Hi! I’m Ali, and I am so happy that you found your way here.
I created Gimme Some Oven to celebrate life around the table, with recipes that are simple, fresh, and full of flavor. With two littles underfoot these days, I know how relentless the dinner grind can feel. My hope is that this space can offer a bit of inspiration for everyone — and make everyday cooking feel a bit more fun.
So whether you’re throwing together a quick weeknight dinner, hosting a cozy brunch with friends, or just craving a warm batch of cookies, I hope you’ll find recipes here that feel doable and delicious.
Cheers!
About Ali
About Me
When I began Gimme Some Oven back in 2009, I was working full-time as a musician by day and spending my evenings cooking, photographing, and sharing recipes just for fun. Over time, that creative outlet grew into a full-time career — and for more than a decade now, I’ve had the absolute joy of writing and developing recipes here on Gimme Some Oven.
Even after all these years, it still feels like magic to create a recipe in my kitchen and see it come to life on tables all around the world! Your trust in my recipes means the world to me, and I work hard to make sure each one is thoughtfully developed, thoroughly tested, and truly worth making — the kind of recipe you’ll want to return to again and again.
Beyond the blog, my husband and I are now settling back into life in Kansas City with our two young boys after spending six wonderful years living in Barcelona. My favorite things include sunny days, an excellent plate of nachos, lingering around tables with good friends, and always dreaming up our next adventure. I occasionally share more about life behind the scenes here if you’d like to follow along.
About Gimme Some Oven
So what kinds of recipes will you find here?
Short answer: a bit of everything.
The recipes I share here are the ones we’re actually making and eating in our home. My husband is pescetarian, our boys are still a bit veggie-suspicious, and I enjoy a wide range of foods — so our meals reflect that mix. We do our best to cook seasonally, and most weeknights are all about quick, flavorful recipes that come together in 30 minutes or less. But I also love slowing down on the weekends with a cozy cup of coffee and baking our favorite 1-Hour Cinnamon Rolls, or inviting friends over for a big pot of chili with homemade guac and margaritas.
You’ll notice here that we’ve got a soft spot for Mexican food, big bowls of soup, noodles in all forms, and cookies of just about every variety. While most of my recipes lean fresh and lighter, you’ll also find your fair share of fun treats and comfort food favorites — we’re all about balance!
My hope is that you’ll find recipes here that work well for real life, whatever that looks like for you right now. And if there’s ever a recipe you’re craving, I’d love to hear from you!
My Favorite Recipes
FAQs
I can’t take the credit. 😉 The name actually came from my former bandmate, Jay, who tossed it out during a rehearsal years ago when I mentioned I was thinking about starting a food blog. It made us all laugh — and it stuck! Now it feels like a fun little reminder of my past life as a full-time musician.
You bet! Every single one of the 2000+ recipes on this site has been developed and tested in my own kitchen. I now have a team of recipe testers who join me each week to test old and new recipes to help ensure they are as clear, reliable, and delicious as possible. We want each recipe to be the best it can be when it reaches your table!
The best way to ask about substitutions is to leave a comment on that specific recipe post. That way, we’ll be sure to see it, and other readers can benefit from the answer too.
Yes! We’re constantly retesting, updating and rephotographing older recipes to make sure they’re as reliable and delicious as possible. Whenever we make a significant change, we do our best to note it clearly in the recipe notes so that you know what’s been updated.
No. We made the decision back in 2018 to stop publishing sponsored content on Gimme Some Oven. While we were grateful to partner with brands we genuinely loved in the past, it’s important to us that readers know all product mentions are now completely unpaid — just things we personally use and recommend.
This is probably the most-asked question we receive. Sorry, not yet! I keep putting it off, but someday I look forward to finally writing one. 💛
Giving Back
While we love creating and sharing recipes here, we also recognize what a profound privilege it is to have consistent access to fresh food, clean water, and a safe place to gather around the table. Not everyone has that — the statistics are sobering, and they remind us how important it is to keep working toward change.
That’s why we donate a portion of our profits to support three organizations working to fight food insecurity and expand access to nutritious food and clean water around the world. Every time you visit this site, your pageviews directly help support that work too, and we’re so grateful. We’d love for you to learn more about these incredible organizations and consider supporting them in whatever ways you can too.
