Hi, I’m Amy Palanjian! I’m a mama to two girls and I work as a writer, editor, and recipe developer for magazines, books, and websites. We live near Des Moines. You may know me from Yummy Toddler Food and this complimentary site is meant to provide more family dinner ideas, more healthy dessert ideas, food budgeting and money saving strategies, and more ideas to help you streamline your time in the kitchen so that you can enjoy meals with your family in the time you actually have.
For over a decade, I’ve worked in magazine and digital content development. Most recently I was the Lifestyle Director of FamilyFun magazine.. Previously, I was a food editor with Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Media and the Deputy Editor of ReadyMade magazine. I also contribute to AllRecipes magazine and my work has appeared in All You, Better Homes and Gardens, Bon Appetit, Delicious Living, DIY magazine, HGTV magazine, The Kitchn, Momtastic, Mother.ly, Organiclife.com, Parents, Parents.com, Real Simple, Super Healthy Kids, The Wall Street Journal, and The Honest Company website.
I’ve developed recipes for a number of clients including Nellie’s Free Range Eggs, Skeeter Nut-Free, Barilla, Terra’s Kitchen, Kalona, Manitoba Harvest, McCormick, PUJ, Reynolds, and Danone. I’ve even worked on videos for Better Homes and Gardens and Recipe.com! (My work is really super fun!) I love helping families find an easier way to enjoy wholesome, delicious meals together.
My Approach to Cooking
I believe that it’s possible to cook one meal to feed an entire family the majority of the time. I also believe that if you set your kitchen systems up to work on your behalf–with smart staples and streamlined cooking techniques—you can actually enjoy cooking even when you are strapped for time.
Or you can at least pull it off!
I don’t use fussy ingredients or ones that may be hard to find because I live in a small town and my grocery shopping options are limited. I also know that we’re all making adjustments to recipes and meals based on food preferences and restrictions, so I do my best to make my recipes adaptable for your family.
What You’ll Find Here
On this website you’ll find:
- Easy dinner recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less
- Recipes that use 10 ingredients or less.
- Recipes made with healthy and accessible ingredients.
- Kid-friendly recipes that grown ups will like too.
- Family-style suggestions for serving meals that everyone at the table can customize for themselves.
- Family meals made in the Instant Pot and Slow Cooker, and that use easy techniques like sheet pans and skillet dinners.
- My best effort to provide make-ahead and freezer tips so you can make and serve recipes on your own timeline.
- Healthier desserts–every once in a while!
Feel free to reach out with any questions and I hope that you find the site helpful!
—Amy
