How we develop our recipes

How We Develop Our Recipes

Some of our recipes.

Let us explain our process:

Rough idea

We have a rough idea of what we want that we send to our recipe developer. She comes back with a couple of suggestions. Once we settle on a flavour combo, she goes ahead and creates the recipe – always with our nutrition requirements in mind.

Make it nutritionally sound

Next, we review the recipe to make sure it hits our nutritional requirements. It has to have a great amount of protein in, as well as healthy carbs, fats and full of vitamins and minerals (our nutrition philosophy here). If it doesn’t fit, we ask our developer to tinker until it does!

Review the recipe

After our recipe developer has tested the recipe, we put it through its paces too, naturally. Firstly, a recipe goes through Dave and Kat’s kitchen. If something isn’t quite right, they add suggestions to it. Secondly, Hauke gets out the pots and pans. He often invites his friends over for taste testing.

Man, once people know nobody in the room is emotionally attached to the recipes they get brutally honest. Anyway, if a recipe doesn’t work for us we discard it. Game Over. Finito. Ende.

Release to the readers

Only if all of us three (meaning Dave, James & Hauke), give it a thumbs up does the recipe become blog material. By the way, we don’t only check for taste, but also for speed, availability of ingredients, use of kitchen utensils and skill level. Lastly, we get the recipe “blog-ready”.

*Our talented recipe developer Abril. She has been with us since 2020.*

Hauke and Dave testing the recipes — *Dave and Hauke taste testing 🙂*

Over the last years we were fortunate enough to work with many very talented professional chefs and recipe developers. Since 2020 Abril has been our main recipe contributor. We’re proud to mention all of them below.

Abril

Hey there! I am a recipe developer and food photographer from Quito, Ecuador. I have a BA in Gastronomy. For the last five years I have been working with websites and blogs from around the world developing recipes and photographing them. I have also worked with online and print magazines writing about food.

I would describe my style as “comfort food with a twist”. My goal is to create recipes that are homely, yet attractive, delicious and have something different and exciting to them. I try to bring my style to every type of food or diet I work with.
More about Abril

Kat (married to Dave)

I’m happy to be critical of the recipes. If they’re no good, I’ll simply say it. I know Hauke and Dave only want the best recipes on the site, and so if I try a recipe that I know I’ll never want to eat again, then it has to be changed.

I think the popularity of the site and recipes is a testament to this approach.

Jansen

Jansen is from Holland and his many years of chef experience includes Canada, Germany, Australia and New Zealand – he’s picked up more than a few exciting ideas and culinary knowledge in his travels.
With the responsibilities of a new father, he’s started focusing on the healthier side of things. Check out his Moroccan Couscous Salad or slick Vegan Potato Salad for starters.

Heiko

Hauke’s younger brother. He has already worked as a chef for ten years. He’s the creator of some pretty bad-ass recipes like our avocado mousse and vegan potato soup.

“The meals are superb – very tasty and very easy to cook… The Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup was one example of this: I loved it and will definitely make it again.”

Anna N

“Love the meals so far and how QUICK they are to make (my favorite part). Most of them fill me up and taste very good. I like that I can see what meals are for each day because my biggest problem has always been thinking about what I’m going to make. It’s very convenient to see the meal and click on the recipe. I’ve been able to get home and prepare dinner, lunch, and breakfast for the next day in around 1hr.”

Alexandra Y

My husband and daughter are NOT vegetarian, so I usually cook two separate dinners each night… but not this month. In fact, tonight, my husband said “You just keep hitting it out of the ballpark, honey!” The recipes have been great… and the portions are huge! None of us have felt hungry at all! Thank you!

Jennifer B

Disclaimer

There’s always a disclaimer, right? It’s for legal reasons.

We prepare our recipes at our own risk, and if you follow recipes on this website or our app, you’re doing it at your own risk. We’re not liable, not responsible and do not assume obligation for misinterpreted recipes, accidents, taste or your health. Read more on this here.