Recently I created my first electronic recipe book and I’m so excited about it! It was a lot of was hard work and I’m so proud of how it came out. I wanted to take this post to talk about how the book came to be. I have a few tips as well as places and people I received inspiration from that I wanted to share.
From conception the ideal came from a completely organic place. It was so genuine how it all came together. I was inspired by several places/people and found a way to add my own personality, thoughts and originality. I have several people to thank and mention in this post.
For years I have been cooking picking up things here and there. Gradually over the years once I had a family of my own, cooking has become one of my favorite past times. Creating healthy and delicious meals is something I’ve grown increasingly passionate about. I talk about it in my actual e-book so I won’t go into it again here. I’ll just focus on how the book came together.
Over the years I’ve developed a better relationship with food and started to make better choices using ingredients that I incorporate in my meals. I used to take food for granted and not correlate how our bodies react to certain chemicals found in food. Once I knew I wanted a better food journey without sacrificing flavor I bought cookbooks from women I look up to. I’ve been buying cookbooks/magazines for years. I also watched cooking shows and some of my favorite YouTubers picking up tips and tricks.
Two books that changed my life years ago were Tia Mowry’s “Whole New You” and Laila Ali’s “Food for Life”. I look up to both women professionally and personally so when their books were released I couldn’t wait to get them. I remember being so excited when I bought both books. I read them from start to finish learning so much. I wanted to share the info so I did a social media post on both. I picked up several tips from these books more than others I’ve read over the years.
The main takeaway I learned from Tia was how to incorporate anti-inflammatory food into our meals daily. She did a phenomenal job of breaking down quality ingredients and items to swap. At the time I was experiencing hormonal imbalances and I related to this book. Tia spoke very candidly about her struggles with infertility and how she believed changing her diet helped her conceive her first child. By changing my diet I felt immediate changes in my body and although I can’t prove it for sure, I definitely believe eating better foods increased my chances of conceiving. At that point cooking became more spiritual for me.
I was able to learn how to place a healthier spin on traditional meals I grew up on by reading Laila’s book. There were a few things that stuck out immediately was in the beginning of the book. She included a section titled “Food for Life Shopping List”. In that list she broke down items to keep on hand for gradually transforming your cabinets and refrigerator. This list helped me a lot. She broke down vegetables, meats, herbs, oils, seasonings and more. All items I was familiar with, but seeing it on paper helped me ensure I made the right choices grocery shopping. After a few months of paying attention to what I bought this became a habit. I developed my own family’s list and can now confidently walk into the grocery store knowing what I buy won’t be filled with processed ingredients. This also helps me know that by sticking to my core list I won’t be caught off guard when I need to prepare meals. Having this shopping handy list helps be stay ready.
When I started my healthier journey I was relieved to know that the switch would be simple and didn’t require a lot of fancy kitchen tools. Speaking of fancy tools I have a quick funny story. So I wanted this cool mixer SO bad. I was just being cheap and just didn’t want to pay the $300 for it. I talked about it for a while and my husband surprised me and bought it. I just knew I’d be experimenting whipping up all kinds of stuff with it. WRONG. Lol! I can count on one hand how many times I’ve used it. I always just end up cooking food that only require my little cast iron, saute pan and cutting board. I can rule the world with those 3 items. Ha!
Laila also included tools and equipment she recommended for success. I was relieved to see that the tools included items I already had in the kitchen. She stated that her recipes were created to bring a simple approach to healthy cooking and that idea stayed with me. Her recommended list really helped with my transition of better food ingredients. I learned so much about non GMO foods and why this lifestyle I better for my family. I was so grateful that the shopping and tool list was included in one my favorite books. I referred back to that list several times until I got the hang of it. Same with her list of tools. Little did I know years ago that this template would help me create a book of my own.
Not sure if you’ve picked up on the fact that I’m super fans of Tia and Laila. Lol!
Since I enjoy cooking I post the meals I cook for my family on social media. It’s funny because I just post to share, but to my surprise people like my pictures and I started getting recipe requests. I was so surprised people would ask ME for cooking advice. I’m far from real chef that has actual training. I’m just a little country girl that grew up with family that could cook so I know a thing or two about eating well.
When I tell you some people that follow my social media pages hyped me up SO much. They gave me so much encouragement. My social media friends are who I thank the most for even planting the seed that I should create a book. One friend went above and beyond. Let me tell you about it.
One of my favorite bloggers NlovewithJasmine hosted a blogger event in Atlanta to bring other bloggers and creatives together. She came up with this amazing concept of a Power Shoot. I had an amazing afternoon! The comradery was so refreshing. The power shoot allowed bloggers to come together meeting, networking and doing what we love to do best…take pictures! Lol! Honesty there was so much behind “taking pictures”. Jasmine went beyond what was expected. She developed the whole creative process for each attendee. She’s a hair stylist so she added her talent in beauty to create an entire look behind the photo shoot for each person in attendance. Jasmine told me for my shoot she wanted to focus on “Quinda’s Kitchen” (something I started saying years ago as a joke posting food that surprisingly stuck). When Jasmine gave me her ideas on what part of my blog she wanted to highlight I was like “really, food, but ok”. She said to me “friend, trust me” and I did just that. I’m so glad I did, because her vision came to life and “Quinda’s Kitchen” really took off. In less than 5 minutes with her direction I was able to obtain some incredible shots that captured the true essence of me cooking. It spiraled to so many ideas and the birth of many visions from a few pictures. I’m forever grateful for her pushing me in the direction that I didn’t even think of. Check out the video of the event below!
