Half Hour Meals Member Marla lives in California and authors a blog about food and a healthy lifestyle. In reading Marla’s blog, Family Fresh Cooking, one thing comes through on the first page: her incredible energy! Part “energizer bunny” and part healthy-lifestyle cheerleader, Marla truly gets you fired-up and excited about eating and living healthier! Read on to learn a little more about her.
Your blog, Family Fresh Cooking is bright, energetic and chock-full of recipes and information. What is the inspiration behind your blog? I love food, great design and good clean living! I look forward to each meal of the day, it’s a good thing I have 6 meals to savor each day! As we know not all food is created equal. I prefer unprocessed, clean, healthy, delicious whole foods. With two small kids I need loads of energy to keep up with an active lifestyle. Feeding myself and my family high energy, whole foods is a passion. Balance is key, eating small frequent, clean meals are the main principles behind FFC. In FFC my goal is to inspire and reinforce the idea that healthy, clean foods taste great!!
How long have you been blogging and how has blogging changed your daily life? People are always asking about my meals and healthy living lifestyle. Last October it was recommended that I should start blogging. After research I found that blogging opens up a whole new world of opportunities. It is a great forum to share ideas and create an inspirational exchange of recipes and healthy living tips. I tapped away for a number of months creating content and finally launched my site this past June. It is fun being part of such a large, active, ambitious community! When people ask me about my healthy lifestyle I direct them straight to my Blog.
Do you see yourself still blogging several years from now? Absolutely! Blogging has opened up my world immensely! It is so fun to have adult time again anytime, anywhere. You can often find me blogging at my gym on or off the machines 
I have huge goals that are based on the content in my blog. I am getting a great response and my fan base is growing daily.
Are you married? Do you have a family? If yes, does this (either one) change the way you blog? Yes, I am married to a wonderful, encouraging, supportive guy. He is a great dad to my 2 and 5 year old kids. In our family we want to see success for all, with health and happiness being the driving force. We are open to face new opportunities. We enjoy trying new foods, athletic pursuits and we always embrace cool travel opportunities. My husband and I just learned how to surf. Soooo fun and exhilarating! Launching my blog was a big step for me. I felt the need to share my inspirational ideas with the public. The only difficulty…..finding enough time in the day to create my posts! I wake each morning around 4:00am to fit in a yummy breakfast (my stuffed French Toast recipe) and to get some blog time in before the kids wake up.
Where does your inspiration in the kitchen come from? I have a keen sense of taste. I mostly enjoy flavor packed foods that provide a high energy, low glycemic response. I want to look and feel my best and I want the same for my family. I get daily inspiration from foodie magazines, websites and blogs. It is so fun going to the various markets and getting inspired by the fresh fruits, veggies, seafood etc….In order to stay in the best shape mentally and physically I focus on clean, fresh, unprocessed ingredients.
Your “In a Pinch” Crab Salad looked easy and delicious! Do you create most of your own recipes? Yes, I do create most of my own recipes. I use others as guide lines, but I always need to add my own spin. Lately I am hooked on the smoked paprika that is in this crab salad. It adds a huge amount of flavor to savory dishes. I enjoy finding unique hits of flavors to amp up the taste of a dish at the same time keeping meals light, healthy and well balanced.
I especially love how you give tips and variations with your recipes. What inspired you to include them? For me it is all about improvisation. With little kids I have learned to be very quick and steady on my toes. If we have all ready sat down to dinner and they are doing the whiny thing I need to think of quick healthy additions (or subtractions) to get them munching! We all love routines, but it is so fun showing how many changes you can utilize with one recipe. A slight ingredient twist can create a whole new flavor profile. Not only do I provide flavor variations, but I demonstrate how you can adapt the meal for your kids or how you can add or subtract healthy fats, carbs, protein etc…Also I show how to improvise for mini-meals as well. My recipes are often made in a big batch. I want you to have leftovers so you have healthy choices to grab from your fridge at all times. Ultimately we all want to avoid the “crash” from being too hungry.
Ever thought about writing a Family Fresh Cook Book? YES!! That is one of my goals with FFC. I have a huge passion to inspire a lifestyle of clean, healthy, yummy eating. I love cookbooks and it is high on my list of goals to create my own. Not only do I want to share my recipes in the book form, but my graphics and photos as well. I come from a design background, so designing the book would be a blast. Right now I take all of my photos with my iPhone because it is quick, easy and always within reach. Perhaps one day I’ll upgrade and pull out the SLR!! Maybe my niche can be photos from my iPhone!!
Why did you join Half Hour Meals? It shouldn’t take forever to get a fabulous meal on the table. Half Hour Meals is a great website that shows how much can be done in a half hour or less to get those meals served. I pack 3 lunch boxes a day for myself and the kids, I always need new inspiration. Let’s not forget breakfasts, and dinners and mini-meals or snacks! It is a very inspirational website that I am honored to be a part of.
When did you join Half Hour Meals? I joined Half Hour Meals a few weeks ago and I am so pleased I did! There is a great community of like-minded folks with fabulous recipes and great energy! I love the ambition and diversity of the community.
What’s your favorite thing about the site? The vibrant community! There is a great diversity of the posts and the personalities behind them. HHM also has a wonderful layout and easy navigation. When I am surfing around looking for inspiration I need clutter-free, well thought out sources. HHM provides this for me. I appreciate that HHM highly values clean, healthy, home made foods.
Have you tried others’ recipes from Half Hour Meals? I am a protein junkie so the first thing I tried was the Herbed Lemon Butter Tilapia. Great recipe!! I used a little less butter and added some Turmeric because I love the golden color it adds to meals.
If others were to ask you about Half Hour Meals, how would you describe the site to them? The website covers many flavor profiles and it is very well designed. I enjoy how recipes are categorized in multiple ways. It is very user-friendly and you don’t need tons of ingredients to make the meals. There are loads of clean, healthy, yummy meals and you can always alter recipes to suit your dietary needs. I love that such a wealth of info is in one place! It is a fun community and there are always new posts being added and commented on.
Thanks for sharing with us, Marla! Please stop by and visit Marla’s page here at Half Hour Meals, and be sure to check out her wonderful blog as well!
Book stores are struggling. Walk into my home and you wouldn’t believe that. I am a cookbook addict. They line my bookshelves, are piled high next to my bed, and I once even lost my son as a baby amidst the stacks. I have read them all, but use only a few regularly.
Pita Pizza : Spread you favorite sauce on sliced pita or english muffin and just add low fat mozzarella. Can also add veggie toppings such as broccoli (they might actually like it). Bake in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
