family cooking Archives

January 18, 2021 by Christina Elston

Peter Tulaney’s daughter show off their Penne Pasta with Sausage and Broccoliini. PHOTO COURTESY PETER TULANEY

Want to make cooking with your family easier and more fun? Set yourself up like a restaurant kitchen, says Peter Tulaney, L.A. dad of two and head chef and founder of The WEHO Sausage Co.

Tulaney, who spent 10 years as a child psychologist, started making sausage at home after receiving a Kitchen Aid standing mixer (with sausage attachments) as a gift. He shared his creations with friends and began getting requests to cater parties and other events, creating a side business that stole his heart.

After almost two years, he made the change. “The difference between my daily routine as a clinician and having a party with someone was too much to ignore,” says Tulaney. “So, I decided that I would take a couple years to become a better food person and start to break down my practice.” And that’s just what he did. Tulaney left psychology, leased space in a commercial kitchen in Downtown L.A. and launched WEHO as a full-time catering business.

The company grew, catering events and corporate lunches before the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to business as usual. WEHO went from 15-20 weekly catering deliveries to zero.

Fortunately, Tulaney had other irons in the fire. He had been in talks with Citizen Public Market, the Culver City food hall that opened its doors in November. While the sausage is still processed in the Downtown kitchen, the food served at the market is all made on site. They are open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday for takeout. The menu includes sandwiches with hamburger, sausage (pork, chicken and lamb) and veggie patties, fries, salads and charcuterie. There are also dishes for weekend brunch.

With a day’s notice, you can also order packs of uncooked, frozen sausage patties (which Tulaney points out can be broken up and used loose) for pickup at Citizen Public Market or the WEHO facility Downtown. It’s exactly what you’d use in this recipe, which Tulaney says harkens back to his childhood. “I’m from Bay Ridge Brooklyn, and my mom cooked every single meal that I ate growing up,” he says. “This is just the style of food we ate.” Everyone loves pasta and the dish is inexpensive and quick to make. “The whole thing, start to finish, takes place in less than 20 minutes and that includes boiling water,” says Tulaney.

As a chef, former child psychologist and father to daughters ages 5 and 7, Tulaney says cooking with kids can be fun for all if it’s well organized. “The way a commercial kitchen operates is not hard to reproduce if you’re doing it with your family,” he says, explaining that restaurant kitchens have an executive chef, some support chefs and some prep chefs. “Those jobs are broken down into levels of responsibility and technique and understanding, and you can do the exact same things with your kids if you choose age-appropriate tasks for them to do. My little one can crack eggs, and my older one is able to use a measuring cup.”

He has written this recipe to take advantage of this division of labor.

It’s also pretty flexible. “If you don’t like broccolini or broccoli rabe, you can use florets or you can use cauliflower or you could use cherry tomatoes or you could use red onion,” Tulaney says. Just put a pot of water on the stove and follow the rest of the instructions while it comes to a boil and the pasta cooks, and you’ll have dinner within half an hour.

Chef Peter Tulaney

Penne Pasta with Sausage and Broccolini from WEHO Sausage Co.

Serves 4

4 cups dried penne pasta

Sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

12 ounces loose Italian pork sausage (preferably from WEHO Sausage Co.)

1 bunch broccolini, washed and trimmed

4 cloves garlic

1 lemon, cut in half

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Adults: Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stock pot and add a handy pinch of salt. Start this first – the trick is to finish everything else while the water is coming to a boil.

Kids: Measure out 4 cups of dry penne pasta and put it off to the side, so it is ready when the water is boiling.

Adults: Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan (the largest one you have, as it will have to hold everything). Add the ground sausage. With a wooden spoon, break up sausage into small pieces and stir until nice and brown, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Kids: Break open a head of garlic and chose the 4 biggest cloves. The bold may even attempt to peel the garlic, discarding any skins.

Adults: When the sausage is brown, transfer it to a bowl, keeping as much of the oil (and flavor from the sausage) as possible in the pan. We will not be adding any more.

