Julie: Making Dinner Time a Smooth Success
Success, for me, is serving a meal everyone likes.
-Julie
#KitchenHero
Julie is on a mission to cook nutritious and healthy meals for her kids. But feeding four growing bellies can be quite a challenge, especially when two kids are very involved in sports, and one is fairly picky. It’s easy to see why meal planning can be the ultimate nemesis! But Julie’s not a Kitchen Hero for nothing… With her sidekick (Cook Smarts), she is able to battle her cooking challenge, and in turn, wow her family with delicious, home-cooked meals. Read her Hero in the Kitchen story below.
Name: Julie
Age: 48
City, State: Ann Arbor, Michigan
I cook for: myself, my husband and four teenagers.
Outside of the kitchen I: am a full-time lawyer and an author.
If I could have any superpower, it would be: the ability to function well without sleep.
I cook because: I have to. Really, that’s the only reason. On rare occasions, I enjoy it – but those are very, very rare.
Favorite Cook Smarts meal so far: Honey-Mustard Chicken Tacos with Corn and Peach Salsa
How did you learn to cook?
I’m a (poorly) self-taught cook.
What’s been your biggest cooking challenge?
Planning meals. This is my nemesis! I am reasonably happy to execute a dinner that someone else has planned for me, but I am not at all happy to come up with the plan.
How has your cooking routine changed since starting Cook Smarts’ meal plans?
For me, Cook Smarts: 1) Takes out all of the stress of having to plan meals; 2) Reduces the amount of food we waste because certain ingredients are used for a few meals; 3) Has broken me out of my rut of serving the same few things over and over; 4) Has made me feel proud, rather than guilty, about the things I put on the table.
“[My family] raved about the food, which doesn’t happen much around this house (in our pre-Cook Smarts era).”
Tell us about your proudest kitchen moment. The second night I used the Cook Smarts plan, I served Salmon with Corn and Peach Salsa. My family loved the salmon, they loved the salsa (and had it the night before), and they were impressed that I had a plan to make enough salsa the prior night for the following night. I felt very organized! And they raved about the food, which doesn’t happen much around this house (in our pre-Cook Smarts era).
What are your tips for health and success in the kitchen?
In terms of health, I try to serve nutritious, filling meals to keep us all from reaching for junk later in the evening. Success, for me, is serving a meal everyone likes, and the Cook Smarts menus are really helping me with that.
Thanks, Julie! We’re glad to be able to help you feed your four teens and get dinner on the table every night. It can’t be easy, but you do it anyway! It would definitely help if you had the superpower to function well without sleep, but we think you’re doing a great job already.
To join Julie and cook meals like her favorite Honey-Mustard Chicken Tacos with Corn and Peach Salsa, check out our meal plan service. You can get started for free!
