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9 Ways to Run a Faster 5K

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Not happy with your current 5K times or looking to improve your performance? Read on for these simple, yet effective 9 Ways to Run a Faster 5K.

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Whether it’s your first 5K race or your 50th, there are almost always ways to improve your racing and running times. Become a faster runner during races and in training with my 9 Ways to Run a Faster 5K.

1) Train with Speed

You won’t be able to run your fastest 5K — or at least as fast as you’d like — if you haven’t trained with speed. Follow a training plan with speedwork to get in shape and work on your speed so your body will be ready and used to running fast during the race.

My favorite ways to train with speed for a 5K are with speed intervals, tempo runs, & fartlek runs. To check out a plan with my running coach, Luke Humphrey (formerly of Hanson’s Marathon Method), just click here. He has plans for runners at every level.

Save this recipe for later on Pinterest:

Chelsea Plummer of Mae's Menu getting ready to start her running watch on her "9 ways to run a faster 5K" pinterest pin.

2) Eat Well in the Days Running Up to the Race

Nutrition, for me, is an easy thing to minimize or forget about with a 5K. I’m used to being very particular about what I eat when training and preparing for a marathon, but I’ve learned the hard way that I need to be mindful of what I’m eating before a 5K as well.

You don’t need to go hog wild about carb loading in the days leading up to the race, but make sure to eat plenty of non-processed foods like fruits and vegetables, healthy grains, lean proteins, and heart-healthy fats.

The night before the race, you’ll want to eat a normal size portion of a meal heavier in carbohydrates. Nothing crazy, but your body will run better off of carbs than it would, say, ribs (once again, experience. EEK).

And finally, make sure to eat breakfast before the run. Eat quick-digesting carbohydrates. Once again, you don’t have to carbo-load but your body is going to run better off a predominance of carbs than it would protein or fat.

3) Don’t Try or Eat Anything New The Night Before or Morning of the Race

An important follow-up to tip #2. Make sure not to change your diet the night before or morning of the race. So, eat a familiar carb-rich food the night before– ideally one that you’ve eaten before training workouts during your training cycle.

The same thing goes with the morning of. Even if something is a quick digesting carbohydrate, don’t try it if it’s new. It’s not worth messing with the potential consequences. Stick with what you’ve been eating before runs when training (even if that sounds totally boring to you). You can indulge in a brunch with some new, interesting foods after you’ve crushed your race. 🙂

Chelsea Plummer of Mae's Menu running with her dog, Allie.

4) Get to the Race Early

This is a big one for me. When I plan on racing a race, I’ve learned that I need to get to a race at least an hour before it starts for the best results. Otherwise, the stress of fitting in picking up my bib, getting to the porta-potties, and running my warm-up can get me stressed out and in an all-around not so great mind frame for my best work.

You want to do all you can to minimize any potential distractions or hiccups that can keep you from running your best race. Being there ahead of time can help you get ahead of or have time to deal with, any unforeseen issues that may arise.

Chelsea plummer of Mae's Menu, running with her yellow lab on her pinterest pin for "9 Ways To Run a Faster 5K"

5) Get Enough Rest & Minimize Stress in the Days Leading Up to the Race

Yet another tip I’ve learned the hard way (yes, we’re both seeing a theme here). Stress and lack of sleep can make the difference between a PR and not — or between racing hard comfortably and racing hard and feeling like death.

Do what you can to minimize schedule changes or events that will keep you up later than you usually do in the few nights leading up to the race. If the race is early, practice getting up early the few days before (after going to bed adequately early, that is!). If you’re getting 7-9 hours a sleep — or however much your body needs to really feel rested — and are still feeling tired, try to work in a few afternoon naps in the last few days before the race.

6) Visualize Success

The mental game of running is one I’ve really been zoning in on lately. I’ve seen people who pull similar workout stats with me but race stronger than I do and I’ve seen people who I can run a faster 5K than but they can kill me in the marathon. What gives? I’m determined that it’s the mental strength to race well and a big part of that is visualizing success and staying positive.

Visualize every part of the race — pre-race, during the race, and post race — each situation during race morning and the race, how you will deal with any challenges or discomfort, and how you will feel to overcome these challenges.

