Craving Mad began in 2013, when my girlfriend (now wife) and I wanted to figure out how to hack fine dining on a college kid’s budget. We started a (short-lived) blog about the restaurants we tried, and recommended them to our friends to give them a break from dining halls, Pizza Rolls, and of course, ramen noodles (the 25 cent kind, of course).

Eventually, I cancelled my meal plan, and started cooking all my own stuff. “Craving Mad” gave me a convenient reason to experiment with flavors, ingredients, cuisines, and share food.

I love food—I guess it isn’t a surprise, since I practically grew up in the kitchen, recruited as a prep cook for my mom and older sister growing up. I began cooking on my own to help out around the house, and it turned into a hobby. Once I started traveling—and eating—around the world, I wasn’t just hungry, I was craving mad.

I got a lot of inspiration from Anthony Bourdain, and Alton Brown– one for his ability to seamlessly sit down with anyone and find common ground around food, and the other because I am still a nerd at heart…but a cool one…right?

Since my day-to-day life is so science heavy, I like to improvise in the kitchen—and rely more on sight, smell and taste than traditional recipes. I’ll try to write-up some of the ingredient lists from dishes on the blog, and some basic instructions to get you started.

Looking for something specific? Use the ingredients dropdown menu, or the search bar! I’ve also divided things up based loosely on difficultly:

Easy means simple steps, and common ingredients. You’ll probably be eating in about 30 minutes

Medium means more preparation is needed, and cooking may be closer to 45 minutes

Hard means that you might need to search for less common ingredients, cook multiple things at once, or use a particular technique (but don’t worry, I’ll help you break it down)

Want a preview of what’s next? Follow @craving_mad on Instagram!

Let’s cook.