Kids: With adult supervision, add the garlic cloves to the oil in the pan. (If you like garlic a lot, an adult can chop the garlic first.) Move the garlic around with the wooden spoon until some color forms on the garlic, then drop in all of the broccolini. Add a tiny pinch of salt (since the oil is already flavored with the sausage). Carefully squeeze every last drop of juice from the lemon right on top of the broccolini and cover the pan.

Adults and kids: By this time the water should be boiling. Add the dried pasta to the water. Stir the broccolini a bit.

Adults: Add the browned sausage back into the sauté pan. Strain the pasta, reserving very little water in the pasta pot. Add the strained pasta directly into the sauté pan and stir.

Serve with the Parmesan cheese.

August 6, 2020 by Christina Elston

It’s probably been a while since you actually sent your kids off (as in out of the house) to school. All signs indicate that it could be a while longer until you do, but any school day, even a day of distance learning, should start with the right breakfast fuel.

In 2015, Catherine McCord realized that wasn’t happening at her house. That’s a surprise, since she is the mom behind Weelicious, a website devoted to simple and healthy recipes for the whole family. Her son, the oldest of her three kids, was experiencing unexplained headaches, nausea and fatigue. McCord eventually identified breakfast as the culprit. The family was eating a super-healthy diet the rest of the day, but in the morning, she was letting the kids have the pancakes, waffles and toast they requested.

She realized that these foods weren’t giving her son what he needed to start his day. Smoothies became the family’s new breakfast, her son’s health problems disappeared and McCord wrote “The Smoothie Project,” a cookbook with almost 100 smoothie recipes to fuel healthy eating.

“The idea is that all the smoothies have fruit and vegetable and protein, and that they’re keeping you full and energized,” says McCord. “Having a smoothie a day means you’re replacing a meal that might not be as good for you.”

To get your family in the smoothie-a-day habit, McCord’s book proposes a 28-day plan: Have a smoothie for one meal a day for 28 days and you’ll notice a difference in your body, she says. “Then you have two paths. You can have mac and cheese or chocolate ice cream later in the day and feel less guilty because you know you had a good meal already, or you can feel so good that you want to keep the feeling going, and you’ll make better choices,” says McCord.

The book has smoothies to suit every flavor preference, including coffee- and chocolate-based smoothies, tropical, berry heavy and seasonal options. There are also chapters to help simplify smoothie making, a bit about blenders, nutritional information and a thorough guide to the types of “super boost” ingredients you’ll find in the supplement aisle at Gelson’s. “There’s something for everyone, depending on your flavor preference and what you’re trying to get done in your body,” says McCord.

Through the online community McCord built using #smoothieproject, she has heard how smoothies have helped parents with picky eaters, parents trying to minimize their kids’ processed-food intake, people trying to lose weight and even senior citizens. One Potato, McCord’s family meal-subscription service, recently added smoothie kits to its menu of options.

Want a taste of what it’s all about? All you need is a blender (a high-powered one, if possible, and McCord suggests borrowing a friend’s rather than buying one if you’re just getting started).

A great gateway is this Blueberry Cherry Lemon smoothie, which McCord says is an “antioxidant bomb” with tons of nutrition and flavor.

Blueberry Cherry Lemon Smoothie from ‘The Smoothie Project’

Serves one

¾ cup (111 grams) frozen blueberries

¼ cup (38 grams) frozen cherries, pitted

¼ lemon (with peel and pith), seeds removed

2 tablespoons coconut yogurt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 tablespoon hemp seeds

1 tablespoon honey or blue agave

¾ cup (180 milliliters) almond milk or milk of choice

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

July 2, 2019 by Christina Elston

Faced with a toddler who was a picky eater, Glenda Galvan-Garcia resorted to something that has worked for many parents: sneaking vegetables into his food by disguising them among the other ingredients. It worked for a while, until Isaac was about 3. Taking a bite of the macaroni and cheese into which Galvan-Garcia had mixed pureed garbanzo beans, he turned to her and said, “Mom, you made sneaky mac and cheese!”

“I was busted, and for years after that, he didn’t really trust my cooking because he thought I was going to sneak something in there,” she says. Isaac, now 8, has recovered some of his trust but is still a little picky. However, he loves this mac and cheese recipe in which Galvan-Garcia promises the squash is undetectable.

