Photographs by Shelly Strazis | Food Styling by Santos Loo | Recipes by Catherine McCord

Catherine McCord says she’s a lazy cook. That’s hard to believe by the looks of her well-outfitted Los Angeles kitchen—marble counters, a fridge packed with farmers’ market produce, a high-speed blender, a dehydrator, a slow cooker, pressure cooker and a rice cooker, too. But these are the ingredients and tools that make feeding her family that much simpler. “I’m a big proponent of equipment,” she shares early one weekday morning. “Because equipment allows me more time to play with my kids.”

If necessity is the mother of invention, this mother has made a career out of devising helpful tips so family meals can be a no-fuss, healthy and fun endeavor. McCord showcases recipes and menu-planning ideas on her website, Weelicious, which she launched when her son Kenya was born, well before Gwyneth started slinging food advice on Goop and prior to the Mommy blog craze. Now, this former model from Louisville, Kentucky, is a social media whiz who has written two cookbooks and gets 300,000 unique visitors a month to her site.

This morning, while she has a few minutes to spare, she sips from a big, white mug of coffee as she gets a head start on a hearty dinner of “po-tacos”—baked potatoes heaped with taco fixings. So perhaps it’s more accurate to say instead of lazy, she’s super-efficient. Before bed, she might fill the slow cooker with steel-cut oats, apples and voilà—the whole family wakes up to the smell of apple streusel oatmeal, a hot breakfast of cinnamon-infused goodness. Or how about chicken and veggie chili? Add the ingredients to the slow cooker and do what you must. Four hours later, with some sour cream, cilantro and cheese garnish, dinner is served. Want fruit leather for days? No problem. Blend your overripe fruit of choice, spread on parchment, place in dehydrator, slice and you’ve got a preservative and dye-free treat for young and old.

McCord, who is a professionally trained chef, has real culinary moxie. She has worked in catering and restaurant kitchens in both New York and Los Angeles, so she knows a thing or two about cuisine. And when she modeled, her travels for magazines like Glamour, as well as for brands such as Calvin Klein and Victoria’s Secret, piqued her culinary curiosity and exposed her to global food culture. “I was always obsessed with the local cuisine and wanted to experience how the locals ate it. I’d have a tagine in Morocco or savor the perfect croissant in Paris or the clotted cream with scones in London.”

It’s all about balance. I don’t want people to focus on fat and calories,I want them to focus on enjoying food and good nutrition.”

It’s refreshing to hear a mom with model good looks tout the virtues of pastry and fat-rich dairy. “We don’t deny ourselves anything,” she explains about her Weelicious philosophy, adding that her only verboten ingredients are corn syrup and food dyes. “It’s all about balance. I don’t want people to focus on fat and calories, I want them to focus on enjoying food and good nutrition.”

McCord’s healthy formula is simple: Each meal has one protein, one carbohydrate and a vegetable or two, and then she builds from there. “When I shop, the kids shop with me so they can pick what they want, and then we decide whether we’re going to steam, roast or sauté.”

But she never cooks down for the kids. Her daughter Chloe has discovered the joys of eating octopus, and a recent family dinner started with a $12 bag of mussels from the farmers’ market that her kids urged her to buy. “I made this insane, rich broth with garlic and lemongrass and watched my kids devour them. It became a night of dipping bread into the sauce, and we created not only a new favorite food but a great family dinner we’ll all remember.”

Her kids’ adventurous eating spirit has a lot to do with their parents. When McCord and her husband, John, a film producer, started dating, sharing incredible meals was part of their courtship. That’s not to say family meals are always free from cajoling, but, she says, “John and I try to expose them to different foods and restaurants off the beaten path, especially here in Los Angeles, where we have so many choices: Chinatown, Japantown, and we have great Middle Eastern food, too. From my point of view, that kind of exposure [to different cuisines] is a huge mission of Weelicious.”

Weelicious is about empowerment for both the cooks and the kids, because no mom wants to be a short-order cook, and kids want to make their own food choices. “If kids feel good about the choices they make when it comes to food, that’s three positive, confidence-building choices they can make a day.” And that makes for a family meal that everyone can enjoy.

Mother’s Little Helpers

Small Ice Cream Scoop It makes quick work of  portioning, especially for cookies and mini muffins.

Hand Mandolin This thinly slices vegetables lickety-split for cooked or raw treats. Cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, anyone?

Kitchen Shears easily cut herbs (no chopping required) and help remove extra fat from proteins (excess chicken skin, be gone!).

