Hi, I’m Jen and I live in Carlsbad, California (north San Diego), with my husband, Patrick, and my furry, four legged daughter, Kiwi, and together we WELCOME YOU to Carlsbad Cravings!!! I’m a cystic fibrosis survivor, lung & kidney transplant recipient, LOVER of life and FOOD!
At Carlsbad Cravings (est. 2014), you will find only my tried and true daringly delicious recipes with big, BOLD flavors – or what I like to describe as extraordinary flavors out of everyday ingredients. My #1 goal is to create the best version of every recipe (in my opinion), whether it’s Mexican, Italian, Asian or Greek. And if it’s not the best, then it doesn’t get shared! So, you can cook with confidence from my website, and hopefully you’ll think each recipe is “the best” too and discover many new favorites!
How it began
Some people escape in dreams of sandy beaches and sunny skies, I escape in dreams of mangos, chipotle peppers and bacon. My creativity as a former interior designer flourishes in the kitchen as I find something so satisfying in creating delicious, flavorful (spices are my forte!), fresh food…and then eating it!
As Dieter F. Uchtdorf said:
“Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty. …” or something delicious!
I have been cooking and creating new recipes almost every day of the week since I got married in 2006 (see our love story here) and even created my own binder long before Carlsbad Cravings was born (see recipe binder below). When I was in desperate need of a kidney transplant and would come home from work exhausted with legs and feet so swollen I could only wear sandals and skirts (none of my shoes or pants would fit!), all l wanted to do was cook. Cooking and creating reinvigorated my exhausted self by feeding my mind, body and soul.
After I was blessed with new-found energy from my kidney transplant in October 2013 thanks to my doner sister (my lung transplant was in 1999), my doctor cautioned me about going back to work when I was so immune-suppressed. At that point, I was wondering what to do when my sister-in-law suggested I start a food blog. The words pierced my soul and I knew that was what I was supposed to do. I researched how to start a cooking site, how to turn it into a living and then I jumped in and never looked back!
Since launching Carlsbad Cravings in February 2014, I have shared over a thousand recipes that have reached over 140 million readers. I am honored every day to be invited into your homes. Thank you for making my recipes, trusting my recipes, leaving comments and for following along! You are the reason I’m allowed to do what I do! xo
Getting started – What seasonings to stock
To make every recipe the best version of itself, I rely heavily on seasonings. Seasonings MAKE a recipe! To that end, many of my recipes look like they have many ingredients, but often most of them are just dump-in spices, so please don’t be intimidated. I cook with the same spices all of the time, so once you purchase them, you’ll have everything you’ll need! Here are the pantry spices I recommend (you can purchase them little by little):
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- dried basil
- dried parsley
- dried oregano
- dried thyme
- chili powder
- chipotle chile pepper
- ground cumin
- smoked paprika
- cayenne pepper
- ground ginger
- chicken bouillon
- beef bouillon
jump to recipe button
To help readers succeed and eliminate any guesswork, I include detailed tips and tricks in every recipe post. If you just want the recipe, you can use the “jump to recipe” button located at the top of every post to skip directly to the recipe. With that, everyone wins! Now, I hope you enjoy exploring my site and hopefully will create your own recipe binder full of Carlsbad Cravings favorites!
Want to Know More?
If you are curious about my journey with cystic fibrosis, my lung transplant, kidney transplant, love story
and more of my life, click on the links below:
Do You Love to Cook?
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Lynne says
Hi, Jen. I would love to share my Greek meatball picture, it was to die for, but I don’t understand how to leave a comment. Your instructions say: Tag @CarlsbadCravings and Use #CarlsbadCravngs. I’m clueless. 🙁
Jen says
Hi Lynne! I am so happy that you loved it! If you post a picture of a dish from my website on social media you can tag me in the description of the picture. I hope that helps! Thanks so much!!
Grace Wright says
Hi I am enjoying your web site I would like to buy your cook book, but it states I stopped Shopify. I do not know what this is at all. Can you help me
Jen says
Hi Grace! Thank you for bringing this to my attention! Sorry for the inconvenience. We fixed it and you can now order it! I hope you love it!
Kathy Eckhart says
Unable to order cookbook!! I keep getting error messages. How can i Order directly please
Jen says
Thanks so much for letting me know Kathy! We got it fixed so you should be able to order it now! I hope you love it!
Sue Hendrix says
Hi Jen, I am trying to order your cookbook but I keep getting an error message that says “ your connection to Shopify has expired. Please disconnect and reconnect your WordPress site to Shopify”. Since I don’t have a WordPress site I imagine the message is on your end ♀️. Just FYI.
Jen says
Thanks so much Sue! I have a tech guy working on it – seems to be a more extensive issue than previously thought. My apologies! Hopefully it should be fixed in a day or two.
Cynthia says
I made your Pear Crisp and it was such a big hit with my husband of 68 years. He absolutely adored it!
Jen says
Hi Cynthia! Congrats on reaching 68 years with your husband! That’s amazing! I’m so thrilled that you and your hubby loved my Pear Crisp recipe!
Nickie says
Jennifer, you are amazing both personally and professionally! My family and I want to thank you for the amazing San Diego flavored recipes~I had no idea the spices and tips were key to eating home town comfort foods every night! You are our go to for any and every recipe in our weekly meals. Thank you and please keep the recipes coming!!!!
Jen says
Yay Nickie! Thank you so much for your kind words! You are so sweet to take the time to let me know that you love the flavors of my recipes! I hope you continue to find favorites from my site!
Tanya says
Hi Jen! Is there anyway to see the recipes by rating? I’ve made so many of your recipes and they are all SO good! I’d love to try and make all of your highest rated recipes!
Jen says
Hi Tanya! Thanks for your question! If you click on the category Method, Type, or Flavor and then any of the items, the first recipes I list are my most popular recipes in that category. I hope that helps! I also used my most popular recipes in my new Cookbook 😉 I’m so happy to hear that you’re enjoying my recipes!
Trudy Ligon says
Hi Jen:
I have been making your recipes for several months now. I am not even sure how I started getting your emails. Maybe I saw something in Facebook or Instagram. But regardless where and when I started, I have loved every recipe.
Today was the first day I read your story – was totally impressed on how you began. I will continue making your recipes and I would love to share them on my Newsletter to Family and Friends. I am in real estate and I send out monthly newsletters to my sphere and I always include a recipe. I will make sure I share some of yours in those newsletters.
Thanks so much for what you are doing. You are an inspiration!! Trudy Ligon, Wilmington, North Carolina
Jen says
Hi Trudy! You made my day with your sweet comment! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with my recipes! I’m absolutely thrilled that you’ve loved them and that you want to share the love of yummy food with others! I hope they’re a hit on your newsletter!
Diane Mamulski says
Hi Jen. I have loved every one of your wonderful recipes that I have tried. Thank you thank you thank you for sharing your love of cooking with all of us.
Jen says
Hi Diane! Your comment made my day! That makes me so happy to hear how much you have enjoyed making my recipes! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Mary Lee says
Jen
I love your site and your recipes, especially being able to see how they are made. There in lies the problem. I just tried to see the video about pecan pie cookies,\, had to sit through 9 ads, something of them more than once. This isn’t the first time either. Then when the video did come on it cut off and went back to the ads. I realize this is how you get revenue but it is really over the top and irritating. Anything you can do to solve this?
Jen says
Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention Mary Lee! There should just be one ad before the video – so sorry about that! I’m forwarding your message to my ad team immediately.