Welcome to my website, my name is Greg Fleischaker, maybe you’ve seen me on TV recently? No? Didn’t think so. I’m not famous and I’m certainly not an “influencer!”
I’ve never been to culinary school, don’t have a team of assistants, but have spent a quite a few hours trying to better myself at the life skills that are really important to me, above and beyond being a loving and attentive husband and father, which would be cooking for my family, blowing glass and training the family dog.
I’m just a regular guy originally from the mid-west who likes to cook. I’m married with two children, and in my house, I am the one largely responsible for stocking the fridge and getting food on the table every night. And if, as I sit down with my wife and children, I can provide a fairly nutritious meal and avoid most of the dietary pitfalls so common in our society, then that is just the icing on the cake, so to speak!
Which is what has lead me to read so much about what ails our society, the fact that many of us are literally filling our mouths day in and day out with food-like products that are making us sick. This compelled me to be a bit more thoughtful about my cooking.
Am I doing the very best I can for my family? Am I helping them be the healthiest and happiest people they could be? Or am I contributing to their eventual poor health by not taking the time to research our grocery list and cooking whatever popped into my head an hour before I wanted to eat?
And that brings me to this site… born largely as a challenge from my wife and kids, to serve two purposes. First, my children wanted a digital collection of the meals they grew up with, to help them as they eventually transition into college and life beyond.
And second, I wanted a space for myself to experiment and discover my evolving food philosophies. Am I willing to give up gluten, and do I know why I would even try? What about sugar, or carbs, or fats or whatever the newest potential evil ingredient is that I “must” avoid in order to be a healthy functional adult in today’s society?
I use this website to post a few of my favorite and newest recipes, including pictures and instructions, and occasionally even a video. Each recipe includes an attempt at being a more conscious eater, aware of what I am buying and why, and thinking about what I am feeding my wife and children. My goal here is to pretty well document a somewhat fail-proof recipe while using what I think are the best ingredients to fulfill the purpose of that particular recipe.
Sometimes that may mean finding a way to introduce as many vegetables and healthy fats into a meal as possible, in order to provide my body the essential building blocks for a well functioning and disease free body. And other times, it might very well be a special treat, some sweet sugar and flour concoction that may not be especially healthy, but might just hit the spot after an especially stressful week or nice reward for a job well done.
It would be nice to think that after a full day working that we all had time to put together one of those awesome looking gourmet recipes from a fancy cookbook, but alas, it is not to be. At least for me. With kids, sports, musical lessons, chess games, dance classes, homework, my hobbies, wife’s work… I am lucky to get everyone to the table at the same time for dinner, much less prepare a five course dinner made with 10 pans and 20 ingredients!
That’s why I search for, and save, those recipes and techniques that just flat work, that allow me to cook something that my family appreciates, is flavorful and actually has some nutritional benefits still attached. These may not be gourmet dishes, but they are good, solid meals that I am proud to serve my friends and family.
But I don’t spend all of my time in the kitchen. One of my favorite hobbies is blowing glass, a skill I was first introduced to in college and I haven’t been able to shake since. Now that our kids are a little older and I have a little extra time to myself, I find myself drawn more and more to the hotshop.
And I can’t leave my doggie out! I spend a fair amount of each day with Auggie, our Bernedoodle, a Covid pandemic dog brought home from the breeders in early 2020, just in time for lock-down! Every now and then I’ll include a new training method or experiment we’re working on as I try to teach him to be a great family dog.
What started out strictly as a foodie website to track my own personal culinary growth has morphed into something of a hobby blog, in every sense of the word. I hope you find just a little bit of utility or joy in what you find here.
Thanks for visiting,
Greg Fleischaker
