Quick & Easy

From “Welcome to My Prairie Table!”
The recipes you will find in this book are what we eat as a family, what we feed our guests at our home, and what we take to gatherings. Whether a salad or vegetable dish, home-baked bun or easy main meal, every recipe in this book is easily cut in half for a smaller family meal or doubled for a large event—even the cocktails (though why you’d want to cut cocktails in half escapes me). I also wanted every recipe in this book to be useful week in and week out, to make your life easier.

You can make a full batch of a crowd-pleasing recipe to take to a soiree or to feed your own guests, whether a side dish or a main course. There are kid-friendly recipes for dinners that will also be perfect for potlucks. There are easy dinner recipes such as Slow- Cooker Beef Dips on page 154 that also make perfect leftovers that the entire family can eat for lunch the next day, or freeze them for a later date. My Calico Beans on page 156 might be a go-to potluck dish, but my family eats it twice a month and the kids take it in thermoses for lunches. The salads and vegetable dishes are all sides that you can make any day of the week. The dainties section is perfect for filling up your freezer, to pull out for surprise visitors (so that you have something to serve with coffee!) or the holiday season. There’s nothing like a tray of dainties to get Prairie folks at a party excited!

You’re going to see classics (such as Marion’s perogies (see page 19), which I make in triple batches so I only have to make them once every couple of months) and some fresh new favorites (like the Garlic and Brown Sugar Bacon Pineapple Bites on page 103 that will make you want to throw a tiki-themed party just so that you can serve them).

I’m also bringing my husband, Mike, a.k.a. Mr. Kitchen Magpie, into the cookbook fray. He’s in charge of cocktails in our house and, due to popular demand, he now even has his own section on the Kitchen Magpie website, where he creates cocktails for everyone to enjoy. I heard from a lot (and I mean a LOT!) of you after my first book that I needed to do more cocktails, so there’s an entire chapter of Mike’s cocktails and mocktails at the end of this book just for you.

This is us. This how we eat, this is how I cook for those I love, and, if you will indulge me, this is an entire cookbook’s worth of recipes from my table to yours. I’m so very happy to share these recipes with you.

Love,
Karlynn

From "Back to My Roots"
Throughout my career of promoting the importance of cooking together and eating together, the taste of those first summer vegetables and the joy of planting and harvesting food for the table have inspired me. My television and magazine work has evolved into a brand built on a modern vision for the art of family living. So, when we set up our new office headquarters, flagship boutique, and café on Montreal’s South Shore, I made sure the roof was reinforced so that it could support a thriving garden of eighty planters and two beehives. I enjoy seeing the plants grow, be shared among colleagues and used in our test kitchen.

For me, the power of vegetables is linked with memories and family stories. And that’s what I want to share with you: how fantastic vegetables can taste and how they can connect us to our roots. Finding it tough to get your kids to eat cauliflower or peas? It happens to the best of us. The important thing is to plant a seed for the future, by serving vegetables in smart, well-prepared dishes. Some life lessons take time, but in the end, we reap what we sow.

Like a vegetable garden, I hope this book becomes part of your daily life and grows with you and your family as you create your own memories.

introduction

HI THERE! I’m guessing that if you’re reading this, you want to eat better; that healthy eating
is important to you and that you want to do more of it. But also that you’re busy—working,
studying, generally being awesome—and what little time you do have, you don’t necessarily
want to spend in the kitchen. I get it. That’s why my goal is to make eating well easier. Oh,
and a lot more delicious, of course.
 
In my experience, the secret is not fancy ingredients, tools, or techniques. It’s about having a collection of simple recipes that can be prepared quickly, affordably, and, above all, easily, but that you also actually want to eat. I hope this book is just that.
 
I’m Sara Lynn, by the way, and if you’re new to the Domestic Geek community, WELCOME! I’ve spent the last five years dishing out all sorts of deliciousness on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and just about anywhere else hungry people seek kitchen inspiration. It’s amazing to think that in that time, our cooking collective has grown to include more than 1.5 million dedicated food enthusiasts. A total dream come true, especially for someone who adores all things edible as much as I do.
 
Food was really my first love. Growing up, cooking was always my favorite thing to do. While other kids were watching cartoons or cheesy sitcoms, I was watching cooking shows and then heading into the kitchen to test newly discovered recipes and techniques. My parents were always incredibly supportive and, as parents do, politely choked down anything I served up with a spirited “Good job!” whether it was particularly palatable or not. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)
 
But it wasn’t enough for me to just cook the recipes, oh no. Channeling my beloved TV chefs, I would talk my imaginary audience through each and every step, recommending a pinch of this or a splash of that to a plethora of endlessly attentive stuffed animals. (Who, in retrospect, were probably grateful for their lack of hearing—and taste buds, for that matter.)
 
As I grew up, my tastes grew with me, and I spent my early twenties experimenting with all sorts of exotic flavors and fussy French techniques. I traveled all over on eating adventures and discovered so many new cuisines along the way. I was so obsessed, in fact, that every week my fellow foodies and I hosted a Friday night supper club, where we’d try daring new recipes over too many bottles of wine.
 
And like good wine, my cooking skills improved with age, but the amount of time I spent in the kitchen became less and less. As a busy professional, I just didn’t have endless hours to stand at the stove anymore, and most often found myself either eating out or ordering in—habits that were jeopardizing both my health and my bank account. Something needed to change, so back to the kitchen I went.
 
I learned to meal plan and committed to Sunday meal prep—a few hours dedicated to shopping, prepping, and cooking foods to enjoy through the week. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that my health began to improve almost immediately. I had more energy and better digestion, and I started to see the weight that had snuck up on me thanks to years of take-out start to vanish. I wasn’t doing anything really extraordinary, but the impact of just eating at home wassimply incredible. The most dramatic improvement, though, was my confidence, and I couldn’t wait to share that feeling with the world.
 
I launched The Domestic Geek in April 2014 to inspire others to eat well and as a result, live better, with a fresh, fuss-free approach to healthy cooking. The objective since its inception has always been to make life in the kitchen easier, which is why Meals Made Easy felt like such a fitting title for this collection of recipes that aims to do just that. I hope you enjoy them!