For example, for my recent race where I won my age group, I visualized getting to the race on time, having plenty of time for my warm-up, how pumped I would feel before the race, how I would push through and stay on mile 2 when I would start to feel tired, how I would stay positive if someone would pass me, etc. And then — most importantly — I focused on how amazing it would feel to be strategic about my race and stay strong through the challenges that would come my way.

And then, when the challenges came on race day I had already encountered and overcome them in my visualizations. It was that much easier to push through, knowing I’d already done it mentally and remembering how rewarding it would be to do so.

Chelsea Plummer Mae's Menu running down the street

7) Run a Warm-Up and a Cool-Down Before and After the Race

This is one I learned back while running high school track. The 2 mile race was long enough that I needed a decent warm-up but too short to warm-up while running. So, I would run 2 miles before every race.

Same thing goes for 5Ks– I plan on running at least 1.5-2 miles about 30-40 minutes before the race start so my legs are warm by the time the race starts. This way I also have time to get back to the race start before the gun goes off.

8) Set an Exact Goal for Yourself

How are we to achieve a goal if we never set one in the first place? Set specific, but achievable and time-bound goals (in short, SMART goals) while training and leading up to the race.

This goes back and builds off to point #1 — in your training, you work on achieving and working towards the goals, and then during the race, you can evaluate mile by mile how well you are achieving those goals and adjust your performance if need be.

9) Relax!

Thank goodness this is a point!! Ever try to run after a super stressful or worrisome event? Chances are that if you weren’t hopped up on adrenaline it wasn’t your best run.

I’ve been there too. The more we can do to relax before a run — running a warm-up with friends, repeating our mantras, going through gratitude lists, and remembering the big picture to name a few — the better chances we have to run loose, relaxed, and strong.

Chelsea Plummer & Chris Murphy of Mae's Menu at the Father's Day 5k in Fort Collins.

Thanks so much for reading my tips to running a faster 5K! I hope that they are helpful for you. Please let me know what you think of them and let me know if you have any favorite 5K race tips!

Looking for some healthier carb-rich meals when training for your 5K?

Here are some of my favorites:

Check Out My Other Running Blog Posts:

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An Introduction to My Running Blog & Why I Run Marathons

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What running marathons has done for my life and why I want to share it in this blog.

I got hooked on running early. Some of my earliest memories are of racing family and friends across empty parking lots. I got my first set of stitches from falling when running down the street (& the second set was from cycling — a prophetic combo). I remember my school’s 2nd-grade mile race like it was yesterday.

The adrenaline of the competition was a rush. I felt so free & empowered and I loved the feeling of being fast. I love what happened when I pushed myself and I particularly loved it when I passed some boys.

Passing a boy.

Fast Forward to High School

Fast forward to high school and I still loved to run. I ran for the high school track team my freshman year and somehow got to the Pennsylvania WPIAL track meet for the 2-mile event. I didn’t place — or even really run that great, for that matter — in the state event, but the rush of starting to move somewhere with my running fueled me.

My rush stopped dead in its tracks, though. On one summer morning pre-season cross country training run, my IT band seized up and rendered me close to unable to walk, not to mention run.

I was devastated. Running was not just my sport, it was me. And unfortunately, 3 sports doctors later — including the Pittsburgh Steelers’ orthopedic surgeon — and we still didn’t have a remedy to the pain. I was given no choice but to give up running.

My strategy was always to start slower and then catch them in the final laps when they were starting to lag.

Finally, An Answer

After a grieving period, I moved on from running and into other hobbies in high school. I started cooking even more than I had been previously and I got more into academic clubs & pursuits. I started to find other ways to stay fit or ran non-competitively over shorter distances.

When I got to college, however, I met a really good friend who was (and is!) a super gifted runner. She was training for a marathon and eventually, I started joining her on training runs. I thought I might train for the Chicago Marathon.

The training was fun, but it was short-lived. My IT band intervened again and this time I was on crutches. I was crushed — would I ever be able to run again? Why was this thing I loved so much seemingly so “off limits”?

Somehow, amidst my crazy course load and without having a car, I got myself down to Chicago to see an orthopedic surgeon, again. I didn’t have hope that he would cure me, but I was hoping for relief from the pain.

The doctor walked in with his resident. After a quick consultation, the resident asked me to lay down. Once reclined, he gave my leg a gentle but firm pull. Within moments, I felt my hip relax and all the pain from my IT band flood out of my body.

I was in shock and so thankful. The doctor assigned me physical therapy to re-strengthen and even out my hips and I was on my way to being pain-free again.

