“Don’t be afraid to take Whisks.”

— Unknown.

So we are Engaged – On to the next chapter of our lives!

Peter and I hadn’t lived together until about 2 months before our wedding. So you can imagine how much ‘stuff’ we had to move into our home together. Each of us lived alone, so we had a bunch of kitchen gadgets, utensils, tools, dinnerware, etc.

I’ll be completely honest, and transparent with you – living solo and on a budget; YES – people a BUDGET was hard!! (But totally doable) I got all of my kitchen gadgets, utensils, tools from the Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and the Kitchen Collection (went out of business).

Super inexpensive, and I’ll be honest Dollar Tree sells Betty Crocker tools, gadgets. I mean; we all know who Betty Crocker is – right??

So moral of this little stroll down memory lane of my trips to the Dollar Tree is that you don’t need to break the bank if you are just starting out cooking. If you are thinking about starting a hobby with cooking and/or baking – there are inexpensive tools out there to get started and are very useful.

Another plus of saving money with Dollar Tree kitchen gadgets is more money for Shoes, Handbags, Makeup and Lashes (which is another passion of mine). Many of these gadgets that I started out cooking and baking with I still have in my kitchen drawers and cabinets. . . . .#winning

One of my favorite things to do when we got engaged was to create a wedding registry. Actually – ALL the wedding planning tasks were my favorite. I really enjoyed planning the wedding. NO BRIDEZILLA HERE!!

It was one of the first things we did together – after our date was chosen of course!

We chose your #basic stores; Macys and Bed Bath and Beyond. I’ve always loved both of those stores; they are inexpensive, able to STACK discount codes and/or coupons so its a WIN WIN for everyone.

Some of My Favorite Items that we Received and you’ll see on the Blog:

• KitchenAid Artisan Mixer; also all of the attachments.
• Electric Skillet; great skillet to control the heat while you are cooking.
• Simple Human Dish Rack; this one was an upgrade from my Dollar Tree drying rack.
• Braun Hand Blender; this is AH-MAZING!!!! The attachments make prep so EASY!
• Rabbit Automatic Corkscrew; hoarded all those cheap wine openers/wine keys.
• Wusthof Gourmet Knife Set; this is an investment. We luckily live close to the Norwalk Wusthof outlet so we go there when they are open (4 times a year).

Let’s Get Cooking with these Fabulous Upgraded Kitchen Gadgets.

See you in the Kitchen,

xoxo Leah

Thanks for checking out my blog – very happy you’re here! I am a self-proclaimed foodie, who really loves to cook for people I love.

I have always wanted to start a food blog but it wasn’t until recently my husband – Peter; encouraged me to start one. I would constantly be taking pictures of the beautiful dishes I would make for us but what would I do with them?? Store them in my Iphone, which would just take up loads of storage.

It wasn’t until one day……

“Why are you taking photos of everything you make?” Peter would say.

Responding to him. . . .”Oh, I don’t know. The food looks so beautiful – I can’t resist.”

“You should do something with the photos you take – like share them somehow with the world.” He said.

This began to be a constant exchange between the two of us.

My passion for cooking really didn’t start until I was living on my own – in a tiny apartment in Long Island, New York. I loved that apartment so much! I grew up a lot living on my own (I highly recommend it to EVERYONE). I moved out in 2015, taking with me the kitchen basics that my mother instilled in me while living under my parents’ roof.

Living on your own comes with a lot of responsibilities; you are not splitting those responsibilities with a roommate(s). The bills, food/grocery shopping, cleaning, etc. it’s all on YOU. Yes it might sound scary but it is very liberating! Those were the best 4 years of my twenties – here’s just a small portion of what I did learn. . . .

• Builds your confidence – living alone gives you an opportunity to chart your own course.
• You learn new skills – whether you are managing a fixer-upper, balancing several types of bills/expenses, teaching your self a new hobby, etc.
• Self-reflection – gives you an opportunity to discover exactly who you are deep down inside and become the person you want to be in your own time and most importantly on your own schedule.
• Discover what True Freedom really feels like – Want to binge-watch your favorite Real Housewives franchise on a random Tuesday? Do it – No Judgement!! When you live alone, you get to do what you want, when you want and how you want without having to think about what anyone else thinks about it. NO SHAME.

Favorite thing to come out of my twenties was my passion for cooking. Fast forward a few years – some dishes burnt, some dishes savored, some recipes shared; this little space on the World Wide Web has become what it is today – Just a Newlywed in the Kitchen.

Peter and I married August of 2019 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (which is where I am originally from); and then our fur child (a Golden Retriever puppy) came home to us October 2019.

Two became Three rather quickly; with marriage came more responsibilities, a bigger kitchen ( yay! ) and more recipes to explore.

Here’s to the journey that I am sharing with my Husband – Peter, and ‘golden child’ – Bella. One home cooked meal at a time. And now you – the World Wide Web.

Thanks for reading and cooking up these recipes we love!

See you in the Kitchen.

xoxo – Leah