Welcome to Cooking with Virginia!
Need inspo for healthy recipes? Cooking with Virginia is packed with real-life tips, cooking techniques, and good and good-for-you recipes.
Each post has easy-to-follow instructions and helpful hints. It’s a mix of indulgent and healthy recipes — food that I eat and make in my own kitchen (and sometimes on TV.)
Here, you’ll find chef-driven recipes for home cooks yet still made with real-life ingredients. Let me tell you what you won’t find. An over-obsession with WW points or restrictive dieting. I believe you’ve got to mix it up. Sometimes you need to eat the ding dang cake. Who wants to eat sad food? Who wants deprivation? Nobody.
Hopefully, you’ll feel like I am by your side! I promise my recipes are rigorously tested and are essential, foolproof dishes you actually want to make and eat.
Because of my own journey with health gain and weight loss, I am an enthusiastic cheerleader for others seeking to make lifestyle changes in the interest of feeling healthier and happier, too!
Bon Appétit, Y’all!
Virginia Willis
Chicken and Rice Meatballs in Mushroom Gravy
Growing up, my mother made a meatball dish with Rice a Roni called porcupines. It consisted of ground beef, an egg, and a box of
Spicy Cauli-Mac and Cheese
Do we really need another Macaroni and Cheese recipe? According to Restaurant News, “US consumers were eating 19% more cheese per capita at the end
Southern New Year’s Day Food Traditions
Want to know why Southerners eat peas and greens? The science behind the salt and smoke? What about Vegan options for Southern New Year’s Day
Easy Chocolate Cocoa Bombs
Chocolate Cocoa Bombs have well, absolutely exploded this holiday season. I adore the idea, but cannot believe anyone would want to go to the trouble
GF Pear Banana Almond Cakes
When I decided to share this recipe for GF Pear Banana Almond Cakes it was a surprise to me. It would seem like the Banana
Recipe Makeover: Sausage-Pecan Balls
Everyone looks down their nose at sausage balls, pigs in a blanket, and meatballs in BBQ sauce, but the reality is that these popular nibbles
Golden Fruit and Nut Cake (Don’t Call it Fruitcake!)
The word fruitcake immediately conjures images of boozy brown bricks studded with bizarre colored unidentifiable bits of fruit. I am not certain how fruitcake became
Braised Flank Steak with Peppers and Onions
Cool-weather and the current full-time, heightened need for comfort food make me think of braised meats. I love beef stews, braised short ribs, and pot
Covid Thanksgiving and Gratitude
Lordy day, 2020 has been a lot to manage and take in. And, here we are at the holidays. There’s an active call from the
Lighten Up, Y’all! Buffalo Chicken Dip
Football Saturdays can feel like 100 yards of healthy eating pitfalls. Seriously, who wants to eat carrot sticks and celery spears with hummus when everyone