Galvan-Garcia is executive chef and co-creator of Granville, with locations in Glendale, Burbank, Studio City and West Hollywood (opening soon in Pasadena). The dish is based on the local chain’s popular Uptown Mac & Cheese. “I wanted to create a dish that didn’t require a roux, that could be done while you’re away at work and that has extra vegetables,” she says. “It’s approachable for the novice in the kitchen, it’s upscale enough for the foodie and it’s delicious enough for the picky eater.”

That’s partly because the recipe requires no fussy browning of flour and butter, but instead comes together with a blender. You can put everything into the slow cooker in the morning, then just puree the sauce, boil the pasta and veggies and add your protein when you’re ready to eat. You could also simmer the sauce ingredients in a pot on the stovetop until the squash is fork tender.

The ingredients are flexible. Galvan-Garcia says the smoked Gruyere works well with bacon or other meat, but might overwhelm a vegetarian version of the recipe, so it’s OK to use plain Swiss cheese if you prefer. You can use any shape of pasta you like, even egg noodles. And you can add any cooked vegetable your child likes (at Granville, they add peas peas and asparagus). If you like a cheesy, crumbly topping, add some shredded cheese and bread crumbs and pop the dish into the oven.

You can also get your kids into the act, something Galvan-Garcia encourages. “You look at some generations and they’re just kind of lost in the kitchen,” she says. “Even though people appreciate food, they don’t necessarily know how to prepare it.” Start teaching your next generation with a little sneaky mac and cheese.

SLOW COOKER BUTTERNUT MAC AND CHEESE

granville's mac and cheese — PHOTOS COURTESY GRANVILLE

Serves 4-6

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup Gruyere cheese (applewood smoked, if desired)

12-ounce can evaporated milk

½ cup whole milk

4 ounces cream cheese, cubed (1½ cups)

8 ounces diced butternut squash

¼ cup unsalted butter (preferably grass-fed)

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Pinch of black pepper

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

12 ounces dried cellentani pasta (corkscrew shape, 3¾ cups)

3 cups broccoli florets or asparagus

Grilled chicken, cooked bacon crumbles, ham, sausage or lobster (optional)

Place one cup mozzarella cheese and the cheddar and Gruyere cheeses, evaporated and whole milk, cream cheese, squash, butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a slow cooker. Mix well.

Cook on low for two hours, setting the cooker to switch to “keep warm” mode until you want to continue with the recipe. Test the squash and make sure that it is fork tender. (The sauce will be a bit curdled.) Transfer the sauce to a blender or use an immersion blender to blend until the sauce is smooth. If there are any firm bits stuck to the bottom of the cooker, discard them.

Bring a large stock pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and boil until al dente. If using broccoli, add it during the last two to three minutes of cook time. If using asparagus, add it during the last 30 seconds. Drain the pasta and vegetables and place in a serving dish.

Pour half of the warm cheese sauce over the pasta and vegetables. Sprinkle with the second cup of mozzarella cheese. Pour the remaining sauce over the pasta. Gently stir to coat pasta with sauce.

Originally published in L.A. Parent. For more family recipes from award-winning chefs, visit LA Parent/Recipes

February 12, 2019 by Liorah Goldsmith

Although breakfast is the most important meal of the day, many of us resort to sugar-laden cereal bars or fast food on busy weekday mornings. Feeding your family a nutritious breakfast is crucial though for creating happy and focused minds throughout busy school and work days. These healthy and delicious breakfast meal prep recipes make eating on the go a breeze for the entire family.

Honey-Sweetened Blueberry Muffins

Most store-bought muffins contain loads of added sugar and processed ingredients. These healthier blueberry muffins make for an easy and satisfying grab-and-go breakfast in the morning. Just prepare a big batch on Sunday, freeze some and keep them for the whole week.

Recipe here

Freezer Breakfast Burritos With Sausage, Eggs, and Salsa Verde

Breakfast burritos are portable, yummy and perfect for meal prepping. Simply make as many burritos as your family will need for the week, customizing ingredients to your liking, and pop them in the freezer. Reheat in the microwave or skillet the morning you need them, and you have a delicious and filling breakfast for the whole family.

