Lily Li

With life being fast-paced nowadays, it’s difficult to make time to cook meals from scratch. But it's essential enough for me to make it my priority. Cooking at home is good not only for my family but also for me. I make a lot of creative and business decisions at work that I couldn’t shake those thoughts off my mind even when I’m home. So it’s hard for me to be fully present because the things that happened during the day often cross my mind. However... When I busy myself in the kitchen (like peeling potatoes or mixing ingredients in a bowl for baking a pie crust), my thoughts suddenly begin to slow down. I start to become relaxed. I open the kitchen window, blast my favorite music, and listen to the background sound of children playing with Chip. They all ease my mind. These sounds make me feel that indeed, I am home. Working in the kitchen is no different from working in the garden. You work with your hands and take care of whatever you’re working on. When it’s time to harvest, you get so much in return. Such is the reward coming from working with your hands regardless of where it is: it could be your home, garden, or kitchen. We can choose to see our daily routines as either gifts or chores. Just a tiny shift in perspective can turn a dreadful thing into something you’re excited about. I look forward to home cooking the most. Nothing can replace my time in the kitchen. Consider this book “Quinoa 333 Volume 1” a celebration of bringing people together through good food. Sharing here most of my personal favorites, as well as some recipes I got from my family and friends. In each recipe, preparation, cooking, serving and cooling times are included. They’re estimates only, so no need to follow them to a T. Those time estimates just work for me when I cook for my family. A dish that takes me half an hour to make may take you just 15 minutes or an hour. Just as some ovens heat faster and some people slice ingredients more quickly than others. Don’t be disheartened if it takes you longer to prepare a dish or the outcome doesn't look like the one in the photo. What matters more is owning and enjoying the cooking experience. Just like my design philosophy (which is making your space reflect your own personality), I want to inspire you to make these recipes uniquely yours and tweak them to suit your taste, as well as your family’s. Is there an ingredient in the recipe that you dislike? Omit it! If there’s something you really like, add more of it! Just because you found a recipe in the breakfast section doesn't mean it’s meant only for breakfast. Actually, I urge you to change things up frequently. Don’t take everything here as gospel truth. Far from being a professional chef, I'm just an on-the-go, working mom who’s fond of cooking and sharing recipes. Also, I'm not the type who seeks perfection in the kitchen. If I were, I'd be too tired and drained come meal time. That defeats the purpose of enjoying food with the family. So you'll see things here that probably seem inconsistent, but these really are the ways I cook dishes for my family. For instance, I grow many of the veggies I use for my recipes and use organic meat a lot. Yet at the same time, I’m happy to use store-bought boxed broth and refrigerated dough (They’re so convenient!). On my free time, I like to create pie crust from scratch, but I usually stock up on store-bought crust for baking a quick quiche. I fill my pantry with all the ingredients for making pancakes from scratch, but more often than not (especially when I’m rushing in the morning), I reheat frozen waffles or use a pancake mix. When I’m too busy to make a fresh pie for dessert, I just purchase a pie at the store and prepare fresh whipped cream for the topping on my own. More than the recipes and food photos in this book, I hope to inspire you to unlock ways to cook meals that are truly yours, whether you just want to experiment in the kitchen as a beginner or you’re looking to learn new recipes to add to the selection of meals you’ve been serving for years. Regardless, just enjoy cooking. In case you mess up, you can always order pizza. You also see more different types of ingredient recipes such as: * Cooking with Sesame Oil * Herbs & Spices * Whole Grains * Nuts & Seeds * Mozzarella * ... Thank you for choosing “Quinoa 333 Volume 1”. I really hope that each book in the series will be always your best friend in your little kitchen. Let’s live happily and cook yourself every day! Enjoy the book,