Back at it.

But life and other messages intervene

I wish I could say this is where the story ends, but it isn’t. After that intense pain, I was grateful for feeling better but didn’t want to push it. I started to think that previous messages I’d received of marathons and high mileage being bad for women were true, so I tried to just let any notions or big goals for running die.

So I continued on with life, staying pretty active through other exercises. I even had a pretty solid foray into road cycling. Life got busy, though, and I had a few close calls with cars so I decided — pretty easily — to let that go.

A rediscovery

Around the time we moved to Colorado, I started to evaluate all the different messages I believed that held me back, both personally and professionally. Running was definitely one of those areas.

If I was smart about my hip issue and worked into training slowly, could I run a marathon? Why did I even blindly accept these messages that I “couldn’t do that”?

And more importantly, why was I even asking myself if I even could? I started to replace any doubts or questions with “if I am smart about this and work up to the distance, I will be able to run this marathon.”

So, within three days of moving to Colorado, I decided to start training for my first marathon (while also adjusting to the elevation!). It was sobering being at paces that were 4 minutes a mile slower than I had run in high school, but I kept with it. And on my 31st birthday, I completed my first marathon.

Chelsea Plummer finishes the San Antonio marathon.
My first marathon finish line.

What I learned from my first marathon.

I don’t say this lightly when I say that marathon running changed my life. To this day, I can’t watch any race or marathon without crying. Overcoming limiting ideas in one area of my life directly corresponded to overcoming them in other areas of my life. I’m so grateful to this sport and this amazing community for teaching me that.

I also learned that I need to fuel my body for success. When it comes to marathoning, what I put in my body — both in quantity and quality — directly relates to my performance. Marathon running helped me to finally get my relationship to food straightened out. Food is what fuels me, not what plagues me.

Finally, I learned to take care of and listen to my body. Whether it is by getting enough sleep, doing yoga, stretching, or simply running my easy runs easy and my hard runs hard, I’ve learned to take care of my body so it can take care of me over the long haul.

What this running blog will be about.

Overall, my goal with this blog is to help share the joy and love of running so other people (i.e. you!) can experience the power of it in their (your!) lives. To that end, there are many topics I plan on covering and questions I plan on answering. Topics and questions such as:

  • How I’ve run a faster marathon time
  • How I fuel for best running performance
  • How I learn and grow from both positive and negative running & racing experiences
  • How to improve overall running speed & stamina
  • What type of running recovery foods & exercises work best for me
  • What cross-training I do for running.
  • And, of course, stories about running with my insanely fit but insanely rabbit crazy dog, Allie.
Catching her between chasing rabbits.

I’m not a running coach and I’m not a dietician, but I hope that by sharing my experience I can help you find more joy through running.

Hearing from you

What about you? What is your running story? I’d love to hear more about it. Feel please share in the comments below or DM me on Instagram. Also, please let me know if there any particular running topics or questions you’d like me to cover in future posts and I’ll try my best to include those as well.

Thanks for reading and being on this journey with me. I look forward to all that is ahead!

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How to Make Juicy Hamburgers

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Looking for a succulent and satisfying burger recipe for your dinner tonight or next barbecue? Look no further with this post on how to make juicy hamburgers! I’ll go through easy tips on to create the most crave-worthy burgers.

For the longest time, I struggled with making hamburgers at home. We’d throw some on the cast iron pan or grill after a long day at work, expecting the kind of juicy and flavorful burgers we’d get at restaurants. Although the results were edible, they weren’t ever exactly what we were looking for. They were usually dry, lacking flavor. Overall something I ate for sustenance, not enjoyment. Therefore, I set out to determine how to make the best juicy hamburgers. After much experimentation, trial and error, I present to you my tips and tricks for the type of burgers I now clamor to make (& EAT)!

Take a look, test them out, and please let me know in the comments below how they worked for you!

Two male hands holding a burger with a white plate and purple striped towel in the background.
Eating burgers: usually messy, but always worth it.

