Both of my parents are amazing cooks, I mean restaurant quality decadent and delicious food.

When I first married, I was so pampered by their incredible cooking I was shocked to learn I’d have to take over that responsibility in my own house! Funny I know, but I was that naive.

Bobby, my hubby couldn’t even make a slice of toast. Still to this day, if we want anything tasty, we don’t rely on his cooking.

So both of my parents each taught me how to cook and what is interesting about them is they both have completely different points of view in their style of cooking.

My mom only makes recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation, and each recipe takes 1-2 hours to cook.

My Daddy on the other hand, will only cook what he can in 30 minutes. He believes that you can make an incredibly tasty meal with hacks and tricks and life’s too short to spend it slaving away in the kitchen.

He also believes that you should eat on your fine China every day – a story for another day.

In the old days (pre-shutdown) I used to spend hours on recipes for my family every evening just like my mom.

Cooking is a creative outlet for me. I love doing this to destress and feel like I am creating something special for my family.

My family and friends love my cooking, and have often told me to open a restaurant. So to keep on improving, I love exploring recipes, and learning from my mom, aunts, and grandma.

But in the past few months, that has come to a screeching halt!

My workload at home has increased three to four times, including the appetite of all of the folks inside my home!

The other day, at the end of an exhausting day, trying to juggle work and home life, I couldn’t even think about making dinner.

So I dug around my refrigerator, and freezer, and was surprised I had many ingredients to whip up a quick – I mean quick 20 minutes to the table meal.

I channeled my Dad’s 30-minute chef mantra and tried something different, using what I had, and what I know. Nothing fancy, but the outcome was shocking!

You can see it here. Pay close attention, you might miss it, the bulk of this hack is shown in the first minute.

That’s all I did.

I’m talking super cheating, effortless, easy, amazing, and delicious food. This is a cooking hack that I now use all of the time.

Hubby used some on a salad, I made a wrap, kids got gooey, cheesy quesadillas, a true crowd pleaser.

Here’s the funny part, the fam didn’t know I was exhausted and cheated making them this quick meal.

They actually LOVED it more than the meals I pour hours of time into! Go figure. Ha!

So now, I use this easy cooking hack every 8-10 days and every single person in my house loves it.

It took this new life experience for me to see the value in my Dad’s 30 minute chef mantra.

While I always knew these cooking tricks, I never really embraced them until now.

This and all of the other hacks he’s shared with me over the years, has helped me be a great home cook but now also leaves enough room for all of the other responsibilities we have on our plate right now. Ha, no pun intended.

Be sure to subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter, I’ll be sure to share more of my Dad’s hacks, and even some of our family’s lengthy recipes because after all, we do have time!

I pray this message finds you and your family well and healthy.

Take care.

With love and blessings,

Amitha

P.S. Village Antiques has re-opened and is open during normal business hours. Tuesday – Saturday 10:00-5:00.

P.P.S. Pic of my Dad & my boys from Mother’s Day. He came over and made a 30-minute chef brunch for all of us, it was such a treat!