Founder of The Recipe Rebel | Recipe Developer | Photographer | Cookbook Author
I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been sharing our favorite tried-and-true recipes on this recipe website since the beginning of 2014.
It’s now a full time job for myself and my husband, Garrett, and we have a few other people who help us out behind the scenes.
Here are a few tidbits about me!
The important stuff:
- I have 3 daughters who are my chief taste testers and critics.
- I’m from Manitoba, Canada — totally in the middle of nowhere and loving it.
- I’ll take laundry over dishes any day of the year 🤣.
- I’m a total book nerd — I often share what I’m reading over on Instagram.
- I love, love to travel — experiencing new places and foods is one of my very favorite things.
Education:
I have a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education from Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada.
My job as a high school English teacher was my first dream job, and this food blog is my second.
Expertise:
I grew up cooking and baking my mom’s go-to recipes (see her chocolate chip cookies, double chocolate chip cookies and buns recipe here). When I moved out to attend University, I began experimenting with different types of foods and cooking methods, and I became very passionate about it.
This website is a culmination of my years of experience cooking and baking alongside my mom, my grandma, and my aunts as well as the skills I learned out on my own with my own kitchen.
With decades of experience, I specialize in no-fuss comfort food recipes for the whole family. Quick stovetop dinners, crockpot meals, soups, pasta bakes, casseroles and delicious treats are the name of the game here.
From blog to business:
I started my blog in early 2014, with a toddler running around underfoot, a baby on the way and a high school teaching job I loved.
I had a tendency to bring food to share everywhere I went, and after repeatedly being asked for the recipes (because, as you know, I’m not very good at following someone else’s!), I decided I wanted a place to share them with everyone.
In 2015, I resigned from my teaching position to work on my website full time. It gave me more flexibility with a young family, and I’m so thankful every day for what we do.
Cookbook Author:
In 2024 I began working on The Recipe Rebel Cookbook, which features more than 100 recipes developed and photographed by me. It was self-published in September 2025 and has been well-loved ever since.
Work with Ashley
Want to work with me? I’m a Manitoba food blogger and food photographer also offering services such as freelance recipe development and photography. I’m also available for social media event coverage within Manitoba. Email me at ashley @thereciperebel.com for more information — I’d love to hear from you!
New here? Start with some of our favorite recipes:
Ashley’s kitchen philosophy
I guess you could say I have a problem following instructions. That I sometimes have trouble accepting recipes as written, or resisting the urge to throw in some random ingredients from my pantry or fridge.
You might say this stems from a love of shortcuts or a disdain for conformity. Maybe you’d say it stems from a good dose of over-confidence and a refusal to believe that another way is better than My Way. I believe it stems from an absolute passion for making and sharing the best food possible and doing it in a way that works for me.
I started The Recipe Rebel to share easy, mostly healthy, fun and creative recipes for the whole family with other food lovers and home cooks. I don’t like to take food too seriously, and along with recipes for every day you’ll find some extravagant treats that I make just for fun. I’m a firm believer in enjoying the food you want in moderation.
As a lover of food, I have a confession to make: I don’t think I have ever sifted my dry ingredients. I am probably not going to beat my eggs before adding them to the mixer. And sometimes my butter gets a little soft or my egg whites don’t get whipped.
With three young kids, most of the recipes I make are no fuss and minimal dishes, because I’m pretty sure there are others like me who look at an ingredient list 18 lines long and immediately close the page. I just don’t have time for that!
The important thing, to me, is that my food is made to share with the people I love, and that they love the food I feed them. I know there are some classically trained chefs who would cringe at what they’ve read here, but I haven’t had any classically trained chefs at my dinner table lately, so it doesn’t worry me too much. I focus on making dinner time interesting, flavorful, and low stress.
I would love for you to join me on this journey! I promise to give you an honest look inside my kitchen, and I’ll even cook some vegetables to make up for the amount of flour and sugar you will inevitably find here.
Most days, you’ll find me in the kitchen with a child hugging my legs and a preschooler running circles around me while I line every baking dish I own in tin foil in an attempt to cut down on dishes, sipping a cold cup of coffee, and loving every minute.
I started this blog as a place to keep track of the things that come out of my kitchen, and to hopefully inspire a few of you to try something new in yours. I would love to hear what’s inspiring you in the kitchen!
Thanks for stopping in,
Ashley