Paring Knife Chefs may love their big knives, but this small, serrated multi-tasker is easy to control and always gets the job done.

Flat Cast-Iron Pan This go-anywhere workhorse does it all, from frittatas to pancakes, chicken paillard to seared sirloin!

Easy Chicken Nuggets

Prep Time: 15 minutes  • Cook Time: 15 minutes

(Makes 24 Nuggets)

1 pound chicken breasts, boneless & skinless, cut into chunks

¼ cup old-fashioned oats (also known as 5-minute oats)

¼ teaspoon dried parsley

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup panko bread crumbs

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Pulse the first 6 ingredients in a food processor until chicken is finely chopped and ingredients are combined.

3. Place the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl or on a plate, and then stir to combine.

4. With moistened hands, roll 1 tablespoon of chicken mixture between your palms and flatten it into a “nugget” shape.

5. Gently press nuggets into bread crumbs to evenly coat them.*

6. Place nuggets on a cooling rack. Sit cooling rack over a foil-lined baking sheet.

7. Lightly coat nuggets with cooking spray.

8. Bake for 15 minutes and then serve.

*To freeze, place nuggets on a sheet tray after this step and freeze for 1 hour. Store nuggets in labeled freezer bags for up to 3 months. When ready to cook, follow the directions starting with step #6.

If you want your nuggets to be golden brown, place under the broiler for 2 minutes after cooking.

Po-Tacos

Prep Time: 10 minutes  • Cook Time: 1 hour

4 sweet or russet potatoes

filling ideas:

* pesto, Greek yogurt and manchego cheese

* chicken chili with cheddar cheese

* refried beans, sour cream and salsa

* chicken with bbq sauce

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Poke several holes in the sides of the potatoes, place on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake for 1 hour.

3. Slice the potatoes down the middle, scoop out half of the flesh and fill with desired accompaniments.

Cinnamon Sweet Potato Fries

Prep Time: 5 minutes  • Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 large sweet potato

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Cut sweet potato into 2x¼” sticks.

3. Place them on a cookie sheet, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with cinnamon and salt, and toss to thoroughly coat.

4. Bake for 15 minutes, toss, and then bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.

Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

Prep Time: 20 minutes  • Cook Time: 8 minutes

⅓ cup soy sauce

½ teaspoon sesame oil (I like to use toasted)

1 tablespoon honey

1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon water

1 pound boneless sirloin, tri tip, flank or skirt steak, sliced into 2x½” strips

1 package (14 ounces) frozen or fresh broccoli florets

3 teaspoons vegetable oil

1. Whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic and ginger.

2. Place the beef in a Ziploc bag (or glass bowl) and pour in half of the sauce mixture to coat the beef. Marinate for either 20 minutes on the counter or, covered, overnight in the fridge.

3. Whisk the cornstarch and water together and add to the remaining sauce mixture.

4. Heat a wok or large sauté pan over high heat, add 2 teaspoons of oil, and then add the beef. Cook for
4 minutes and remove beef to a clean bowl.

5. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil to the pan and cook the broccoli for 2 minutes.

6. Add the beef back into the pan. Make a well in the center and pour in the sauce. Cook until the sauce is thick and everything is heated through, about 2 minutes.

7. Serve over brown rice.

Berry Parfait

1 cup Wee Granola or your favorite brand (we like Back to Nature granola)

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 cup raspberries or sliced strawberries

honey to drizzle

1. In your prettiest glass or serving bowl, layer granola, Greek yogurt, a drizzle of honey and the berries. Repeat in that order until you fill your glass or serving bowl, finishing it with a dollop of Greek yogurt, another drizzle of honey and a small whole berry on top. Serve.

Breakfast Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes  • Cook Time: 15 minutes

(makes 20 cookies)

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup applesauce

½ cup maple syrup

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups old-fashioned oats

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup shelled pistachios

½ cup dried cherries

½ cup flax seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Place the butter, applesauce and maple syrup in a bowl or standing mixer and beat until well combined.

3. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix to incorporate.

6. Fold in the pistachios, cherries and flax seeds.

7. Using a small ice cream scoop or 2-tablespoon measure, drop dough
onto Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheets. Use the palm of your hand to gently press down the cookies, as they do not spread during baking.

8. Bake for 15 minutes and remove to a cooling rack.

To freeze raw: Before baking, after step #7, place in the freezer for 1 hour and then transfer to zipper bags. When ready to bake, add an additional minute to the cooking time.

To freeze cookies: After baking, place in freezer bags and store in freezer for up to 3 months.