Do you have Internet friends? I do. They don’t know they’re my Internet friends, but I refer to them as “my friend” Emily and Jen and Sharon and Tyler and Carlos, etc…My husband knows that when I start talking about “my friend Emily”, he knows I’m talking about the planner gal down the road in Pensacola. We’re basically neighbor besties.
I started following Emily Ley a few years ago. You know… the time that shall not be named when we were all spending a lot more time at home, scrolling on our phones… I fell in love with her simplified planners, her organization tools, and, to be honest, her personality and the way that she shares her life, her kids, and her company online.
In A Simplified Life, Emily writes, “How can we nurture and cherish our children, how can we adore our spouses, how can we show unexpected love to strangers? What better way for us to spread the love of Jesus than by simply doing it?” This speaks to my soul. I’m a mom, wife, teacher, and military spouse. Pouring into people is my love language, but when the calendar starts filling up, it can be hard to balance.
As an avid reader, I started reading all of Emily‘s books about simplifying, grace, and growing boldly and fell in love. As a seasoned military spouse, mom of three boys, work-from-home teacher, and personal Uber driver to my children, anything I can do to streamline my life is a “Yes, please!” Between Emily Ley and The Lazy Genius, Kendra Adachi, I like to think I have my stuff together. Ha! Ha! Ha! As military spouses, do we ever have all of our stuff together???
When I started seeing Emily‘s Instagram stories highlighting that she was coming out with a simplified cookbook, I did not have to think twice about pre-ordering this gem of a book. It’s finally launch week, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the hardcover of this book. In this day and age with technology at our fingertips 24/7, I am choosier about the cookbooks that I want on my shelf. The Simplified Cookbook meets all of my criteria:
- Pictures for EVERY recipe
- Kids can cook meals
- Multiple family members will eat the majority of the meals
- EASY button meals
The description for the book is “A fresh approach to effortless cooking. 60 recipes and 60 assembly meals using 6 ingredients or less. Simplify your cooking, eliminate dinner stress, and get delicious meals on the table.”
Yes, please!
As a mom raising three little men (8, 11, and 13), I want to let them be little while helping them learn how to be grown men. We enjoy cooking together. The more meals that they can independently plan and execute, the more I’m here for it. On Emily’s Substack she shared her “How to be a Person Camp” and it’s so great. When I’m super on my game, I like to meal plan for the month. This obviously flexes quite a bit, but I like to use this printable to have my kids involved in the process of planning and cooking a meal.
This week, Emily shared a story on Instagram making one of the meals from her cookbook with her 10-year-old daughter. My favorite thing was that she was making one of her recipes, and said, “Well, I don’t have any cans of chili, but what I do have is red beans and Rotel, so that will work.” Yes, please!
Do yourself a favor. If you are a person who eats food, get The Simplified Cookbook. This is the military family life hack for meals right here. You won’t regret it. My friend Emily is just awesome, and I’m pumped for her launch week. Happy Cooking.
Bye, Friend!
