Courtesy photo
The Hernandez family, parents Amanda and Troy, with their children Adalyn, Oliver and Lily.
What started as a blog 11 years ago grew into a full-time job for registered nutritionist Amanda Hernandez at Grosse Pointe Park. Her website, The Nutritionist Reviews, has articles on nutrition, parenting, travel, fitness and more: “A little bit of everything,” she said.
Hernandez also works with several brands for whom she creates recipes that are also featured on the website.
Recently, the mother of three took on a new challenge – she wrote her first cookbook, the “30 Minute Family Cookbook,” which came out June 8th.
“A publisher contacted me out of nowhere and asked if I would do a cookbook,” she said, noting that she was surprised by both the offer and the tight deadline. “They gave me six to eight weeks to create 100 recipes. That was just before Christmas.
“My 6 year old daughter and I worked in the kitchen,” she continued. “Every evening we made five or six recipes.”
Hernandez said she was enjoying the project. Although their website has a wide variety of recipes, most of the recipes in the cookbook are new.
“These are not recipes on my website,” she said. “Some of these are things I’ve done for my family all of my adult life.”
For example, the Dijon green beans featured on the cover are a favorite of Hernandez’s sister. Plus, Texas Caviar is a staple at Hernandez’s family picnics.
One of the new additions to her kitchen catalog is an orange and chicken recipe she developed, “which is healthier than Chinese take-away,” she said.
“All recipes are healthier based on my own cooking philosophy,” she added. “… All food groups are included.”
Good health has long been Hernandez’s passion.
“I’ve always cared about it since I was young,” she said. “I always dreamed of helping people with nutrition and fitness.
“When you eat better, you feel better,” she added. “Personally, I feel better when I add vegetables to my diet or when I go for a walk. I am interested in people who take care of themselves. I want people to feel good every day. “
Each recipe also contains tips on how to make the switch – from vegetarian preparation to suggestions on how to save time.
Hernandez, who is married to Troy and is the mother of Adalyn, Oliver, and Lily, said time should be spent with the family, not in the kitchen.
She wrote the cookbook around her children’s schedules, getting up at 5 a.m. to write and writing during nap and after bed. During the day, she helped two of her children at school who were learning virtually.
“Balancing all of that wasn’t easy,” she says. “But my daughter is proud that she helped me with so many recipes.”
After a month of presale and a lot of social media marketing, Hernandez said she got a great response on her cookbook. She has already been contacted to write a follow-up.
The “30 Minute Family Cookbook” is available on amazon.com and target.com for $ 15.99. A Kindle version is available for $ 6.99.
For more information, visit Nutritionistreviews.com.