Recipe here

Spinach Muffins for Toddlers

When sending your little one to preschool, you want to be sure they’re getting a healthy breakfast they will also enjoy. These easy muffins can be stored in an airtight container for a few days, or they can be frozen and saved for later. Mild in flavor and full of nutrition, these spinach muffins are perfect for busy mornings.

Recipe here

Breakfast Banana Pops

Although these pops last all week long, don’t be surprised if your kids are tempted to devour them all in one day. This healthy breakfast is delicious, completely mess free and can easily be prepared in advance. What’s not to love?

Recipe here

Healthy Egg Muffin Cups

Eggs are a great start to any morning, but most families save them for the weekend. With these though, nutritious and delicious eggs can become a staple family breakfast all week long. Baking eggs into freezable breakfast cups is a perfect way to add veggies to your children’s diets, and they provide the energy they need to get them through busy school mornings.

Recipe here

Healthy 2-Ingredient Breakfast Cookies

This recipe is so simple and healthy; you’re whole family will fall in love with them. Only two ingredients, allergen-friendly, and extremely customizable, these breakfast cookies will leave your kids satisfied and ready for the day. These are perfect for meal prepping for school days as they are sure to make your kids excited to get up in the mornings.

Recipe here

Strawberry Breakfast Bites

When food is fun, nutritious, and delicious, what more could you ask for? These strawberry breakfast bites are super easy to make, great for kids of any age, and they are even nut free. Perfectly portable, these strawberry breakfast bites are great for busy weekday mornings.

Recipe here

September 17, 2018 by Liorah Goldsmith

Now that we’re back in the fall work/school routine, having a warm meal to come home to sounds so good. But, finding the time to make it happen — that’s the challenge. As parents, we know how important mealtime can be, so we’ve collected some good recipes that bring succulent fall flavors to your dinner table in under 45 minutes. Take a break from takeout with these comforting and healthy weeknight dinners, and your whole family will be asking to eat at home every night of the week.

Butternut Squash and White Bean Soup

Taking only forty-five minutes from start to finish, this flavorful soup is sure to wow your whole family. Filled with squash, chickpeas, and white beans, this soup is fiber-rich and packed with nutrients. After a long day at work or school, you will love to cozy up with this warm bowl of Butternut Squash and White Bean Soup.

Recipe Here

Greek Turkey Burgers

Burgers are a staple American comfort food, and these Greek Turkey Burgers give them a healthy and savory twist that your kids will love. Simple to prepare, and with veggies hidden inside, you can feel good about making this delectable treat a part of your weeknight dinner routine.

Recipe Here

Pea Pesto Pasta

This pesto recipe offers a delicious way to incorporate nutrient-rich peas to a deliciously indulgent pesto sauce. Quick, delicious, and nutritious, this comforting pesto recipe will have your whole family feeling good about eating their vegetable.

Recipe Here

Honey Glazed Chicken and Sweet Potato Kebabs

Everything is more fun to eat on a skewer, so your kids will love this easy-to-eat dish with the nutritional boost of sweet potatoes. The best part? This recipe only takes thirty-five minutes to make! Switch things up with this delectable chicken dish and your whole family will be begging for more.

Recipe Here

Easy Beef and Broccoli

Cheaper, easier, and healthier than takeout, this beef and broccoli recipe makes for a tasty and satisfying dinner. Beef and broccoli complement each other perfectly in this saucy recipe, so your children won’t even complain about eating their veggies. Taking only fifteen minutes to make, you’ll wonder why you don’t make this for your family every night of the week.

Recipe Here

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Traditional Mexican flavors make their way into a bowl of veggie-packed goodness with this slow cooker chicken tortilla soup. Simply throw everything in a slow cooker before work, and you’ll come home to a delicious meal that will please the taste buds of your whole family.

Recipe Here

Cheesy Quinoa

As one of the healthiest grains on the market, quinoa is a great substitute for normal refined grains. Transforming this grain into something kid-friendly is not always an easy task, but this cheesy quinoa recipe will bring out the kid in all of us. Turning this protein-rich grain into a cheesy treat only takes twenty-five minutes and a few simple ingredients.