In that same event I met some incredible people. There were so many beautiful talented bloggers and I was honored to be in the room. One conversation I had was with another blogger I respected, Courtney of CupofConsuella. Courtney had previously released a recipe e-book and working on her second book at the time of the event. We were in a conversation where I was trying to talk myself out of taking the leap and she quickly made me realize I was selling myself short and I needed to stop making excuses and just do it! After our conversation I was so motivated and ready to take on this project. A few weeks later her book “Cooking for Bae” was released and I made sure I bought it immediately! I was beyond impressed. She did an amazing job with the book layout and her recipes are delicious! The entire concept was fresh and unlike something I had seen before in a cookbook. Her book influenced me to bring my A game. I cooked and posted a chicken recipe of hers. It was incredible as well as easy to make. I strongly recommend downloading her book as well.
Link to purchase E-Book "Cooking for Bae"
When I decided to pursue my book to be honest I was overwhelmed. I put so much pressure on myself. I knew I wanted my first book to be a true introduction to me as a wife and mom cooking my family’s food and give the real experience of what’s it’s like to come to my home on a typical night. I decided that keeping with the authenticity I would use my own pictures that were previously posted instead of my original idea of an elegant photo shoot. I just kept it super simple.
In addition to being authentic let me be transparent…I didn’t want this to be an expensive project. I didn’t know if the book would really sell or how the response would be so I didn’t want to invest too much without a sure way of knowing it would pay off. The book was a complete DIY project. I love the website Etsy so I browsed on their site looking at recipe templates that were easy to edit and would require minimum modifications. I wanted a template that was clean, pleasing to the eyes and easy to read quickly. I wanted bullets and people to understand within minutes. This is what works best for me so I wanted this same flow for my book.
I hit the jackpot on Etsy. I found the perfect template from DAMWORK. It was a $9 template I downloaded and could use over and over for each recipe. The download even included a cover page, dedication, notes, table of contents and all other elements I needed to pull a book together. All of the editing features were user friendly. It was perfect for me as a beginner creator of an e-book. I was able to upload the document into Google Slide and Dam was able to log in and assist where I hit a few minor snags. His response was always quick and super helpful. I highly recommend his graphics for all e-book needs. The products along with the amazing customer service went far beyond the price I paid. I will definitely use his templates for all of my graphic needs.
Link to purchase the template I used.
At first I didn’t know where to start with the recipes for the book. I cook so many types of food it was hard narrowing it all down. I decided on 20 recipes since most of them were requested from my social media friends. I asked my friends to weigh in on what they wanted to see in the book and made sure I delivered. I actually have close to 30 other recipes ready to go for the next book (yes, the next book!) I kept the theme simple and used pretty much the same ingredients throughout the entire book. That is what helped me decide which recipes to include.
This e-book consisted of additional components of other ideas I’ve read in cookbooks throughout the years that were helpful to me. I went back to the most helpful element in Laila’s book which was the shopping and tool list. That was major for me transforming my kitchen into a place of heath along with flavor. Since I’m big on saving money I also included a link to a previous blog post I wrote about how to save money for the whole family while grocery shopping. I thought of all questions I’m asked the most and included it in the book for my friends and followers who made this happen. It’s so funny, because I’ve even had friends tell me they screenshot seasonings from my pictures to try to figure out what I used in my meals. Lol! I’ve had people say things like “I don’t have that type of stuff in my kitchen to make the meals you do”. I wanted to show that by staying prepared you’ll always have what you need to pull things together. It was my goal to bring a real visual of what my kitchen looks like on a typical day into book form.
Another component of the book I knew I wanted for sure was a dedication page to my daddy. This is my favorite part. He was hands down my favorite chef and eating buddy. My daddy passed away last year and I knew he’d love the idea of this book. It felt good to include him in a special way. My daddy was instrumental in teaching us how to appreciate good food and showing us firsthand how food brings people together. I even included one of his favorite recipes. I got a little emotional writing that part.
With this project I wanted something that was a reflection of me and also helpful for any level cooking experience. It took a lot of hours along with dedication, frustration and commitment. As I mentioned above I was apprehensive at first, but I’m so glad I followed through. I’m really proud of how my book turned out and the response has been encouraging and uplifting overall.
From deciding to move forward with this one book I have 3 more books ready for the year, a line of my signature go-to seasonings(something else Laila inspired me to create) in the works, and some cool toddler meal/cooking ideas! All ideas were birthed from my first recipe e-book. #quindaskitchen started about 5 years ago with a hashtag playing around and my friends started to use it when cooking my recipes. Over the last few months I would refer to "quindaskitchen" in my IG stories to get an ideal of what dishes people like the most. I’m now able to bring that concept to several new projects. It’s so funny how things are forming and coming together when you aren’t even thinking about it. Seeds were being sewn without me even knowing.
I wrote this post to thank people as well as encourage anyone else who is hesitant to take the step on whatever it is you’re thinking about. You know when you’re like “I need a sign”…well here it is. Lol! No, but seriously we sometimes talk ourselves out of venturing out. I know I almost did.
I won’t lie and say it’s easy. It’s not. There will be people who may discourage you on your way up and even snatch your excitement away. Do it anyway. This last year for me has been a whirlwind of ups, down, and sideways turns. I’m finding my lane and coasting in it.
On my journey of “figuring shit out” I want to remain true to who I am. I don’t always have the answers, but I’m always happy to share any information I’m able to. Also, I’ll be the first to say that sometimes I get things wrong, but I’m learning that’s ok too. That’s life. Speaking for myself I know that there have been times where I allowed fear of failure to dictate my fate. I’ve concluded that failure is a part of life. If I fall or fail I attempt to take what was learned from those lessons and get back out there.
I hope this has helped and inspired someone else to take the leap in whatever it is you’re sitting on. I’ll say it again, This Is Your Sign!
-Q
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