It’s our hope that this space not only inspires delicious meals, but also plays a small part in supporting communities far beyond our own kitchens.
TWP is a community-led initiative in Mali focused on developing economic opportunities for women through organic food production, access to clean water, and a commitment to environmental stewardship.
Cultivate Kansas City is a locally-grown nonprofit working to grow food, farms, and community in support of an equitable, sustainable and healthy local food system for all.
World Central Kitchen is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises.
I tried your chicken recipe and it was superb. My granddaughter lives with me and I have to make her lunch daily as she hates the cafeteria food. And chicken is her favorite but the chicken I was cooking was so dry and tough, but she still ate it. So I decided Would try to find out what I was doing wrong. Well, now I know. I also found your recipes for steak and pork chops and can’t wait to try them. I’m a 78 year old grandma and my granddaughter is almost 14 and she likes good food and likes to make food so I want it to be as delicious as possible .
Hi Ali, and greetings from Kansas City (actually Lee’s Summit) where it’s unusually rainy and cool…perfect cooking weather! Thank you for your awesome blog and recipes. I have never enjoyed cooking, until recently my husband signed us up for a meal kit service. We quickly realized that it wasn’t so hard and we have started to dip our toes in the water!! (And yes, we cancelled the meal kit service.) I’m excited to make this pasta salad for my daughter’s wedding reception picnic! Thanks again!!
Love Spain! My beautiful wife and I visited two years ago and are planning a new longer trip in 2021.
My wife makes an incredible Cambodian curry. It hits all five points of flavor. I wonder if you would be interested in it. One or two warnings. For one it is addictive. Two, there are twenty ingredients. Fresh Thai basil and fresh lemongrass is essential. Shrimp paste and quality fish sauce is also necessary. If you have access to these ingredients you will make this again and again.
My wife and I love to cook, bake and bbq. Our family dinners with our adult children and spouses are legendary for diversity of foods. My daughter has been taking a night now too. Only stipulation is no processed foods. All ingredients must be fresh and preferably in season.
NO LIVER OR OTHER ORGANS. But tripe, sweetbreads and intestines are ok. We live in a coastal community in Connecticut so seafood is a go to at most meals whether as part or main dishes.
My son and your husband could be brothers, not quite twins but close.
Michael
Please, Please, Ali, get Michael to share his Cambodian Curry recipe! But also, today I found your “gimmesomeoven” site searching for a homemade enchilada sauce. So glad to break free of cluttered-hard-to-use sites; I am loving your layout, readability, and fan-commentary. I too am from KC (and my name is also Ali and my first husband was a chef). And I look forward to finding many more gems on your site. Thank you for embarking on your adventures & blog!!
Ali, I want to thank you for dozens of successful dinners for my picky, fine dining-loving husband! Every time I try a new “Pinterest recipe” that results in a rave review, it is ALWAYS from your blog. And trust me, he would not praise a meal he didn’t absolutely love. We are an active duty military family currently living in Kansas city, I am a work at home mom, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my other jobs as “mommy” and “wife” easier. No more Pinterest for me… just Gimme Some Oven! Thank you!!!
Fell In love with your red sauce for my chicken enchiladas. Also, because you have two dogs. I have seven rescues. So you had me with the dogs. I made extra red sauce and was curious as to whether I could just freeze it instead of making the enchiladas ahead of time. Does it freeze well and what’s the best type of container to freeze it in. Thanks so much and carry-on you’re doing a great job.
Have loved all the recipes you shared so far. Keep it up!
Hi, I found your page totally by accident while looking for a summery orzo salad recipe. We are actually going to be in Barcelona at the end of September. Since you live there I was just wondering if you have any suggestions for a restaurant that we should not miss, and that won’t break the bank. Thanks!
I’ve tried several times to view the red enchilada sauce recipe but have somehow been unable to find the exact measurements of the ingredients. Even the video doesn’t specify. Please advise as to where I can find that info. Thanks!
What are the calories per serving size and what is a serving size ?
I have always loved your blog Ali and now am finally starting one of my own. Feeling late to the blog party – so love your generous spirit to fellow bloggers and LOVE your recipes!