Too Blessed To Be Stressed Cookbook by Debra Coty
Too Blessed to Be Stressed Cookbook, A Busy Woman’s Guide to Stress-free Cooking, Prep Time 20 minutes or less, by Debra M. Coty, was prompted by all the feedback she received from her first book, Too Blessed to Be Stressed, which came out in 2011. Women around the world were pleading for more help in managing the overwhelming stress in their lives.
“It seems that so much of our stress, as women, takes place in our kitchens in planning and preparing and clean-up of the food for our families. So I came up with the idea of writing a cookbook that’s more than a cookbook. Something that is like an ongoing, latte sipping, fun-filled chat between girlfriends that includes all kinds of different types of food, stories that make you laugh, some crazy culinary adventures of mine and others, time-saving tips, suggested menus, and even pre-made grocery lists.”
Add to that a little relationship advice! How about a remedy for those times when the conversation in the kitchen gets a little intense? Take a little chocolate break!
“That’s one of those really good, little, helpful hints that have saved me. If you just take a little chocolate break, things just look a whole lot different after that. I call myself a step beyond chocoholic. I call myself a choco-athlete, which means that I exercise just so I can eat more chocolate!”
Debra has many years of experience to draw from, starting with childhood memories in the kitchen of her grandma’s North Georgia home.
“I was with my grandma in the very early morning before everybody would get up. She would make me – I never had it anywhere else at the time – she would make toast with real butter, nice and crunchy, and then she would cover it with honey and spread that honey all the way out to every single corner, and cut the crust off, and then quarter it. And we would sit there together in that kitchen eating that yummy, yummy toast, and start the day out, speaking something about the Lord and how he was blessing us with another day.”
She shares there are so many things about our kitchen and our cooking that are tied to family members, especially those who have gone on before us.
“I have a bowl, a mixing bowl that I just have loved for years that came down from my grandmother and every time I mix anything in that bowl, I just feel like she’s right there beside me smiling.”
Holiday meals together, a favorite family recipe, a kitchen tool or special serving dish all serve to create cherished memories that connect us with loved ones!