How to Make Juicy Hamburgers

  • Buy a decent cut of meat — this goes without saying, but the better the ingredients you work with the better your result will be. Also, if you can get your hands on grass-fed beef, I recommend that. Otherwise, something with minimal antibiotics and a fresh bright red/pink color should do the trick.
  • Buy a cut of meat with some fat in it — in general, fat equals flavor. If burgers are something you enjoy on occasion, a slightly higher percentage of fat shouldn’t be an issue (#balance), either. In my experience, burgers made with meat right around the 85/15 mark were the best. They weren’t too rich but also had enough flavor and had juicy patties. If you can’t find or don’t have the 85/15 meat on hand, 90/10 or 80/20 should suffice. I definitely don’t recommend any leaner than 90/10, however.
  • Don’t over manipulate or press your patties — lightly create your patties without over compacting or pressing the beef. I usually just pull the meat from the container in roughly the shape I want the burgers to be and lightly refine it into the shape from there. No mashing everything in a bowl before making the burger. I definitely don’t recommend mixing in any seasonings before making the patties, either.
Lightly shaped burgers.
  • Keep the burgers cold up until cooking them – shape the burgers and then place them back in the fridge if you aren’t going to immediately cook them.
  • Start the burgers over super low (or no) heat – I have the juiciest burgers when I start cooking them on a cold cast iron skillet
    on the stove. I don’t know the exact science of it, but it seems that not as many juices leak out when the burger increases with the temperature with the pan. On the contrary, I’ve seen a lot of juices leak out when I “shock” the burger by placing it on an already hot pan. Because I can start a cast iron skillet from no heat, I prefer to cook my burgers this way. If you want to cook on a grill, however, just start the burgers over low heat and then turn the heat up.
  • Don’t ever — and I mean ever — squish or press the burgers while cooking — I know, I’m getting annoying and bossy here but I promise I’m saying it because I care. This is probably the single most important tip on here. Squeezing or pressing the burgers is pretty much squeezing or pressing those coveted juices out. When flipping, just lightly slide underneath the patty, flip, and get on with whatever else you’re cooking until it’s time to flip again.
Male hands holding a burger over a table with a white plate, blue corn tortilla chips, salsa, a purple striped dish towel, and another burger on it.
The moment we’re all waiting for.
  • Only very lightly season your burgers before cooking, if you want to season at all — salt, garlic powder, and black pepper are the dream seasoning combination on burgers but the salt can pull the juicy out of the burgers and the garlic can burn. If you can, don’t season the burgers at all before cooking and then just season the burgers after the final flip of cooking. If this is too weird to you, just sprinkle the uncooked patties with just a baby pinch of salt before cooking and sprinkle the rest of the seasonings on after the final flip.
Three beef juicy hamburgers and a metal spatula sitting on a cast iron skillet.
Freshly cooked & delicious. A great hamburger cast iron skillet recipe!

A Q&A on the Best Homemade Burger Recipe:

What are the best burger spices? Less is more (in terms of the number of spices) when it comes to burgers. I like using just salt, pepper, and garlic powder. They bring out all the flavors of the meat without over-powering!

How do you season burgers? At the very end of cooking, if you can hold off that long! I don’t know about you, but I got into a habit of seasoning before cooking so it was weird for me to do this but it really pays off. Putting the salt on too early draws out the moisture. Instead, I season liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic at the end of cooking. Refer to the recipe on exact amounts of seasoning I like to use.

Juicy hamburgers sitting on white plates next to a purple dish towel and bowl of blue corn tortilla chips.

How do you keep burgers moist? By following the directions above! If you’re going to prioritize what you do, however, the quality of the meat, making sure you don’t over-manipulate the meat when making the patties or press down on them while cooking, and seasoning the burgers just as you wrap up cooking are the most important secrets to juicy burgers.

Do you put egg in hamburgers? Not usually! Putting egg in burgers would help bind the meat, but would create a consistently more like meatloaf than a burger. It would also affect the flavor a bit, too. Focus on the tips above to get burgers that stick together well without the need of a binder, like egg!

How to make hamburger patties stick together? The best way to do this is by not over mashing or manipulating the meat and working with it cold! Also, wait until after you’ve shaped the patties to do any seasoning.

Great sides to go with your burgers:

wp-recipe-maker/recipe {“id”:1088,
Two juicy hamburgers on white plates separated by a purple striped dish towel.
Yield: 4

Juicy Restaurant-Style Burgers

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Juicy burgers you can enjoy at home or a barbecue any night of the week. Use brioche hamburger buns for the full restaurant-style burger flavor.

