Welcome! I’m Jess
If figuring out what to make for dinner feels like one more thing on an already-full plate, you’re in the right place.
I’m Jess—the recipe developer, self-taught home cook and mom of three behind Stuck on Sweet. I share easy, family-friendly recipes that help you get dinner on the table without complicated ingredients, hours of prep or every pan in your kitchen.
Feeding your family shouldn’t feel like a nightly puzzle, and you definitely shouldn’t need a sink full of dishes to make something everyone will eat.
Simple Recipes for Real Family Life
Most nights, I’m cooking while helping with homework, driving someone to practice or wondering how it’s already time to eat again. My guess is that your evenings might look a little like that, too.
That’s why the recipes I share are designed for real family life. You’ll find plenty of:
- 30-minute dinners
- One-pot and one-pan meals
- Sheet pan dinners
- Slow cooker and Crockpot recipes
- Easy casseroles
- Simple meals made with everyday ingredients
I especially love creating recipes with chicken, ground beef, sausage, salmon and orzo because they’re versatile, family-friendly and easy to turn into a genuinely good dinner.
A few easy places to start are my Chicken Burritos with Pinto Beans and Cheese, Asian Ground Beef and Rice, One-Pot Zuppa Toscana Gnocchi and Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken.
These are the kinds of recipes I make for my own family: simple, flavorful and dependable enough to save a busy weeknight.
Why the Dinner Table Matters to Me
I grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa, and some of my favorite childhood memories happened around my grandparents’ farm table.
There was something special about sitting down together, enjoying a home-cooked meal and having nowhere else we needed to be for a little while. It was simple and slow—a chance to talk, laugh and connect.
Life doesn’t feel quite as slow these days. Our family calendar is full, the kids are usually heading in three different directions and some evenings feel like a race to bedtime.
But I still believe there is something important about gathering around the table—even if dinner only took 30 minutes to make and someone complains about the vegetables.
My hope is that the recipes you find here make cooking feel more manageable and enjoyable, so you can spend less time worrying about dinner and more time with the people sitting around your table.
That’s really what Stuck on Sweet is all about.
A Self-Taught Home Cook with Years of Experience
I’ve been cooking since I was 15 years old, back when I spent hours watching the Food Network and trying to recreate what I saw in my own kitchen. Cooking shows sparked my interest, but most of what I know has come from years of hands-on practice—reading cookbooks, experimenting with ingredients and making plenty of mistakes along the way.
I truly believe the best way to learn how to cook is to cook. Sometimes that means making something delicious, and sometimes it means figuring out exactly what not to do next time.
I started Stuck on Sweet in 2012 and have been developing, testing and publishing original recipes ever since. Over the years, I’ve learned how small details—like the temperature of your ingredients, the type of pan you use or when you add something to the pot—can completely change the final result.
I’m a self-taught home cook and recipe developer, not a professionally trained chef. My experience comes from more than a decade of creating recipes, studying different cooking methods and preparing meals for my own family.
I test every original recipe in my home kitchen, make adjustments when something isn’t quite right and serve the finished dishes to my husband, Vince, and our three kids. If a recipe is too complicated, creates unnecessary dishes or doesn’t deliver enough flavor, I keep working on it.
My goal is to give you clear, dependable recipes that you can confidently make in your own kitchen.
Some of the recipes that reflect the way I cook today include my Garlic Chicken and Rice Casserole and 30-Minute Ground Beef Pasta with Peas and Vegetables. They use simple ingredients, require very little hands-on work and give me time to take care of everything else happening in the house while dinner cooks.
When I need the slow cooker to handle dinner, this reader-favorite Barbecue Pulled Pork Tacos with Honey Mustard Slaw is always a cozy choice.
How Stuck on Sweet Began
Before becoming a recipe developer, I studied Communication Studies and Business at the University of Iowa and worked in nonprofit healthcare philanthropy.
In 2012, my friend Julia from A Cedar Spoon and I would spend our lunch breaks reading food blogs together. We loved seeing what other home cooks were creating, and before long, we both decided to start blogs of our own.
What began as a place to share the food I loved has grown into years of recipe development, testing, photography and connecting with other families through food.
More than a decade later, I still love creating recipes that make cooking at home feel easier. There is something incredibly rewarding about hearing that one of my recipes has earned a spot in another family’s dinner rotation.
A Little More About Me
My husband, Vince, and I met in college when we were 19. We now live with our three children and our dog in the western suburbs of Chicago.
When I’m not testing recipes or feeding someone, I’m usually drinking coffee, taking a long walk, exercising, reading a romance novel or sitting on the sidelines of one of the kids’ activities.
I’m So Glad You’re Here
Whether you need a quick dinner for tonight, a slow cooker recipe for a hectic afternoon or something sweet to bring to a holiday gathering, I hope Stuck on Sweet becomes a place you can return to whenever you need a little inspiration.
You don’t need to make elaborate meals to bring your family together. Sometimes the best dinner is simply the one that gets everyone to the table.
Thank you for trusting my recipes and allowing them to become a small part of your family life. I’m truly so glad you’re here.
You can also follow along on Instagram and Facebook, or contact me here.
Take care,
Jess