How did you get started blogging?

Since having to move across the country several times with my husband, my original career of Nuclear Medicine had fallen by the way-side. It was hard to keep finding jobs every time we moved. So one summer, in 2010, I decided to became a Beachbody Coach and my blogging adventure began soon thereafter. I wanted a way to document my fitness journey as a coach, help inspire others to begin their journeys, and share everything else that happened in my little life.

In the beginning, I only blogged about my fitness transformation and health & fitness tips, but didn’t really take it much further than that. I was shy to the idea of truly opening up to people and letting them into my world. However, just about a year ago, I started posting about everything else that was happening in my life and since I am a work-from-home mom, it gave me a little bit more to do during the day and started sparking my creative side again.

Blogging has been such an unexpected gift, in that it has renewed my creative side and opened me to a whole world of other people who inspire and encourage me daily.

So, thank you for coming along for the ride. You make me more passionate about what I do everyday!

Do you have any tips/recommendations for a newbie blogger like myself?

This is such a difficult question to answer but the important thing to remember is to be yourself and to be authentic. Blog because you love it and because you are passionate about it! For more of my favorite tips and blogging resources, visit this page.

How do I sign up for email updates?

You can sign up for free email updates here to have new recipes delivered right to your inbox.

What kind of camera and equipment do you use?

From 2010 until Christmas 2014, I took photos with an old Cannon DSLR that was a hand-me-down from my dad. For Christmas 2014, my parents bought me a new Canon T5i and shortly thereafter I upgraded the stock lens to a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens that I use for all my photography now. I have my eye on a sweet macro lens that I’m hoping to get in the very near future!

I try to use natural light whenever possible (our overabundance of windows are amazing for this), but in the wintertime I’m usually stuck to only photography food in the early morning. Hopefully, I can find a reliable nighttime setup and I’ll be sure to share when I do.

Photography is a never-ending learning process and I’ve definitely evolved over time, though I’m not close to where I would like to be.

Check out these posts for an extensive list of camera equipment, books to read, and anything else photography related.

Can I use your photos?

As for images on their own, if you’d like to use one in a roundup or similar context, I usually don’t mind, as long as the image is clearly credited, something along the lines of, “Photo courtesy of Jennifer Meyering,” with a link back to the original post, and uploaded to your own server (see: hotlinking). If you are unsure about whether or not what your are doing is okay, please ask first (and thanks in advance for making the effort to do so).

I tried one of your recipes but it did not turn out. What did I do wrong?

As I am not there in the kitchen with you, it is very hard for me to specifically answer this question. Oven temperature, cooking times, ingredient substitutions, and many other things can all play a role in the specific outcome of a dish.