Ingredients

Burgers

  • 1 1/2 lbs. 85% lean 15% fat ground beef, grass-fed, preferably
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic

Burger Fixings:

  • 4 brioche hamburger buns
  • 4 1/4 inch thick red onion ring slices
  • 1 avocado, pitted and cut into 1/4 inch slices
  • 1 medium to large slicing tomato, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise, optional
  • 1/4 cup ketchup, optional
  • Any other favorite toppings: sriracha, sprouts, grilled onions or mushrooms, etc.

Instructions

  1. Shape hamburger meat into 4 patties very lightly with your hands, making sure to not overwork the meat, making them about 4- 4.5 inches in diameter. If not cooking immediately, place burgers on a plate and return to the fridge.

If cooking on a cast iron skillet (preferred):

  1. Add the burgers to a cold cast iron skillet greased with a light colored oil and turn up heat to medium-high. Once the burgers start sizzling, cook the patties for 3 minutes, and then flip. Repeat 2 more times, making sure to never press down on the patties. Season the patties with salt, pepper, and garlic after the last flip and cook for one more minute. Remove the pan from the heat and put together your burgers.

If cooking on a grill:

  1. Very lightly grease the grill grates and preheat your grill to the lowest temperature possible. Add the patties to the grill and turn up heat to medium-high. Cook the patties for 3 minutes, and then flip. Repeat 2 more times, making sure to never press down on the patties. Season the patties with salt, pepper, and garlic after the last flip and cook for one more minute. Remove the burgers from the grill put together your burgers.

Build your burger:

  1. During the final cooking time of burgers, toast buns in a toaster oven or on the grill, for 2-3 minutes, or until starting to just brown around the edges. Spread bun with mayonnaise and ketchup (if using), lay patties on top, and then later on the rest of the toppings. Serve immediately with extra ketchup, mayonnaise, or sriracha to pass.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 924Total Fat 54gSaturated Fat 16gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 33gCholesterol 176mgSodium 1536mgCarbohydrates 76gFiber 7gSugar 16gProtein 37g
© Chelsea | Mae's Menu
Cuisine: American / Category: Dinner
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Easter Dinner Sides

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Cook a delicious and memorable holiday dinner for your family with these healthy and festive Easter Dinner sides!

With the changing dates of Easter each year, it always seem like the holiday somehow sneaks up on me. I’m left to research, brainstorm and plan my meal last minute. Not fun. Let’s all save ourselves the hassle this year with these spring forward & nutritious, yet celebratory Easter dinner sides.

Appetizers

Kick off your holiday dinner with appetizers that will whet your guests’ appetites and get them excited about what’s to come.

Garbanzo Bean Fritters

An Easter dinner side Garbanzo Bean Fritter with sour cream and lemon zest sitting on a white plate with thyme.

With the savoriness of hummus and the crispness of a fritter, these will surely prep palates for the delicious meal ahead.

Maple Lime Fried Kale & Brussels Sprouts

Treat your guests to the type of greens that are usually only seen in restaurants. The bright maple lime flavor will also delight their taste buds.

Clear bowl of maple lime fried kale & brussels sprouts make the perfect easter dinner side on a white dish cloth.

Green Salads

Once everyone is seated, impress your family with a starter salad that brings all the flavors of spring and more.

Roasted Beet & Fennel Herb Salad

Sweet roasted beets, anise, herbs, and a light orange vinaigrette come together for a refreshing salad to complement any Easter dinner spread.

A teal porcelain bowl of roasted beets & veggies on a bed of greens. Fennel bulb to the right of bowl and lemon and orange to the top of bowl. The perfect easter dinner side.

Super Easy Arugula & Apricot Salad

Two bowls of an easter dinner side salad with Apricots, arugula, and hard shaved cheese sit on a blue dish cloth next to wooden salad tongs.

With less than 5 minutes prep time and 4 ingredients, this super easy, yet incredibly tasty salad will allow you to
Save your energy and time for cooking the rest of the meal.

Baked Sides

Heart-warming and festive Easter Dinner sides that will become family classics.

Remixed Carrot Soufflé

An easter dinner side Carrot Souffle Topped With Powdered Sugar on top of a wooden cutting board. A blue dish towel and powdered sugar sits next to the souffle.

A rich, yet lightly textured carrot dish that, if your family is like mine, will soon be requested at every holiday meal.

Potato Gratin Gruyere

An upclose of a plate of sweet & white potato gratin with the pan and another plate of gratin in the background makes the perfect easter dinner side.

