‘LORAfied Cookbook’ is Here! Lora McLaughlin Peterson Shares Her Best “Fancy Yet Frugal” Recipes and Hacks

Lora McLaughlin Peterson is on a mission to help women breathe easier, save money and enjoy their best lives. The hard-won wisdom she shares on her platform LORAfied has earned her a social media following of more than two million since launching the digital media company in 2021.

Now, she’s bringing that same practical, empowering approach to The LORAfied Cookbook: Easy Recipes and Budget-Friendly Hacks to Feed the Whole Family, releasing May 5.

“I’ve said this a lot and it’s just so true, the harder I work, the luckier I get. I really believe it,” she says. “Also I’m from Kansas, and there’s just that little Kansas voice in the back of my head that’s like, ‘Don’t be lazy.’”

But Peterson admits that motivation is incredibly personal. “You have to figure out what drives you…find what makes you tick,” she says. “If there’s something you love doing, the drive will follow.”

From struggling single mom to lifestyle sensation

Before building her brand, Peterson faced serious financial challenges as a young single mother. “I had Betsy way too young, at 22, and there was that journey of being a single mom and looking at a bank account one week where you’ve got $15 and it’s Monday and you’re not paid again until Friday,” she says. “You have to prioritize your shopping. I was struggling to pay the bills.”

That experience shaped the philosophy behind The LORAfied Cookbook. “When you’re a single mom and you are on a budget, you’re like, ‘Okay, how does this happen? How do we do this?’ A lot of it just came from necessity,” she says. “It isn’t because I’m smarter. I’m not. It’s just because when you’re in it, you just figure it out. It came from necessity.”

One hundred “fancy yet frugal” recipes

The LORAfied Cookbook features 100 approachable recipes along with time-saving, budget-friendly hacks designed for busy households. “Time is our biggest commodity. People think it’s money, and it’s not. End of the day, it’s the time we have with the people we love,” she says. “I’m trying to not reinvent the wheel. I’m just trying to make the stuff we have to get done go a little bit quicker.”

Her goal: simplify everyday cooking without sacrificing flavor or joy. A defining element of  Peterson’s cookbook is a blend of Midwestern comfort food and California sensibility. “What I hope to do with the cookbook is to merge both worlds,” she says. “I’ve now lived in California longer than I ever lived in Kansas, but I’m fifth generation Kansan.”

“What I hope I’ve done in this cookbook is keep all that Kansas sensibility and flavor…but yet make it a little bit more palatable for people that didn’t grow up with biscuits and gravy like I did,” she adds with a laugh.

Family food traditions

Peterson’s love of food runs deep. Her father worked at the first White Castle in Wichita before founding his own restaurant chain, The White Grill—once praised by President Harry S. Truman as “the best damn hamburgers I ever ate.”

“I came from the restaurant business,” she says. “I’m not a technically Cordon Bleu trained chef. I come from the world of restaurant cooks, home cooks, and a lot of them.” 

Her cookbook also includes cherished family recipes like Orange Fluff. “The Orange Fluff is very Midwest. A lot of folks will stick marshmallows in it, which I personally think is a sin,” she grins. “That’s a controversy in my family.”

Simple cooking hacks from The LORAfied Cookbook

One of the biggest takeaways from Peterson’s new cookbook is permission to keep things simple.

“There’s this notion that you need 14 ingredients, and you need a spice no one’s ever heard of…It’s crazy,” she says. “I wanted a cookbook where you use a handful of ingredients…and you don’t need any skill. Don’t be hard on yourself. Make it out of a box. I’m giving people permission…to take the shortcuts.”

The secret to making any meal memorable

Peterson emphasizes that how you serve food matters just as much as what you serve. “I’ve always said even just getting takeout and putting it on a real plate… changes everything about that meal,” she says. “Just sticking food of any kind on a real plate will transform the meal you’re about to have.”

Even when dining alone, she creates a moment. “I sit in my chair with a real napkin on a real plate…I go ahead and I make it a moment. It costs you nothing to make a moment.”

Pick up The LORAfied Cookbook: Easy Recipes and Budget-Friendly Hacks to Feed the Whole Family, on May 5 wherever books are sold.