Recipe Here

Italian Baked Spaghetti Squash

For many of us, spaghetti is on the list of our favorite foods, but squash most likely isn’t. Combining the two into something incredibly kid-friendly, healthy, and easy is something us parents can only dream of. This Italian Baked Spaghetti Squash is perfect for your family’s pasta cravings, but with less refined carbs and more nutrition, everyone will be satisfied with this simple weeknight dinner.

Recipe Here

20 Minute Healthy Chicken Parmesan

This chicken parmesan is a classic Italian dish made healthy by sitting on a bed of deliciously nutritious zucchini noodles. Making vegetables fun to eat while also serving up a crispy comforting chicken dish is a win-win. This recipe is also perfect for weeknights as it only takes twenty minutes to make.

Recipe Here

Acorn Squash Quesadillas

Quesadillas are perfect fuss-free foods that are only made better when stuffed with in-season acorn squash. You can customize these any way your family likes, as they are sure to be delicious. Simple fall flavors combine with melty cheese and a warm tortilla to create an unforgettable meal for the whole family.

Recipe Here

August 2, 2018 by

Get a first look inside Aurora Satler’s new book, The Ultimate New Mom’s Cookbook, with these two incredible recipes. The first, a sweet potato puree recipe for your baby, can be transformed into her southwest sweet potato cakes that can feed the whole family. For more incredible recipes like these, check out her new book, and for her tips on how to find time to create these amazing recipes, take a look at our exclusive interview linked below.

Sweet Potato Puree

MAKES 5 CUPS (1 L)

The roasting helps caramelize the sweet potatoes and makes them extra delicious. This puree mixes very well with meats later down the road once you begin combination purees with your child.

INGREDIENTS

2 medium to large sweet potatoes
1¼ cups (296 ml) water

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 400°F (204°C).

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Prick the sweet potatoes several times on both sides and bake on the sheet for 45 minutes. Allow to cool then remove the skin and puree in a blender adding water slowly, until completely smooth. (If you’re using smaller sweet potatoes, use less water.) Freeze in individual portions or allow to cool before serving.

Southwest Sweet Potato Cakes and Black Bean Salsa Fresca

MAKES 12 CAKES

Vegetable cakes are a great way to get your kids, or yourself, to eat more vegetables. My parents used to make us corn fritters, and I’ve always had a soft spot for latkes. These cakes are perfect for leftover mashed sweet potatoes and pair perfectly with Black Bean Salsa Fresca to make them a more substantial meal.

Nervous about the butter in this recipe? Don’t be! Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) are absorbed better when consumed with fat. And since sweet potatoes are packed with vitamins, let’s make the most of them!

BLACK BEAN SALSA FRESCA

2 cups (320 g) small diced plum tomatoes (4 plum tomatoes)
½ cup (80 g) finely diced red onion
1½ limes, juiced
1 small jalapeño, seeded, deveined and minced, optional
1 cup (16 g) cilantro leaves, chopped
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup (90 g) black beans

SOUTHWEST SWEET POTATO CAKES

2½ cups (637 g) mashed sweet potatoes (2 large sweet potatoes)
½ cup (62 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (12 g) sliced scallions (2 large scallions)
¼ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp cumin
¼ cup (30 g) grated cheddar cheese
4 tbsp (57 g) butter for frying, divided

TO MAKE THE BLACK BEAN SALSA FRESCA

In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir until mixed. As this salsa sits, the tomato juice makes it a bit watery. For easiest serving, drain with a slotted spoon before adding to the sweet potato cakes. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to serve.

TO MAKE THE SOUTHWEST SWEET POTATO CAKES

In a large bowl, mix the sweet potatoes, flour, scallions, paprika, cumin and cheese together. Stir until well combined. Add 2 tablespoons (28 g) of butter to a large frying pan and heat until melted. Using wet hands, take a spoonful of sweet potato batter and pat into a thin, 3- to 4-inch (7.5- to 10-cm) diameter disc. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The batter will be a little sticky. You can spoon the batter into the pan and use a fork to mash it down. But it is important to keep it thin. Work in batches to prevent overcrowding.

Fry the cakes for 2 to 3 minutes per side on high until they’re a deep golden brown. The cheese may cause them to stick a little to the pan, so use a nonstick pan and plenty of butter.

