Joanna Cismaru - 30-Minute One-Pot Meals: Feed Your Family Incredible Food in Less Time and With Less Cleanup

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INCREDIBLE MEALS
IN LESS TIME AND
WITH
LESS CLEANUPJOANNA CISMARUCREATOR OF THE FOOD BLOG JO COOKS Ever since I was a little girl, my fondest memories have been putzing around the kitchen, helping my mom cook or bake, having family dinners and simply just enjoying good food in the company of loved ones. FEED YOUR FAMILY
INCREDIBLE MEALS
IN LESS TIME AND
WITH
LESS CLEANUPJOANNA CISMARUCREATOR OF THE FOOD BLOG JO COOKS Ever since I was a little girl, my fondest memories have been putzing around the kitchen, helping my mom cook or bake, having family dinners and simply just enjoying good food in the company of loved ones.

While I didnt get a chance to cook much while I lived at home with my parents, I was my moms sous chef, always chopping vegetables, stirring pots and just having a good time. Once I graduated from university and moved out on my own, I realized that while I knew how to chop vegetables, I didnt know much about actually cooking anything. Nor did I have much time for cooking. Working as an IT professional did not allow me a lot of time to learn how to cook. Oh, I knew the basics from following my mom around the kitchen all those years, such as how to roast a chicken and make eggs for breakfast, but not much beyond that. Luckily my mom has always been just a phone call away and thats how I started experimenting in my own kitchen, making tons of mistakes along the way, until I finally realized that there really is no right or wrong in your kitchen.

As long as you enjoyed what you made and made it with love, its all good from there. When I got married is when I really started cooking a lot more, and I had another mother to get recipes from, which I was ecstatic about. Unfortunately, the recipes from my mother or mother-in-law arent really recipes; theyre one of those things where you need a pinch of this or a bit of that, or add some of this until it feels just right. You know what Im talking about. Which is why I decided to re-create these recipes and properly document them, so that next time I need to make my all-time favorite cabbage rolls or my priceless walnut bread, I dont have to struggle, make phone calls all around the world and figure out what the ingredients are. This is when my husband encouraged me to start a blog and track my experiences in the kitchen, and what better way to store your recipes than with a blog? Being in IT, I knew about creating websites and maintaining them, but I knew nothing about the blogging world and all that came with it, such as the photography or the social networking, to name just a few.

It was a whole new world I had stepped into and one that I became quite enamored with. I found it intriguing and satisfying to have complete strangers try my recipes and tell me how much they loved them. It was fun and it was something that was completely different from what I was used to. Being in the field that I was in and being completely left-brained, all I knew was logic and analysis. I always used to joke around that I lacked all creativity or imagination. Thats why I fell in love with blogging so much; it provided me with what I had been missing all those years.

I could be creative and use my imagination in creating these recipes. I could make this blog be whatever I wanted it to be. Needless to say, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my blog would be a life changer for me, allowing me to evolve my passion for cooking and bringing me to where I am today. But it hasnt always been easy. Ive always had a very stressful job, working long hours. To be honest, the last thing on my mind when I came home from work was cooking dinner.

I always looked for simple but delicious recipes that I could make in no time, with the least amount of dishes possible and the least amount of effort required. Which brings me to today and this book. Ive been thinking about creating a book for some time now and its one of those things that has been in the back of my mind for quite a while. But it was just that, a dream, until one day it was time to make that dream a reality. Lets face it, we all love food: Food makes us feel good and nourishes us. But good food doesnt necessarily mean you have to slave for hours in your kitchen to get dinner on the table.

Thats why I created these recipes to be simple to make by anyone, in 30 minutes or less and in one pot, while maintaining great flavors. I wanted to do this book because I remember those long daysI know what its like to come home exhausted, all energy depleted and have to worry about cooking for your family. For ten years I used to commute to work; I used to live in Windsor, Ontario, and work in Troy, Michigan, driving to and from work and crossing the border every day. My days were always ten to twelve hours long. Many days, I used to stop and pick up fast food on my way home because I was too tired to cook. I wish I had owned this book then.

You dont need to eat fast food; you can have good food cooked at home in a half-hour or less. With a bit of prep work and a good pot, you can have yourself a great meal. Ive developed these recipes for real people, people with families and busy lives, focusing on fresh ingredients with the occasional shortcut.

First and foremost to my blog readers, without whom none of this would have been possible: Thank you all for continuing to come and read my blog day after day and thank you for your feedback and encouragement and for believing in me. To my husband, Remo, my biggest fan ever, who helped me and supported me not only throughout the life of this project, but always. Thank you for putting up with my rants, and for being my pillar of strength when Ive needed you.