Coffee Date & Blog Update

Hi friends,

The start of 2026 was rocky for the Shallal crew.

On January 6th, I was involved in what I can only describe as a wild and terrifying incident. We were driving home from school with all three kids in the car when suddenly a vehicle flew off the median and ended up perpendicular directly in front of us. We stopped within inches of hitting it.

We later learned it was a drunk driver who had been pursued and stopped by police using a grappling tether device. At the time, I had no idea what had just happened. I sat there stunned for a few moments before realizing we were surrounded by a large police presence. Our vehicle was effectively trapped inside the scene and had to be carefully extracted.

Even though we didn’t collide with the vehicle, the force of stopping so abruptly caused whiplash for me. I immediately began therapy and chiropractic care. Our middle child, KK, also experienced both physical and emotional trauma from the incident, and he’s had several appointments over the past couple of months that are just now winding down. It was a deeply unsettling experience for all of us. 

At the same time, I had planned to experiment with a new filming style and focus heavily on social media for 30 days. While the accident slowed me down initially, I’m happy to share that the new video approach is already showing encouraging signs. After nearly four years of very little growth on Instagram, I’ve gained over 2,000 new followers. While that may not sound like a lot in the grand scheme of social media, after such a long plateau it feels incredibly encouraging. I even had one of my trial reels reach over 1 million views, which was both surprising and motivating.

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Even more importantly, this new video style feels incredibly authentic to me. It feels less polished and more real—more like inviting you into my actual kitchen and daily life. Mr. Hungry has even started joining me while I cook, which has been unexpectedly fun and something I never anticipated sharing. It’s reminded me why I fell in love with creating content in the first place—not just to share recipes, but to share real life, imperfect and fun.  We've had time to try some viral recipes (with healthy spins) and remake old HH recipes! 

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Hungry Hiobby has been my creative home for 12 years. It’s not just a website—it’s a space I’ve built one post at a time, a community I’ve been proud to grow, and something that has given me purpose and flexibility during the most important years of my life as a mom. Whenever I step away from it, I feel the absence deeply. I’ve shared some of my most joyful moments and some of my hardest moments here.

But the truth is, blogging has changed dramatically.

Traffic is harder to maintain. Recipes that once brought steady visitors for years now require constant updates to remain visible on Google and Pinterest. AI has shifted how people search and discover content. Large publishers have teams and resources to adapt quickly. Small and mid-sized publishers like me have to evolve carefully, often while wearing every hat ourselves.

To be completely honest, there are days when I question whether I can keep this space alive.

Last year, for the first time ever, I even received a direct threat toward my family related to an old personal post about my kids. We reported it to the police, but it was frightening and forced me to reevaluate how much of my personal life I share here.

We briefly discussed the idea of selling the site. But in the end, I couldn’t do it.

Hungry Hobby has given me something I never thought possible—the ability to do meaningful creative work while being present for my children every single day. It allowed me to build a career on my own terms. And it exists because of you.

Every message, every comment, every time you cook a recipe and share it—it matters more than you know. On the days I feel discouraged, it’s those moments that remind me why I started. I started Hungry Hobby to learn how to cook and eat mostly healthy food without sacrificing my relationship with food. As a kid who grew up on 90s convenience foods with a single mom, learning about nutrition and how to cook—especially how to make healthier versions of the foods I loved—completely changed my life. It lit something in me that I couldn’t ignore, and I knew I wanted to share that with others.

So what does this mean moving forward?

Hungry Hobby isn’t going anywhere. But it will look a little different. It has always been an extension of my real life. I’ve shared the recipes we needed at each stage—from newlyweds, to fertility support, to pregnancy, to breastfeeding, to feeding infants and toddlers, and now as a family of five with three young kids.

Hungry Hobby will continue to reflect our real life. You won’t find overly complicated recipes here or things that aren’t worth your time. You’ll find recipes that are truly worth making, smart shortcuts that make life easier, and meals I actually cook for my family. Recipes you can trust and rely on.

You’ll continue to see new recipes and updated older recipes, likely at a pace of 1–2 posts per week. The focus here will be primarily on recipes and useful, evergreen content.  And, of course, the Library of Resources will remain free and I will resume adding new meal plans weekly or biweekly.  

More personal updates, behind-the-scenes moments, and things like Friday Favorites will move primarily to Instagram, Facebook Stories, and my email list. Creating those types of posts on the blog was taking 4–5 hours each week, and right now I need to focus that time on keeping the core of Hungry Hobby sustainable.

If you’d like to stay connected beyond recipes (and for video recipes), I’d love for you to follow along:

Instagram: @hungryhobbyRD
Facebook: @hungryhobby

To help support the blog:

• Pinterest: @hungryhobby 
• Youtube: @hungryhobby 
• Follow my Amazon Storefront
• Join my email list 🙂 
• Share recipes you love with friends and family
• Visit the blog 

Anything I post to Instagram also goes to FB, so you should be able to see all my more personal stories and posts there.  

And make sure to add kelli@hungryhobby.net to your contacts so you don’t miss emails. If time permits, I may change Friday Favorites as a Newsletter in the next few weeks.  

Thank you for being here. Truly. This space exists because of you, and I’m incredibly grateful to continue sharing it in 2026 and beyond.

—Kelli