Celebrating 17 Years of Kalyn’s Kitchen!
Kalyn’s Kitchen is turning 17 years old, and I’m sharing some thoughts and expressing appreciation to readers who give me such kind feedback! And if you have time to leave a comment I’d love to know how you found my blog and how long you’ve been following me.
Every April I celebrate the day in 2005 when I typed out my first post, and Kalyn’s Kitchen was born. And every year I re-emphasize how glad I am that I started this site and how much it changed my life! And even though this type of anniversary post is old-fashioned in the high-tech, highly competitive world of food blogging 2022, I love having the chance to reflect on how blogging has changed and what changes might be ahead for me.
Mostly, just still so Grateful!
I always want to give a heart-felt thank you to the many readers who follow this site by e-mail, on Facebook, on Instagram, on Pinterest, and even a few of you on YouTube! Without your support, I would never have kept the site going for so long. And extra thanks to the people who leave thoughtful comments and ratings showing me how they have enjoyed a recipe! It makes me happy to know I’m helping people cook healthy meals that are also tasty.
How Blogging has Changed in 17 Years:
But, I am not going to lie, every year blogging gets more challenging. Not only are there more blogs competing for traffic, but search engines keep getting more demanding and social media sites are constantly changing and adding new requirements for blogs to conform to. And it’s discouraging to notice how the competition for search traffic has killed some of the creativity that made blogging so fun. How I miss the early days when bloggers used to support each other more and not compete against each other so much!
I’m Trying to Keep Up!
I’ve never been that technologically savvy, and each year I feel more overwhelmed by the need to make changes and learn new things. And I’m also old enough to be retired, so I don’t want to spend huge amounts of time learning obscure internet stuff. Currently I’m focused on systematically improving favorite recipes from the past by adding new photos and updating them to conform to what search engines now require. But almost daily I worry about things I’m not able to keep up with!
What’s Ahead for Kalyn’s Kitchen?
However, I do want to emphasize that as long as technology doesn’t change so much that it’s no longer operational, I have no plans to ever take the site down! (People ask me about that frequently.) And I am not planning to “retire” right away either, although I may start slowing down. I’m grateful to have a few family members who help me keep the site going, thankful to the generous readers who give me the incentive to keep at it, and thankful I still enjoy doing it after all these years!
Kalyn’s Kitchen Through the Years:
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns One
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Two
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Three
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Four
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Five
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Six
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Seven
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Eight
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Nine
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Ten (!)
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Eleven (!!)
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Twelve (!!!)
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Thirteen (!!!!)
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Fourteen (!!!!!)
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Fifteen (!!!!!!)
- Kalyn’s Kitchen Turns Sixteen (!!!!!!!)
111 Comments on “Celebrating 17 Years of Kalyn’s Kitchen!”
Congratulations! You have been my go-to site for dinner inspiration since 2010.
And I have never been disappointed or unhappy with the results, thank you😊
Congrats Kalyn on 17 yrs. I discovered SB Diet 18 yrs ago.
Back then, I followed a SB message board, I think. Maybe that’s where I discovered you. Thanks for Kalyn’s Kitchen.
Congratulations! Such a big accomplishment in the interwebs world. I have been following you for years; I am not sure for how long. I don’t as faithfully follow the South Beach Diet as much as I used to, but I am always looking for healthy recipes for HTN and weight control (low sodium and cheese sometimes don’t work really well lol). My favourites are your twice baked cauliflower and grill basket veggies.
Thanks Anna! Glad you have found recipes here that worked for you!
I love your recipes and humor. I have been using your recipes for a couple of years now and I enjoy them a whole lot.
I am sure this recipe will be as great as all the rest I have saved and used!! No questions!
Jane Talley
Tucson, AZ
Thanks for the vote of confidence Jane! So glad you are enjoying the recipes!
Congratulations on the milestone. I found you on fb around the time in 2010 when I was diagnosed as type 2 diabetic and had to get serious about carbs. Not sure what the first recipe was, but I think it may have been a salad with green beans, tomatoes, and feta. Since then, so many of your recipes have become my favorites!
Thank you Pat! I know which green bean salad recipe you are referring to. So glad you have found some favorites!
I follow no other Bloggers than Kalyn!
I’ve never needed anything else! Happy 17th!! One Great Blogger is enough to keep Great Food showing up in my Inbox!
Thank you so much for that lovely endorsement. I really appreciate it!
Happy anniversary, and thanks for all the great recipes!
Thank you so much! I appreciate the support.
I have enjoyed your site for almost 10 years! I was looking to reform my cooking to be more diabetic friendly; your south beach approach fit well with my garden produce and my taste buds!
Thank you for your inspiration!
Pam, so glad that worked out for you. I miss the big garden I used to have, but still have some garden produce every summer!
Congratulations!
I joined a forum in May of ’08 that followed south beach, and we all “met” every morning to chat about life and our eating lifestyle, and most (all?) of us used your recipes. Fourteen years later, I still do and receive your emails daily! My favorite they introduced me to is your black bean and sweet potato soup and I’m constantly getting new favorites. And of course I evolve too since good carb is a little too much carb for me, so I’m grateful you have evolved as well!
Thank you for all the work you have put into your blog!
How fun! I am so happy that my recipes are a part of those good memories for you.
Congrats on 17 years! I’ve been a big fan since around 2011 – a friend recommended you when I started the SBD. I specifically remember her saying to try the Black Bean and Beef Chili, and to be sure not skip the step about puréing the beans! Several of your recipes are in my permanent rotation 😍
I love that, so glad you have enjoyed the recipes!
