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.
So happy I discovered your site! looked at it in passing a few times, finally took the time to look closer. In short, I like your style Ali! Enjoy your time in Spain ❤️🌄
In 2013, I found your Medley Muffin recipe. Since then, I’ve made it literally countless times for my family- it’s one of our favs! This morning I looked and can no longer find the link. Would you please share that recipe with me one more time so I can write it down? Thank you for co considering the request.
You are truly an inspiration,❣️ God bless you and your little family 🙏🏼 and thank you for real food real fast 😋
I’m just curious why you don’t take the time to answer questions asked by viewers?
I made a batch of your Jambalaya and hesitantly shared it with three friends who are Cajuns, originally from Louisiana… and they have eaten a lot of good Cajun food. They loved it and I did, too. I’m here in Corpus Christi, Texas right on the Gulf of Mexico and so we have ready access to fresh shrimp. Additionally, I use all natural smoked turkey sausage and fresh bay leaves from our backyard. A friend on a strict weight loss diet tossed the diet to eat your Jambalaya, and said she will do so again… when I make the next batch. Thanks again.
I love your attitude!
Added tequila to a mojito tonight–a mint margarita!
Love all of your ideas!
Hi..my name is Sherie and I just met your lovely father
-in-law ..Howard today at some of our friends here in Michigan! It was so fun when he found out that I have followed you for ages and love your recipe! Bon appetite! Sherie Thomsen
I do enjoy Mexican foods. However, I have to avoid salt, so I will eliminate salt from any recipe. I also do not drink any form of alcohol due to high Blood Pressure and I do not like really spicey foods, so I will eliminate jalapenos. I have never had green chilis, so I don’t know if they are spicey, so if a recipe calls for them I will taste test first. Sorry to be such a pain, but I am very limited in some areas of food. I live alone and do all of my cooking myself to avoid any of the above ingredients. I would love to see a recipe for scones from Scotland which I visited and muffins with fruit. I lived in Germany for four years as well and would love to see a recipe for Yaeger Snitzel.
Dear Ali,
What a lovely lady you are and your recipes are delightful!
I’m so glad to have found you ❤️👵🏻
Love
Honey
I love your Enchilada recipe, but your website is so awful to use. Have you, yourself, been on your site, using it as a user would? The ads are terribly layered on top of each other. You can’t take any actions like, “Jump to Recipe” until the video ad runs. I see three ads (one video) at all times, on every page. It’s hideous, and if was just ugly, OK, girl’s gotta get paid, but it negatively impacts the user experience by “freezing” all my actions until the video ad is ready to release me. Of course the “x”‘s on the ads don’t work, as you know.