About NQT

Not Quite Traditional is a conversation about life and living it to the fullest. Don’t get us wrong, you’ll find amazing recipes here – you’ll want to make them again and again. But you’ll also find perspective, tips, and tricks for the kitchen, cooking, and meal prep with a busy life and kids, and most importantly utter candor and humor through stories about the real, messy, beautiful, and deliciousness of life. 

This life and how we live it is so important. How we allow ourselves exceptions to live our lives and make allowances for our imperfections is so important. How we cheer ourselves on as women and men, mothers and fathers, as lovers and parents, and ultimately celebrate oh-so-earned victories across facets of life – work, parenthood, adulthood, and marriage –  is so important. Our story, while it’s ours, is here for all of us in these articles. It’s here to let you know that we’re all in it together. We’re sharing our story with you so that you find comfort, humor, and tangible ideas for feeding your family great food and find community in sections for moms and dads and find useful ways to adapt to busy lives while living your family’s dream. Our life is not quite traditional because it’s ours and we’re highly imperfect, but it centers around the beauty of those imperfections and creating space for ourselves to grow, learn, and be proud of all the crazy, awesome, and hard things. Your life is yours and that also makes it’s uniquely not quite traditional and equally beautiful. 

Here in this place is a conversation between us and you. We’re putting it all out there as friends, foodies, family, entrepreneurs, and parents. Make our ideas yours and use our stories and advice in a way that brings you joy, happiness, and maybe even helps you find a little extra time for yourself. For us, this is life (straight up), the balancing act of it all and making it happen through trial and error but always with real, messy, beautiful, and deliciousness of life in mind. We are Not Quite Traditional and we love it. 

Hi, I’m Emily

I’m a proud, born-and-raised Wisconsin woman with an affinity toward Southern bald men (aka my husband). I love coffee and never start my day with less than two cups. I’ve got a career that I’m incredibly proud of and work toward success in every day. My husband is my rock and puts up with all of my crazy, but always endearing nuances. I love to cook and eat; Food Network is my Saturday church.

When it comes to life, I manage to fool a lot of people into thinking I’ve got myself together all the time. I’m here to tell you, that’s just not the case! When it comes to life, I’m living it… through the organized and the messy; the “oh em gee!” moments and the “hell yeah!” moments. I’m living, eating, and working on embracing my way through the daily challenges while appreciating the many blessings.

Hi, I’m Justin

I’m a bald, Southern man with a serious hot sauce obsession and am somewhat nerdy. Professionally, I work for a digital agency and love all collaborative environments. The times I get to deconstruct big ideas into tactical to-dos are my jam. I’m also extremely routine-oriented – I LOVE my routines! Weekends grilling with my favorite sous-chef Hudson is where I thrive. Some music in the background and friends and family on their way over is what I love.