Sweet & savory shine in a light leek infused bechamel sauce. Gruyere cheese pulls it all together for a gratin like you haven’t experienced before.

Creative Easter Dinner Sides

Bring the spring-like spirit of creativity and new beginnings to your Easter Dinner traditions.

Italian Farro with Fennel & Citrus

With sweet citrus, chewy farro, the earthiness of pistachio, and bright pops of golden raisins this salad will surprise and delight your Easter guests.

Oranges, grapefruit, fennel, pistachios, and golden raisins in a Citrusy Fennel Salad form the perfect Easter dinner side. Blue towel in the background.

Ricotta Grits & Roasted Asparagus with Lemon Drizzle

White porcelain bowl of white grits with ricotta make a perfect easter dinner side.. Roasted asparagus with a lemon drizzle is on top of the grits. A lemon sits to the back right of bowl.

Grits like you’ve never tasted before. Ricotta brings a whole new level of creaminess and lays a beautiful canvas for the spring-forward asparagus. An indulgent, but still light lemon butter drizzle pulls it all together.

How to Read a Recipe

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Recipes can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to be a chef to understand them. Read on for my 6 proven tips on how to read a recipe
and confidently make your next meal!

I’ve been reading recipes for fun now for almost 20 years. I love reading them so much that I didn’t even realize it was abnormal until a friend pointed it out to me that my “leisure reading” was a 300 page cookbook and “are you serious that is fun for you?!”

Since then, I’ve read 4 more cookbooks and I’m still seeking out more to read. And thankfully I can say that it still feels like leisure reading even though it’s also professional reading too these days.

Given all the cookbooks I’ve read and all the recipes I’ve tried over the years, I’ve learned through recipe reading success and failures about the best way to read a recipe. Read on for my six proven ways to read a recipe and let me know in the comments section if you have any follow-up questions or feedback on reading recipes!

Butternut squash, a metal measuring cup of maple syrup, and a head of garlic on a marble and wood cutting board.

6 Tips on How to Read a Recipe

1. Read through the entire recipe before starting cooking.

What is more annoying than being in the middle of a recipe when realizing you don’t have the next ingredient called for or that you started cooking different parts of the dish in the wrong order? That’s why you’ll want to know exactly all the ingredients you’ll need, steps you will take, and different supplies you will need before you start on a recipe.

Some things to pay attention to while reading the recipe:

  • Chilling or resting time — a 2 hour resting time means a recipe you’d like to have on the table in 45 minutes isn’t going to work.
  • Appliances on hand — does a recipe call for an appliance you might not have or that might be dirty?
  • Ingredients — do you have all the ingredients that you will need for the recipe, or can you make plans to purchase them before making the recipe?
  • Special techniques — are there any special techniques in the recipe that you aren’t familiar with? (See tip #2 for more on this..)

Read through the recipe, envisioning all the steps as you take them and noting all the ingredients, supplies, techniques, and tools called for, making sure that you will have them on hand for when you start cooking.

2. Look up any terms you don’t understand in the recipe.

Don’t know what the words “emulsify” or “temper” mean? Totally fine! That’s the amazing part of cooking– all the things we get to learn about and experiment with. Just circle or write down any terms you come across when doing your initial recipe read through and then look them up online.

Also, if you’re reading recipes on a food blog or cookbook, read through any “cooking notes” on the recipe to see if the blogger gives any cooking notes or tips on any of the unique techniques mentioned in the recipe.

Grape tomatoes, green onions, spinach, a bowl of orzo, and a dish of double tomato vinaigrette on a black cutting board.

3. Prep all your ingredients before you start.

This is one I was initially annoyed by but eventually learned the hard way (of course) of its importance. I had one too many fast moving recipes where I didn’t have time to chop the veggies and measure all the ingredients while the recipe was cooking. Things ended up less than ideal. In some situations, the food on the stovetop burned because I didn’t have enough time to tend to it. In other situations I had to pause the cooking — ruining the dish on a few occasions — to get the next ingredients ready.

By having all the recipes prepped and accessible ahead of time you can focus on cooking and following all the steps instead of panicking and rushing to get things ready in time Another benefit is that as you’re reading the recipe and it asks for a series of ingredients, you don’t have to stop and question how much to throw in. You just throw in your premeasured ingredients. More focus on the recipe at hand means a better end result.

