• ValeCooks
  • Posts
  • Cooking Through Natasha’s Kitchen 📚

Cooking Through Natasha’s Kitchen 📚

August 10, 2025

I first heard about Natasha’s Kitchen from H’s aunt, Tía Lupita ❤️. I brought Natasha’s new cookbook Natasha's Kitchen: 100+ Easy Family-Favorite Recipes 📚 to Mexico for her, and she told me all about how she was a huge fan. Afterwards, I tried a couple of Natasha’s recipes and quickly found two that landed in my “Impress Someone” 🌟 category—the BLT Salad 🥓🥗 and the Baklava 🍯🥜.

Fast forward to cookbook club 📖👩‍🍳—they selected Natasha’s book for the month. I ended up making nine recipes from the cookbook and seven from her website. Out of those, seven recipes fell into my “Would Make Again” category:

For cookbook club, I decided to challenge myself with Mom's Famous Rogaliki (Rugelach) 🥐. This was not one of Natasha’s quick recipes—it’s a more time-consuming bake. While it was tasty and everyone at the club enjoyed it, I don’t think I’d make it again. Spending over 2 hours on a cookie felt too long. The other members agreed this is something you’d typically make just for Christmas 🎄. If you’re looking for a special-occasion bake to impress, I’d still recommend her Baklava 🍯—it’s fun to make and truly delicious.

I found her recipes simple—not necessarily unique dishes (you can find a caprese salad or pesto pasta anywhere), but there’s something special about how she makes them. They’re delicious and easy to get right. I’ll definitely make them again and won’t hesitate to try more.

Recipes Made So Far This Year:

Goal: To try seven new recipes each week 🗓️, aiming for 365 this year!

Number of Recipes Made This Week: 17

Number of New Recipes Tested as of 8/3: 436

Weeks Achieving Seven or More New Recipes: 31 out of 31 ✅

This Week’s Recipe Test Summary

Impress Someone🌟

Nothing this week.

Would Make Again 👍

Skillet Sausage and Mushroom Penne – America's Test Kitchen 🍝🍄
The pasta is cooked right in the broth and tomatoes, giving it so much flavor. Even better, it’s a true one-skillet meal ready in just 30 minutes.

Zuppa Toscana – Natasha's Kitchen: 100+ Easy Family-Favorite Recipes by Natasha Kravchuk 🍲🥬🥔
A copycat of Olive Garden’s classic—and it’s just as delicious.

Peach Yogurt Popsicles – Our Kitchen Recipe 🍑🍧
A creamy, yogurt-based popsicle lightly sweetened with honey—simple, refreshing, and so tasty.

Warrior Pops – Watermelon Berry Popsicles – Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow – Shalane Flanagan & Elyse Kopecky 🍉🫐
Chia seeds blended with watermelon and blackberries make a refreshing, naturally sweet pop that’s absolutely delicious.

Fudgy Banana Bread – Natasha's Kitchen: 100+ Easy Family-Favorite Recipes by Natasha Kravchuk 🍌🍞
I’ve made plenty of banana bread recipes, but this one is at the top of the list—super moist, perfectly sweet, and packed with melted chocolate chips.

Ricotta Waffles – Natasha's Kitchen: 100+ Easy Family-Favorite Recipes by Natasha Kravchuk 🧇
I’ve made lemon ricotta pancakes before, but these waffles were a first—tangy, sweet, and wonderfully fluffy.

Would Not Make Again 👎

These didn’t hit the mark for me, but recipe testing is super subjective. Some were just okay, some were good but not memorable, and a few I didn’t enjoy at all. Rather than breaking each one down, I’m just listing them here.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or any recipe requests you might have. Just respond directly to this email.

See you next week. Keep cooking! 👋 

Vale from ValeCooks

Reply

or to participate.