About Me – Kitchen Treaty
Hello and welcome! I’m Karen.
I founded Kitchen Treaty® in 2012 – it’s been around awhile! My mission has always been to share awesome, accessible, flexible recipes – and, full transparency, also to build a successful work-from-home business while my kiddo was young.
It’s been an amazing journey and a super fun website to build and run. Kitchen Treaty has been featured on/in MSN, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, The Pioneer Woman, Brit+Co, The Kitchn, Redbook, Country Living, Ladies Home Journal, Better Homes & Gardens, Sunset Magazine and more!
I’m an experienced home cook (with a bit of culinary training too). I’m also a vegetarian who has to watch it on the dairy. And I’m married to a staunch carnivore.
I shared my first one-dish-two-ways recipe back in January 2010 on my first blog, The Hazel Bloom. Two years later, I decided to focus on creating more recipes for multi-vore households like my own, and Kitchen Treaty was born. I’ve now shared over 600 recipes – crazy!
Earlier this year in 2023, I also started a second blog called Good Gourds, that, as a one-woman show, is taking awhile to build. But it’s been super fun to get up and running and I can’t wait to continue building a website about everything gourd in the world!
In the 20 years (!) since I became a vegetarian, I’ve evolved a lot as a home cook. I love exploring plant-based meals, and a few years back, I even earned a Plant-Based Pro Certificate from Rouxbe – it was such extremely helpful culinary training and it really changed how I cook and bake.
Over those months of training, I learned a lot about the fundamentals of cooking and all of the possibilities of plant-based cooking. They really are infinite!
Kitchen Treaty started out as a blog for vegetarians and meat-eaters living together, but, just like our family, it’s grown into more than that. It’s about making the kitchen your place of joy and even solace – not a battleground – one whole-food, family-friendly meal at a time. Regardless of any limitations!
These days my recipes are on the healthier side (usually) and as uncomplicated as possible. I like to create two different kinds of recipes:
- Accessible, eating-style-neutral recipes. Recipes that are vegetarian, vegan and/or gluten-free, but still appeal to most everyone.
- Adaptable, flexible recipes with options. This includes recipes with optional meat, dairy substitutions, or vegan alternatives, or even a few with picky-kid-friendly options as well.
No matter which category they fall into, they’re always delicious! At least, our multi-vore family thinks so, and (not-so-humble-brag) I’d like to think that thousands of 5-star reviews can’t be wrong either! 😊
If you’re looking for tips on coexisting in a multi-vore relationship or family, here are some ideas for everyday life. Or! Are you a meat-eater prepping for a big holiday meal, and a vegetarian is joining you? Here are some ideas.
Navigating the Site
The most popular recipe categories make up most of the main menu on Kitchen Treaty. If you’d like to drill down by narrower categories or even browse by specific ingredient, check out the Recipe Index. Many recipes have real user reviews – I LOVE reviews, even the one-star feedback! All reviews help me to to learn and grow – and they help other readers, too.
My recipes fall into several different categories, many designed to help us live the multi-vore life with ease.
One Dish, Two Ways
These are recipes that start out vegetarian (or even sometimes vegan), but at some point, hit a fork in the road. At that point, meat is added to the carnivores’ portions. Sometimes I’ll add some additional stuff – like tofu, for instance – to the vegetarian portion after splitting off the recipe.
Vegetarian & Vegan Recipes that Everyone Will Love
I take a certain amount of pride in creating meatless recipes that even hardcore meat-and-potatoes carnivores will adore. I’m not an agenda-pusher, but I must admit that I so feel a certain level of satisfaction when I can show meat-eaters just how satisfying vegetarian and vegan meals can be. And who knows – maybe that means they’ll be that much more likely to opt for a vegetarian meal in the future!
Everything Else
Odds and ends, some food-related, some not. Most notably, this is where you’ll find …
Beyond the Kitchen
Before I decided to focus solely on a niche food blog, I blogged about all things home – gardening, decorating, DIY, and of course food – at a blog I called The Hazel Bloom. I brought that content over here so that it was all in one place, so you might find a few non-recipe posts here and there on Kitchen Treaty from back in the day. And sometimes, I just can’t help but share the non-food projects I’ve got going on, so every once in awhile, I’ll share pieces of my world beyond the kitchen.
Recipe Index
Shop for recipes every which way and sideways: by category, meal, season, or ingredient.
Other recipe categories worth mentioning here:
Meal-Worthy Sides
Sometimes, my beloved carnivores just want a hunk of meat. Okay, that’s cool. That’s when I whip out a meal-worthy side – something that can be served alongside their meaty main – but also works as a full-on meal for me.
Desserts & Drinks
I love to bake and brew up beverages too, so you’ll find no shortage of those types of recipes here as well. And hey, bonus! Most desserts and drinks are naturally meatless too.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
Please send them my way! Email kitchentreaty at gmail dot com. Thanks!
I’m so glad you’re here! I’m a vegetarian home cook, certified plant-based pro, and mom. I’m married to an enthusiastic carnivore, and my mission is to achieve peace in the kitchen – one tasty recipe at a time. These days, I also try not to ask to speak to the manager.