Our Interview with Carol McMannus Come Listen to our Show!

We are so thrilled to have had the opportunity to interview Carol McMannus, she was such a warm hearted lady to interview. Carol as so kind as to send me a copy of her recipe book titled ” Table Talk , Food, Family and Love” and I have to just honestly say I love this cookbook. One of the things that normally deters me from buying cookbooks is that the recipes are too big for me. Meaning I didnt understand half of the ingredients, or understand some of the lingo, or the fact that you needed to be a chef just to prepare the dishes. With this cookbook it was so reminiscent of small town America. The cookbook was full of good wholesome, easy to make but flavorful recipes in such a wide variety of styles. Another wonderful feature of this cookbook is the photos inside, not only is there pictures of the wonderful recipes, but also photos of a dog in the back of a truck, and Carol’s family sitting at a picnic table to a home cooked meal. Also you will find in the sides of the pages you will find great tips or additional recipes maybe to go with the main dish being featured, or wonderful quotes from famous people. There is just so much to love with this cookbook our favorite recipe I created with my twelve year old was the “Tried and True Meatballs” and my daughter just loved them. My daughter is a huge spagetti fan and has always asked me to make meatballs but I did not have a good recipe for meatballs until now.

Carol shared with us that the premise of her book was to get people to sit back down for dinner and to get to know each other. Her recipes do not require alot of ingredients but just fresh and tasty food that will make a big impact on your family. Carol started cooking at an early age and eventually opened up her own restraunt called Expresso Love and soon decided it was time for a cookbook that really showcased the importance of sitting down as a family and start cooking and eating together. We also touched on the subject that in today’s society there is a large number of children with weight problems because we are too reliant on fast foods to feed our kids, instead of getting down to the basics as our parents did and start serving healthy and tasty home cooked meals.

One of the things that Carol finds  so sad in today’s society is how dependant we have become on processed foods and fast food and sadly our families are suffering because of it. Carol also shared how a friend of hers said people should only shop on the outer aisles of your local shopping center because then you are purchasing only fresh foods which is so much better for your bodies and your children. While talking with Cathy we started to talk about how when our parents and grandparents cooked for us they saved all their left overs to use in diffrent meals, and each night we had home cooked meals so that we could take time to sit down and reconnect with each other and get to talk to one another.

We also discussed how alot of us are so busy taking our kids to school functions and sports events that we tend to just grab and go at fast food places to pick up fast food instead of preparing your food ahead of time so that you can enjoy a healthier and home cooked meal.  When Carol’s kids were growing they too were so busy with sporting and school events but she still found the time to make sure her kids had a healthy home cooked meal to enjoy together as a family. And that is not to say that you cannot go out to eat Fast food occasionally but it is nice to make sure you set aside a couple meals a week that are solely time to spend with your family.

Carol’s book is amazing I have already created my grocery lists for next week with recipes from the book so I am so excited to start making and enjoying more of this yummy recipes! Here is just a small sampling of some of the recipes in the book:

• Baked Italian Chicken
• Honey Mustard Beef Stir Fry
• Love’s Fritta
• Walnut Oil Vinaigrette
• California Pizza
• Amish Cocoa Square (Yummy tried this one)
• Raspberry Turnovers

To purchase your own copy of Carol’s book “Table Talk, Food, Family and Love” please click on our link below and Click below to listen to our show!

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