Shady Basil

I’m Kate Aubuchon. I’m a mom of 4, follower of Jesus, wife to Ryan, friend, sister, artist, animal lover, and apparently your meal planner. You’re welcome! I was born and raised in Houston, TX, but am happily settled in Winston Salem, NC.

I crave creativity and feel alive and most myself when I’m creating. I love to paint and make time for it as much as my life can fit right now. I love to cook, but cooking for 4 kids is…. welll… constant. When Ryan was in residency and I was teaching, nannying, and tutoring I spent a lot more time cooking creatively. During that time, I started a blog called Shady Basil (name came from my husband joking about my extreme lack of a “green thumb” and the scraggly little basil plant that (tried to) lived on the front porch of our first rental home) where I shared what I was cooking and some other life updates- mostly for my 2 readers back in Texas– my mom and mother in law.

It was a fun outlet. Fast-forward almost 16 years and here I am with a family of 6 and mealtimes that keep on coming. I find the mental load of meal planning, grocery shopping, considering my protein intake, my kids’ vegetable intake, etc all a bit much. But we’ve all got to eat!

Am I a content creator? Nope.  A recipe developer? Not usually. An expert on macros? Nah. I do have some favorites that I follow, hacks that I’ve found that work for my family, and an occasional funny story or two.

Would it help for me to post our family’s weekly meal plans? We shall see!