About - Rachel Tritsch

Small Town Girl

and always will be

I was born and raised in a small town in Southern Illinois. When people hear Illinois, they always think of Chicago, but I’m from the southern part of Illinois which is completely different. Growing up in a small town, we just do things differently– and you either love it or hate it. I happen to love every bit of living in a small town. You know your neighbors, your school staff, your first responders and business owners by first name. It’s a special thing. My husband and I went to the same schools growing up and decided we wanted to raise our kids here too.

About Recipes with Rachel

How it all began…

For years, I had been writing recipes on post its to my friends when they liked something I made and brought it to a get together. Growing up, my parents worked in St. Louis and it was quite a drive in the morning and in the evenings and so I didn’t have many home cooked meals. Don’t get me wrong, my parents were great and I felt loved, but meals just weren’t served on a table for family dinners because the evenings were busy and truly, my mom didn’t like to cook (and she’ll admit that!). As I was growing up, I was around other women who liked to cook and I found that I really enjoyed it. It was something that brought us together and I liked the trial and error of cooking and trying new things. In 2015, I had my first daughter. I started making my own baby food and then creating different recipes for quick dinners and everything just grew from there.

Just took a little push

In 2019 while I was visiting my brother and his family in California, he asked me, “Why don’t you just start a website?” The question seemed crazy to most, but I work in web development so websites were something I was familiar with. I didn’t really have a response to his question… like a good response. When I flew back home, it was in the back of my mind constantly so I decided– why not? And with that, Recipes with Rachel was born. I remember getting my first ask to go on live TV to make a recipe. I was SO nervous, but in that moment I realized that this could actually be something that helps other busy working families and moms that want to show up for their kids, but just need some inspiration.