets and Mac and cheese! I started blogging back in 2009 when my husband started medical school. I was pretty bored out of my mind while he was studying, so I created the blog to give me something to do during the long and quiet hours. It’s seen a lot of changes in the years, and the addition of kiddos has changed and narrowed down the focus and the kinds of recipes that I share.
What is your favorite food? And what is your least favorite food?
My favorite food is anything that’s well made. Seriously, I LOVE good food. All of it. Especially when you can tell it’s been made with quality ingredients by someone who cares. My least favorite food is anything cheap and fast. I mean, if I’m going to “waste” calories on something, it had better be good! And black olives. I can’t stand black olives.
What advice would you give someone who is just starting to cook?
Relax!! Creating yummy food doesn’t have to be as complicated as rocket science, and it doesn’t have to be as beautiful as a magazine photo for you to enjoy making and eating it!
What keeps you going, every day? Who are your greatest cheerleaders/supporters?
I live off of a weird combination of coffee and wine. Because my girls are home with me and my husband works long hours, most of my work is done early in the morning, late at night, or in between rounds of Legos and Disney Jr. My biggest cheerleaders are my husband and my parents! They encourage me when I need it and cheer me on when things are going well. I also love the other great blogging friends I have made along the way!
Jenni was kind enough to share her recipe for Crock Pot Pork Ramen with us. Jenni says:
“I think this recipe perfectly showcases the kinds of recipes you can find on my site. Easy, healthy, flavorful, and it gets the kids eating their veggies!”
Jenni, it has been such a pleasure getting to know you better and feature your beautiful work here on Cookies for England! Your witty writing and beautiful photos have us hungry for more! We can’t wait to see what you dish up, next! 🙂 Thanks for visiting with us, today!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which just means that we get a few pennies if you purchase through our link. I never recommend products that I don't personally use and love. Thanks!