4. Pay attention to and closely follow the different heating temperatures while you are cooking.

This one may seem pretty commonsensical at first glance, but it’s one that can sneak up on the best of us. Pay attention to the recommended temperatures — especially on the stove top — recommended in the recipe. For pancakes or scrambled eggs, for example, too high of heat can really dive bomb your end result.

If the recipe gives a heat range — often due to the natural variations that happen between different stove tops or gas and electric ranges — start off in the middle of that range and pay attention to how your dish is progressing relative to what the recipe recommends and then adjust your heat accordingly.

One other note to make here is to pay attention to any changes in heat temperature when adding or removing ingredients to a pan. That is, if the recipe has you saute veggies in a pan over medium before removing them to a bowl and turning up the heat to medium-high to saute chicken pieces, adjust your heat accordingly. Well written recipes will have logic and reason behind why they are adjusting the heat for the different ingredients.

A white stand mixer paddle attachment over a silver mixing bowl with creamed sugar and an egg in it.

5. Pay attention to recipe specifics.

If a recipe calls for something specific like room temperature butter or room temperature milk, there’s probably a good reason why! Especially in baking. Particular temperatures can make or break a dish because of the science behind the particularities.

Sometimes recipe writers will try to give shortcuts on how to speed up any time intense specifics, but if they don’t you can always reference reputable sources on how to speed up those tasks (For example: get eggs to room temperature quickly by soaking in warm water for 5 minutes). Do yourself a favor though, and make sure they’re trustworthy sources, though.

6. Check for doneness by both time and the explanation of doneness on the recipe.

Good recipes should have both a time range and description of the done product for you to know what done looks like as long as how long it will take to be done. Make sure to consider both factors when evaluating if a dish is done.

For example: the recipe reads “bake for 25-27 minutes, or until bubbling and starting to brown around the edges.” Start checking the dish at 25 minutes, but if it still isn’t bubbling at minute 27, keep on cooking and checking about every minute or so until it has started browning and bubbling.

Seasoned cubed sweet potato chunks on an oiled gold baking sheet.

In Summary

Follow this handful of tips to have more successful and enjoyable cooking experiences. Some of these tips will seem more time or energy-intensive initially, but with less stress and mishaps in the kitchen you can end up saving yourself in overall hassle and panic, making it a more enjoyable experience. Also, once you start to have more fun in the kitchen and be more satisfied with your end results the upfront work will sell itself and eventually become second nature.

Also, if you ever have any questions or need any clarifications on the recipes I write, please comment in the section below with them and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Sharing your questions with me helps me to know how to best improve my recipes for you — my ultimate goal!

Thanks, as always, for reading. Have a great day!

Great Recipes to Practice Reading (& Cooking!):

What do you think? Do you have any additional questions or other recipe reading tips you like to employ? Comment below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!

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How To Find The Best Restaurants While Traveling

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It’s sometimes one of the main reasons we travel: food. But how to find the most authentic and tasty food? Here are my top tips on how to find the best restaurants while traveling.

There’s something about traveling that brings me back to the basics. With my only real responsibilities being sleeping, eating, and entertaining myself it’s hard to not find a new perspective on life. It’s hard not to feel energized.

That being said, it’s important to find good food while traveling. Both while traveling internationally as well as domestically. That’s why I’m sharing my top tips on finding the best restaurants while traveling today.

With tips that rely mainly on your senses and observation, you can use these while exploring a new city or country but you can also use these tips to find hidden gems in your own city or town.

Because of internet access in foreign countries and the bias that is in a lot of the review platforms, I’m sharing ways to find restaurants without the aid of the internet. In my bonus tip section, however, I share what I look for in a review on a review platforms when searching for restaurants online.

This is a cumulative list of tips– with each tip building on the previous. I’ll make notes on this throughout. Once you start applying these tips and find great restaurants while traveling, however, you’ll build up your intuition and it will become second nature.

How To Find Great Restaurants While Traveling | Mae's Menu

My Four Tips For Finding Great Restaurants While Traveling

1. Look for restaurants off the beaten path.

This applies for almost any time I’m looking for a restaurant — while traveling or at home. In general, the less a restaurant pays in rent, the more you are paying for quality food instead of their overhead.

Same goes with restaurants that are extravagantly decorated and show only beautiful people at the bar in the front window. Greater chances of you paying for the experience, not the food.

