Welcome!

I'm Raven!

I am so glad you are here!

I created More Than Nourished because I have always been passionate about teaching people how to cook!

You will not find well written recipes here with a novel of text before the recipe (I hate those anyways). Instead, you will find practical tips to learn how to cook homemade food without spending hours in the kitchen.

When I was first learning how to cook, I thought I needed to buy 10 cookbooks, every kitchen gadget, watch every YouTube video, and cook extravagant meals to be considered a "good cook".

All that did was put me in the shame cycle. You know the one I'm talking about? The one where I would learn the benefits of cooking a homemade meal, go buy $50 of groceries, realize I was in over my head, let those $50 of groceries go bad, declare, "I can't cook!" and give up for five months. Until I would get inspired again...then the cycle repeats.

It took me years to finally get comfortable in the kitchen. What I learned along the way is the more simple, the better. I was making things more complicated than they had to be.

I want to guide you to be a confident home cook who can cook whatever you want, whenever you want!

Does this sound familiar?

You have 100 recipes saved on your Pinterest.

You have a million things on your plate and adding cooking to that seems impossible.

You have cooking gadgets that you bought that are just sitting there unused and dusty.

It takes you an hour to make one meal.

You desire to cook more at home but at the end of the day, the time slips away.

That was me too. Until I learned that I was overcomplicating things.

Who Do I Want To Help?

Moms

children

Men

bachelors

Professionals

women

teenagers

stay-at-home parents

anyone who has a desire to cook healthy food

About Raven

Most of the food I ate growing up came out of a box-Hamburger Helper, Top Ramen, PastaRoni, etc. I never learned how to cook. I also struggled with obesity since I was a toddler ( and weight loss 4x in my life). My relationship with food and cooking is a pillar in my life.

When I went to college, I started studying Nutrition Dietetics (I am not a dietician, just have a BA in dietetics). It was here that my eyes were opened to the power of food. I learned that food is medicine and that our eating and lifestyle can cause so many diseases.

Well, I was inspired but also didn't know how to cook so I just had to figure it out. I lived with two teachers when I was in high school who were obviously always busy but she would always have a homemade meal every night. I remembered that she used a crockpot a lot. So, I went to Walmart and bought a $20 crockpot and ingredients for soy sauce/ honey chicken and made it. I would eat that every day for lunch. Then, I would try another recipe and another.

Twelve years later, I cook most of my food from scratch and the limited amount of processed food I eat is very intentionally selected. I learned that the way I eat matters and affects me deeply.

Another transformative time came when I got pregnant in 2021 and had my first baby. I started to really care about what I put in and on our bodies so I started to live a lower tox life (some call it being crunchy).

Throughout my journey, I gave up a lot, I failed a lot and I wanted to give up a lot. But, I couldn't deny how good my body felt when I cooked for myself and how much money I saved.

Throughout the years, I would have friends in my kitchen who would tell me they don't know how to cook. I would invite them over to cook, talk them through cooking a recipe, and when it was done, I would declare , "You just cooked that!" They would argue, "No, I didn't, you helped". To which I would smile and say, "No, I just shared the steps and you did the action. You cooked the full meal!"

This brings me great joy to help people learn how to cook. The goal is not to be a chef who can create recipes. The goal is to be a cook who just knows basic kitchen skills and can follow a recipe.

So, I don't have a lot of recipes for you because to be honest, I don't cook with recipes anymore. But, what I can do is teach you practical skills to be able to cook and make it a habit.

Just as I've done with many friends throughout the years, I want to invite you into my kitchen to learn how to cook!

My heart is for everyone to learn how to nourish themselves with simple, home cooked meals whether that be stay-at-home parents, busy professionals, working, young people, older people, women, men.

My goal is to help you become confident in the kitchen so it is not a stressful task but rather takes you less than an hour a day!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you decide what to cook every night?

I typically just start with a protein in mind and build my meal around that. I just buy ingredients like meat, sweet potatoes, onions, etc and then just make random things to use them up.

Why do you care so much about other people learning how to cook?

When I learned how to cook, it changed my life. Through whatever season of life I am in, I can nourish myself and my family. Food is not stressful for me at all. Grocery shopping is easy. Coming up with meals is easy. But, I remember a time when these things weren't easy and I was always so stressed about cooking and would give up and just eat something pre-made or eat out and then I would feel like garbage. I also remember when I would TRY to cook and it would take me two hours and I decided the whole cooking thing wasn't for me. Then I learned that 1) I was way overcomplicating things and 2) It took two hours because I didn't know basic skills like knife skills, how to pair seasonings, etc. I love to help people get out of that shame cycle that I spend too many years in. I want cooking to be easy for them!

You say you're crunchy so are you going to try to convince me to be a hippy?

No, I won't try to convince you to change your whole life. My goal is not to condemn anyone or make them feel bad about their choices but to coach them to being able to cook. Whether that is with processed food and making it healthier or with organic everything. I PERSONALLY feel better eating the way I do but I try not to push it on people. I just want people to learn how to be confident in the kitchen, plan out their meals, eat more at home, cherish family with their cooking, and most importantly nourish their bodies the way they think is best.

How do you teach people how to cook?

I have simple cookbooks, short-form videos on Instagram, long-form videos on YouTube and mini-courses that I created for you to follow along. I am confident that if you watch these videos, you will be a confident home cook within the next 3 months!