Remove the cooked cakes to a plate and repeat with the batter until all the cakes are cooked. Serve warm with Black Bean Salsa Fresca.

Check out our wonderful chat with Aroura HERE!

July 31, 2018 by

What should I make for dinner? That’s a question all of us moms ask. Every night, sometimes. That’s why we were really excited for Aurora Satler’s The Ultimate New Mom’s Cookbook, a recent NAPPA winner. Helping parents gain knowledge about prenatal nutrition while creating delicious and nutritious recipes for babies, kids and adults are just a few of the reasons we love this cookbook. With help from certified nutritionist Allison Childress, Satler was able to create both an informative and creative book of recipes. We recently chatted with Satler about the challenges of being a new mom and the simplicities of creating delicious meals for her family.

Get a first look inside Satler’s new book with these two incredible recipes: Click HERE

Aurora Satler and her family

What was your biggest inspiration for writing this cookbook?

There is so much information to be absorbed as a first time parent. When I had my son, I found it a little daunting to suddenly have to be up-to-date on all the best baby gear, sleep techniques, developmental milestones, not to mention nutrition. I wanted to create one book for new parents to answer all their food questions, offer great recipes that work for the whole family and keep all the key information so that it was readable at a glance. I also wanted the book to be enjoyable and reminiscent of the spirit of childhood. That’s why all the colors are bright and cheerful and the copy brief and humorous whenever I could manage. Parenting is a challenge – this book should be a helpful and fun resource.

If new parents don’t enjoy cooking but want to feed their children home cooked meals, what advice would you give to inspire them to cook?

Aurora with her daughter and husband

You really don’t have to cook every meal and it shouldn’t be a chore. A family meal is the way to go and dinner is usually the best one to strive for in our moving society. I actually set the portions of my meals so that cooking dinner also provides enough leftovers for lunch the next day. You need to maximize your time as a parent so aim for meals that go further to feed the family.

Parents with multiple children can have trouble satisfying everyone’s tastes. What are some of your best tips for cooking for the whole family?

Everyone has different tastes but I’ve learned to separate a lot of meals into their component parts. This works well for different ages and different kids. My son prefers to be fed and my baby daughter wants to do it all herself. She’s more adventurous for different textures, ingredients and flavors. My son likes to watch what everyone is eating and decide what he will try and what he maybe wants to look at but not eat immediately.

For example: if I make chicken enchiladas, I can serve my husband and myself the full enchiladas. For my daughter I can pick out some of the cooked chicken and rice and avocado as finger food. For my son, I ask if he wants to eat the enchilada or if he wants a burrito bowl where I would serve him the rice and chicken with mashed up avocado that he can easily eat with a spoon. Even if my son is in a picky mood, all the cooked components are things I can offer him for his dinner. I also always give him one meal component he loves so he wants to sit down to eat, even if it is just dried cranberries or a special yogurt cup. He sees that one thing he loves at his place and will start eating. At that point, I know I can entice him to eat a more complete meal.

When did you realize you had a passion for cooking?

Aurora and her kids at the supermarket

My family has always loved food. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest where my Grandma grew the best raspberries and sugar snap peas and my parents took me crabbing and clamming as soon as I could toddle along. We ate the freshest meals: grilled salmon that my uncle had caught on the beach, pies my grandmother baked with her own apples and all the millions of meals my mom created to expand my tastes into other nationalities and flavors.

Once children start attending school, meals on the go become staples for many households. How do you meal prep to make sure your children are eating nutritious and delicious food when mealtime is away from home?

For kids eating away from home, I think it is really important to make meals accessible. Meals on the go and meals at school should be easy to eat and not messy. Finger foods or simple food to spear are perfect and there are so many nutritious options. I also try to pack more meals that are good cold or served room temperature since not all schools have the ability to rewarm food. That doesn’t mean food has to be bland. You can pack smoothies, you can pack pasta salads with veggies, fun dips, etc. Just give it a trial run at home and make sure you’re packing in an easy to use container. Kid bento boxes are a good choice.

Growing up, what were some of your favorite family recipes or traditions?

