Martina McBride Makes Kitchen Time Family Time

Martina McBride is known for her love of both good food and cooking. The singer likes to make meals for her family and to entertain, as well. Also, in her free time, one of her favorite things to do is sit down with a cup of coffee and read cookbooks.

McBride recently gave PEOPLE a look into her Nashville kitchen, which is done in beige, cream and granite. It has traditional stainless steel appliances mixed with antiques, glassware and old signs. The kitchen sits right next to the family room, and that was done on purpose so that everyone can hang out there together. McBride says, "I like the fact that it's part family room and part kitchen. I don't feel like I'm stuck alone cooking while everybody is somewhere else."

The country star takes great pleasure in a tradition her family has, eating together at the dinner table. Her husband John and daughters Delaney, Emma and Ava are often guinea pigs for the new recipes she tries. Teaching her young daughters how to eat healthy is something she finds essential.

Her favorite recipes include jambalaya, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but her signature dish is fried chicken. When asked how she always stays so skinny, McBride reveals, "It's just good genes. My brother's so skinny I can barely fit into his jeans!"

The country singer likes to share her recipes with fans as well, like peach cobbler and white chili. She recently let TV host Rachael Ray take a look inside her fridge, which includes a lot of dairy products (she proudly says she also knows how to milk a cow), a box of baking soda to catch odors and various chocolate sauces, since her husband John is a "chocoholic."

If she had not been a singer, McBride had another profession in mind. She tells The Boot, "I love to plan parties and cook, and if I didn't do this, I'd probably be a caterer or party planner." What is really important to her is that her fridge is "a family fridge, so there's a little of something everybody likes in there."