Congrats on 17 years!!! Can’t remember how I found your site but it’s my go to site & have shared your site with numerous friends & family. When you retire what happens to all these wonderful recipes? Give a long head start so I can start printing them 💞👍
Thanks for the kind thoughts Teresa. I am never planning to take the site down, so need to start printing yet. And if the web changes so much my site is no longer functional, I promise to give you plenty of warning.
I have been following your site for at least 15 years now! I love how your recipes are so creative and inspire me to try new flavors. If I stop cooking your recipes for a while, my husband is always so happy when I start cooking Kalyn’s recipes again. I can tell him that it’s a Kalyn recipe and he knows that it’s going to be delicious. Thanks for all your hardwork! I would be devastated if you ever took the site down, since so many of my favorites are there! Happy Cooking Birthday!
I love that the recipes are so appreciated by you and your husband; thanks for sharing that. And NO PLANS at all to take site down. If that ever does happen because the technology just becomes unmanageable, I will give you plenty of notice!
Kalyn, I am so grateful for your hard work snd that you share your recipes and knowledge so generously. Also, thanks to your family for lending their time and talents to help you pull off this successful site. My eating life has been erratic over the years, and I can’t even remember when I first found Kalyn’s Kitchen. Was it my SB days? My keto days? My low-carb days? Anyway, you have been there for me through All of that. Wherever I am on my journey, I know I can turn to your site for inspiration. Fresh ideas I have never thought about. The greatest thing is how well indexed your recipes are. I haven’t seen that anywhere else. Lots of love from Texas.
Thanks Erin! I love that the recipes have worked for you even though we both evolved our eating styles through the years!
Wow! I am so proud of you! 🙌
Happy 17th Anniversary to Kalyn’s Kitchen!
You are amazing Kalyn for what you have accomplished on the blog! So much hard work! You have been keeping us in delicious recipes all these years. Thanks!
I appreciate being able to work with you on the blog for some of these years.
To name a few qualities of many: you are a great cook, a terrific boss, a smart blogger and a fantastic sister!
Congratulations 🎊
♥️Love you
Val
Thanks so much for those kind words Val. I appreciate you so much too. Who ever imagined that the oldest and the youngest in a huge family would end up being such good support for each other. I appreciate you always being there for me (probably more than you would ever guess.) And of course appreciate your help with the blog too!
Congratulations on 17 years! And going strong! I first found your blog in about 2012 when I started lower carb eating. I make many of your tasty, healthy recipes and lost 48 pounds in 2016. Fast forward to now and I’ve lost 17 more and your recipes always give me fresh ideas! Thank you!
Oh wow, congratulations on that! It makes me so happy to know my recipes have been helpful for you!
Congratulations on 17 years! What a fantastic accomplishment. I have been following you and enjoying so many of your wonderful recipes since 2013. By following a low carb diet, and using so many of your recipes I was able to lose 30 pounds. Thank you for your delicious suggestions and recipes. Wishing you many more years of Kalyn’s Kitchen.💚 🥦🥬🥒🫑🫒🍏🥗❤️🍅🍓🍎🌶
That is wonderful Jeanie, and so glad you are enjoying the recipes as well as losing some weight!
I found you in 2006 and you’ve helped me so much along my own journey. I love your recipes and I want to say thank you! Congrats on 17 years!
Wow, thanks for following for so long Tasha! So glad the blog has been useful for you.
Kalyn’s Kitchen has been such a wonderful find. Her recipes have become family favorites and I delight in finding new things to try. Her white chicken chili has won me 2 cook off prizes! We just tried the green bean- Parmesan which was a winner at Easter. I love that Kalyn responds if you have a question or problem with a recipe. I’m sure like many I recommend this site to everyone!
Thanks for the kind words! Love hearing about the chili cook off wins; I will tell my sister-in-law about that. I appreciate the support and do try my best to respond!
I found your FB page way back when it seemed as if you only shared South Beach Diet recipes. I was on the SBD also and I was very excited to find someone who followed the same plan as I did. I liked how you would put the phase of the SBD the recipe would fit… it was helpful to me. Thank you very much.
Hi Sandy, so glad that was useful for you. I have struggled with how to adapt when the SBD was sold and morphed into a completely new plan. And obviously my blog is now focused in carb-conscious eating in general. But there is still a section after the actual recipe where I try to remember to say whether a recipe is suitable for original South Beach.
Happy Birthday Kalyn’s Kitchen! I think I started following your blog around 2007 or 08. I had lost 15 pounds using WW & needed to transition over to South Beach eating so I could have more than rabbit food to get the last 5 pounds off. And now, as you know, this is my go to place to find delicious & carb conscious meals. Thanks for all you do!
Hi Kimberly! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the supportive comments and just fun exchanging little parts of our lives (thanks to Facebook.) I truly hope some day we will manage to meet in person!
I met you years ago when I was working for your doctor. You told me about your blog and gave me a card with the info on it; I’ve been a follower ever since. We aren’t necessarily low-carb eaters but we have made and loved many of your recipes over the years—especially your salads/dressings. It’s made getting our veggie servings so much more enjoyable. Thanks for all you do!
Chelsea, how fun to hear that. I did edit your comment a little because you’re right, I am pretty private about my personal life. But I am doing great and thankful for all the doctors and nurses who have helped me stay healthy. And so glad to hear you are enjoying the blog all these years!
😘