Name: Kelsey Riley
Location: Simsbury, Connecticut
Who do you cook for? I love to cook for my family and share recipes, tips, and reminders. There’s so much we can do with so little. Small changes can make a huge difference.
Kitchen superpower: Organization. So much can stem from being organized and having a plan.
You cannot have a conversation with Kelsey Riley (or scroll through her Instagram) without immediately racing to your refrigerator, pulling everything out, and starting to organize. Following that, you’ll prep every fruit and vegetable you’ve got on hand and arrange them in cute containers (or, in my case, glass jars) so that they beckon you every time you open the fridge. This, people, is what we call positive motivation.
And this is Riley’s schtick, except it’s not at all an act. Meet the young Connecticut mom (and registered nurse) who is genuinely excited about the little things that make daily life a bit easier. You could say Riley’s motto is “Be good to your future self.” And by this, she means that with a small amount of forethought, you can set yourself up for success.
Kelsey Riley
Allrecipes: You’ve got a really interesting background. You’re a registered nurse who then became a school nurse, tell me about that and how Planted in the Kitchen came to be.
Kelsey Riley: I worked for four to five years in the ER in pediatric ER settings. I made a change and became a school nurse for a couple of years, which I absolutely loved. As I made the transition from the craziness of working nights and weekends, it was so calm, and I had extra time. My husband Brandon said ‘What if you start a food blog? You love food, you love to cook. It would be a great use of your extra time.” I started slow; it was really a hobby developing recipes mostly for Instagram. But I loved it so much that I made a website. After a couple of years, I got my first sponsored project for $150 for an olive oil company…I told Brandon, give me six months to see if I can really do this. I spent that time learning, investing in photography, and learning to code for my website. And then it just boomed.
Tell me how and when you learned to cook.
I grew up in a house where my mom made everything from scratch. We had dinner at the table six nights a week. Everything from breakfast and school lunches to holidays and desserts was always made from scratch. That was the norm. I didn’t cook, but I was around it. Then I went off to college and moved in with my now-husband, and he doesn’t cook, so it was a natural progression.
One of the things you’re known for is meal prepping—when did you start dabbling in that?
I started when I was a nurse because it was really challenging after a long shift to go home and make a meal. Or I would wake up, and it’s 5 p.m., and now I have a 12-hour shift—am I going to have to eat terrible cafeteria food in the middle of the night? My love for cooking and my two big niches of plant-based eating and meal prepping stem from my career in nursing and my educational background. I feel like there is such a knowledge gap with nutrition, and it would kill me to have patients in the adult ER getting admitted to the ICU for heart conditions, and their families would bring them meals from McDonald’s. There’s just this barrier. It’s like, how do we make fruits, vegetables, and healthy eating more appealing? You don’t have to eat a plain carrot; you can eat a pasta salad and get five vegetables, fresh herbs, and homemade dressing. I like showing that these whole foods are really good-looking, really delicious, and can be easy to make.
Let’s be honest, some people roll their eyes when they hear the words meal prepping. What’s the best way to tackle it and make the habit stick?
It’s going to look different for everyone. My biggest thing is to pick one day a week that you can find time, even if it’s 30 minutes or an hour, and start small. Pick two meals that you want to prep—pick a breakfast, pick a lunch. Overnight oats are so easy, and it takes just a few minutes to make several. Or pick lunch and make a soup or a sauce, and take advantage of batch cooking. Make a big pot of chili and freeze half, or if you’re already marinating protein, double it and freeze half. It’s no extra work, and you can be your future self’s best friend.
Kelsey Riley
What’s your biggest meal-prepping tip?
Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t pick something with 35 ingredients. Pick a recipe with ingredients you know, and you don’t have to go to five stores to get them. Also, if you want to make dinner fresh every night, you can. This doesn’t mean you have to eat the same thing every day.
Your fridge organization is a dream—has it always been like this?
It’s really only like that on Sundays, and then it slowly migrates. Every Sunday, I take the time to figure out what I’m making that week, and I clean out my fridge. Everything comes out, everything gets wiped down. If we’re hitting an expiration date on yogurt or condiments, I’m not keeping stuff that clutters. You have to be able to see what’s in there. If you clean your fridge once a week, there’s a domino effect. You’ll feel more inspired to stay organized, so it looks like that next week. And your fridge doesn’t have to look this way! Figure out what works for you and your lifestyle. It’s about getting organized, figuring out your goals, and making a list of recipes once or twice a week.
As the queen of organization, do you have a favorite gadget or tool?
This might be boring, but I love my meal prep containers and a good chef’s knife. You don’t have to go crazy with cute containers; you can use wide-mouth mason jars. There are so many options for reusable containers—you can save jars or shop at Goodwill. Also, make sure to sharpen your knives.
OK, how about one last life hack?
One of my biggest things recently is doing a full kitchen reset every night. The other night, the kitchen was a total wreck, but we powered through and washed all the dishes. If I wake up to a dirty kitchen, it just sets the tone for chaos.
Kelsey Riley