I often will find a main drag or area of the city and then walk away from it or down its alleys to find the best food. In larger cities, I will often go out to the neighborhoods to see what they offer. It’s a bit more of a trek, but I’m also often rewarded with the genuine culture of the city this way too.

How To Find Great Restaurants While Traveling | Mae's Menu
We walked 15 minutes off the main drag to find these beautiful open faced sandwiches.

2. The better the price relative to the area & cuisine, the better and more authentic the food.

God bless my husband because he puts up with me constantly stopping to look at restaurant menus when we travel. I do this for two reasons: I like to get a feel for what type of creative things the local chefs and restaurants are up to and I like to get a ballpark for pricing of meals and dining in the area.

Once I have that ballpark and am looking at restaurants that are off the beaten path, I can then look at pricing to confirm that I’m paying for the food, not some other aspect of the experience.

A special note: I’m not necessarily recommending to look for cheap food here, but rather food that is decently priced relative to the area. Also, you don’t just want a decently priced restaurant but one that’s off the beaten path and also priced affordably relative to what you see in the city and touristy areas. Often finding more inexpensive food in a touristy area usually just means bad food.

How To Find Great Restaurants While Traveling | Mae's Menu

3. Look for restaurants with the most native speaking patrons in the restaurant.

If you’re in Spain, look for restaurants where the most number of patrons are speaking Spanish. If you’re in Australia, look for the restaurants with the most number of people have the Aussie accent. This means that locals like and go to this restaurant and it’s more than just a tourist trap.

Extra points: for when the restaurant staff seem to know patrons by name. Having that report means that people like the restaurant enough to repeatedly go there.

In general, the further off the beaten path and the more reasonably priced a restaurant is, the more local and native speakers will be there. The more culturally authentic your whole experience will likely be, too.

4. Look for restaurants with patrons that speak the language of the cuisine.

When we were in Amsterdam, we found an Italian restaurant in the more residential neighborhood we were staying in. Not only were there many patrons who spoke Dutch, there were also a good handful of people in the restaurant who also spoke Italian with the waiter.

This meant that not only do locals like going to this restaurant but people who were possibly Italian or at least familiar with the Italian culture also loved it. No surprise then that this was one of our favorite meals of the trip, albeit being reminded of how badly I need to brush up on my Italian … eek!

How To Find Great Restaurants While Traveling | Mae's Menu
Not sure I’ll ever forget this meal!

Additional Bonus Tips

These first four points are my top and most important points to look for when I’m out exploring a city. Sometimes it’s also hard to know more about a restaurant beyond these initial observations and I often opt to not have phone data when traveling internationally.

Here are some additional helpful tips for when I do have internet access or can learn or observe more about the restaurant.

Bonus Point 1: the restaurant is family owned and run.

This one is a bonus point because sometimes it’s hard to tell on first impression if a restaurant is family owned. If I can see the people in the back of the house and they look like or are communicating with each other and the front of the house staff like family, that’s a good sign.

Close friends or family friends working together in the restaurant is just as good as actual family working together. The more people are personally invested in the restaurant and their cuisine– especially if they are serving their family’s or culture’s authentic recipes — the better the food and the service tends to be.

Bonus Point 2: the restaurant has good reviews on Google, TripAdvisor, or any other frequently used review platform.

This is my second bonus point and most optional tip because internet access isn’t always available or good while traveling and review platforms are full of bias. Some of the reviews are almost often phony for some reason or another, too.

Sometimes I’ll later look up a restaurant that I loved on a review platform and the reviews reflect an entirely different experience than I had. I’m then grateful that I didn’t look ahead of time or it might have dissuaded me from a great meal.

Either way, if I need to find a restaurant to eat at quickly or need to plan out my restaurant ahead of time, I will look for ones that are out of the tourist area and then — especially if I am on TripAdvisor — read reviews from people who either live in the country or are from the country of the cuisine.

While on any review app, I also disregard any bad reviews where people had unrealistic expectations (i.e. walking into a restaurant with 10 people 5 minutes before closing and being upset that they weren’t served) or any reviews that seem like they might be coming from competitors

How To Find Great Restaurants While Traveling | Mae's Menu
Toasting to great meals to come.

I hope this is helpful to you whether you are looking for your next great meal on a trip or in your hometown. Please let me know in the comments below how these tips worked for you and if you have any other things you like to look for! Thanks, as always, for joining me today.

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