I love food holidays. Thanksgiving will always be a favorite for me and even when my son was born a week before the holiday, I mapped out my meal to lay out an entire spread to host my family after his birth. Okay- not expecting anyone else to do that but that made me feel happy that year. Communal meals give so much more than nourishment, they bring happiness and a sense of family and togetherness. We always had family picnics and birthdays and holidays growing up. I want that for my kids. I want them to be able to have not only a full plate but a full circle of support as they go through life’s ups and downs. Food at its best brings people together.

Aurora and her husband

As a busy parent with a passion for your family and your career, you probably know that despite your love to cook, life can sometimes get in the way. What tips do you have for situations where parents don’t have the time to cook?

Keep a stocked pantry and freezer. Every parent runs into busy stretches. I often roast trays of vegetables and freeze the extras. A good toaster oven is perfect for warming small portions. In a stocked pantry, you can keep gnocchi, fresh pasta, beans, rice and so many components of fast and family friendly meals. Stocking a pantry is also great before you go on a family trip. That way when you return you always have something to eat with minimal effort and no grocery trip.

I also think meal prep is important for all families. In my book I try to offer examples of things that take the same amount of time to cook so that if you have an oven going you can make 2-3 easy dishes in the same amount of time. It is about maximizing the results and minimizing the time.

Families sometimes follow gluten free, vegetarian, or vegan lifestyles. How can parents effectively create nutritionally complete meals for their families using these lifestyles as guidelines?

I offer a lot of these options in the book. I find most families who follow these lifestyles get creative themselves and the food industry is responding well to meet these various nutritional needs. One category of food that I feel meets most of these needs however are curries. Using rice as the base and creating a broth rich in coconut milk and stock, you can add in nut butters for protein and a myriad of vegetables. The best is that they are also one pot meals that taste better over time and are perfectly adaptable for families. The coconut milk is also a real hit with a lot of kids and you can spice according to your family’s preferences.

New parents often suffer from a lack of sleep and exhaustion. What gave you motivation to keep cooking when you were in these situations?

I don’t sleep. It’s a laugh but I always tell my friends if you ever see me come out with a book on sleep techniques that I’ve gone off the deep end and not to buy it. My kids eat great but I’ll be the last to advise on sleep. I cook because it makes me feel better, it gives me energy and good food begets sleep (even if you can’t enjoy it yourself). When you have kids you see that everything is cyclical–a good meal often results in a good nap which then can lead to a good meal and so on. When something falls off–you have to work from all angles to get back to a better schedule. When you eat well, you feel better and your body can perform more optimally. You also just feel better when you eat well and are eating more nutritious food. As a little hack, I make my lunches the night in advance. That way even if breakfast is a moving target, I’ve set myself up for a great meal in the middle of the day to keep me going.

As your children grow older, what steps do you want to take to inspire them to eat healthfully and even learn to cook by joining you in the kitchen?

Aurora’s two children

My son grocery shops with me and I answer all his questions (he’s 3 so he asks a LOT of questions). I also let him pick off my plate even if I know he won’t eat something. I encourage him to try new foods and he has a complete toy set to cook with me from his own knife, cutting board, as well as fruits and vegetables he can cut in half with his play knife (these are blunt toys).

When there’s something he can help with that is safe I always let him: mixing batter, spinning salad, pushing the buttons on the blender to mix a smoothie. He’s been the inspiration for this cookbook and when I told him about this award he told me “It’s my award mommy, not yours”… he might be a little competitive.

What advice would you give to parents whose children are picky eaters?

Keep trying. Most kids aren’t picky 100% of the time and will go in phases where they are more experimental. Even if they don’t finish something nutritious, have them try it. Have them try it frequently. Don’t try to make it into a battle but also let them see you eating a full and varied diet as well.

What are your most valuable takeaways from working with a nutritionist on your book?

Allison was incredible to work with and such an asset for the book. We both are moms and both work with food but see a plate in a different way. I see flavors and ingredients I want to share with my kids and she sees nutrition building blocks to raise a healthy family. She was exceptional as well because she also has a background in prenatal nutrition which is a key component of this book.

The Ultimate New Mom’s Cookbook Cover