KEEPING IT REAL

Entrepreneur, mom, and seafood lover Sue Honkamp (@real_food_4_kids) is one of the millions of cooks who visit Allrecipes.com every month. We caught up with her to chat about her family's go-to dinners, her philosophy on leftovers, and why she's dedicated her career to kids and cooking.

- NINA ELDER

ABOUT ME

I grew up in New Jersey and got a degree in chemical engineering but soon realized that wasn't my passion. I went back to school and got my MBA, worked for a major food company for a while, then found my true calling: teaching kids about food. At my company, Real Food 4 Kids, I lead hands-on cooking and food education classes for kids and teens. I live in Des Moines with my husband and four kids, who are 17, 15 (twins), and 12.

MY FOOD AHA MOMENT

My youngest daughter needed a feeding tube until she was almost 5. She was on canned formulas for a while, but then I decided to make her food from scratch. I did a ton of research on what nutrients kids need and started concocting all sorts of stuff in the blender (kale, quinoa, proteins, veggies, whole grains, etc.). Pretty quickly, her demeanor and her coloring changed. It made a huge difference and made me realize the benefits of feeding kids real food.

A RECENT DINNER WIN

Last week, I made avocado toasts for dinner one night. We just piled everything on top of the toasts: prosciutto, scrambled eggs, veggies, balsamic vinegar.

IN MY FRIDGE NOW

Lots of color. I go overboard on the fruits and veggies. And there are also lots of leftovers in my fridge. I love to make enough so I can eat it for lunch again for the next couple days. I'm not a big sandwich girl. I'd much rather eat repeat meals of dinner leftovers. It's getting harder with almost four teenagers, though. The food consumption is incredible.

IN MY PANTRY NOW

I always have big tins of peanuts because I like to make my own peanut butter in the Vitamix. We also make peanut butter for classes. The kids in my classes are amazed that peanut butter is just peanuts and nothing else.