Meet Kelsey Smith
I'm Kelsey, a recipe developer and shortcut cook who believes dinner doesn’t need to be complicated. I focus on semi-homemade, pantry-based dinners and desserts that actually fit real life. If a recipe calls for more than a dozen ingredients, I’m out of here.
Shortcut, No-Fuss Cooking
Explore 200+ easy recipes that use convenient, time-saving shortcuts and everyday pantry staples to create homemade meals without the hassle.
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Contact Me
You can find me on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
Sponsorship and paid advertising emails are welcome. I do not accept free products in exchange for reviews. I am happy to provide site statistics upon request.
Featured On
- Eat Blog Talk Podcast: From Beauty YouTuber to Food Blogger – How To Reinvent Your Blog (Instead of Quitting)
- The Smart Influencer Podcast: The Truth About Burnout, Boundaries, and Building a Business That Lasts
- Taste of Home: Avocado-Lime Ranch Dressing (Contest Winner)
- Mashed: The Delicious Sauce You Never Thought to Add to French Fries
- Right This Minute: You're 90 Seconds Away From Enjoying a Delicious Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake
- Loore: Featuring: Modern Martha by Kelsey Reddick, Living the Simple and Classy Life
- Safeway: Real Taste of Mexico Meal Solution Challenge (Contest Winner)
My Story
The early days
My mom taught me cooking basics (boiling pasta, browning ground beef, making béchamel sauce) from an early age. Mac and cheese and tuna crescent ring were staples at my house.
Every Wednesday, it was my turn to get dinner on the table. Before my family gathered around the television to watch Iron Chef, my little sister and I prepared "mystery dessert" using whatever ingredients we had on hand.
Starting my first food blog
While attending Florida State University, my roommate Megan and I decided to document our recipe creations on our blog, What Tasty Food (or WTF as we liked to call it).
We made margarita cupcakes, pumpkin custard, lentil soup, buffalo chicken pizza, and much more. We made it onto the Nerd Lunch podcast and were featured in the Tampa Tribune (now the Tampa Bay Times).
My solo venture
After earning both my Bachelor's and Master's degree in marketing from FSU, I began a career in digital marketing in Denver, Colorado. Social media, digital advertising, SEO, influencer marketing, and blogging were just a few of my specialties.
On the side, I started a lifestyle blog called Modern Martha, writing about everything from makeup and food to books and travel. I amassed more than 20,000 YouTube subscribers and 6,000,000 views in the process.
In 2019, my husband and I moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to start a family. I intended to keep up my YouTube channel, but over time I fell out of love with makeup and the world of beauty blogging.
The pandemic struck in 2020, and it felt like the perfect time to step away. When I got pregnant, I broke down my filming studio for good, packing away my backdrop and lights and replacing it with a nursery.
A recipe blog is born
When the pandemic lockdowns hit, more people than ever were cooking at home, and my small collection of recipes suddenly saw record traffic. That momentum inspired me to go all-in on recipe development and relaunch my site as a food blog under my own name, By Kelsey Smith.
It feels full circle. I now specialize in the same kind of simple, shortcut cooking I grew up with in the 90s: approachable, time-saving recipes that make homemade (or semi-homemade!) meals feel easy.
more about me....
Fun Facts
- To say mac and cheese is my favorite food is an understatement.
- When I'm not blogging, I work as a part-time freelance writer for college textbooks.
- I'm left-handed, and it's mildly inconvenient.
- I love to country line dance.
- My favorite artists are Taking Back Sunday and Taylor Swift (#swemo).
- I married my college sweetheart.
- My most re-watched TV shows are Veronica Mars, Dawson's Creek, The Vampire Diaries, and Gilmore Girls (Team Jess).
