Hi! My name is Saima, and I live in Edmonton, Canada with my husband and two kids. I'm the carefree cook who cooks and shoots the recipes you see on this blog.
Here, you’ll find easy, family-friendly recipes for real food that I make everyday. My goal is to take the stress out of cooking, so that putting dinner on the table is no longer a painful chore. I believe you don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen or break the bank to eat well!
In fact, I started this blog as a way to document all the easy recipes that I was experimenting with when we first came to Canada, many moons ago. As a new immigrant, and later, a working professional with two forever hungry kids and a new blog (phew!), I was attracted to making quick and easy but wholesome food. Since time was one thing I didn’t have much of, I always found myself looking for simple recipes that would make themselves in under 30 minutes. Over the years, I have become quite adept at cooking food that doesn’t require a ton of effort to make.
Five fun facts about me
- I am originally from India, but I have also lived the expat life in Dubai, U.A.E. before migrating to Canada. Dubai is the most amazing place in the world! Everything is big, beautiful, and larger than life (think shopping malls). It also has a thriving food culture, and I gained a new awareness and appreciation for cuisines from different parts of the world while I was there. Even after all these years, I still miss going out to eat and being spoiled for choice.
- I have twin boys who are the spitting image of each other. They’re very enthusiastic about good food and are my greatest admirers and critics!
- I have a master’s degree in English literature. I happen to be a high school teacher in my other life, a crazy busy profession that’s also fraught with high drama at times!
- I am a bookworm and a die-hard Harry Potter fan. I love reading and I’ve got books occupying every available space in my house. My all-time favorite is To Kill a Mockingbird, both for its memorable characters (Atticus, I will always love you), and the issues it raises, which are still relevant today. A close second is My Family and Other Animals for its wonderful, quirky humor. There are too many others to list, so I’ll stop here.
What kind of content can you expect from One Carefree Cook?
I created this website for people like myself who want simple solutions for their everyday cooking needs. As a busy mom or a working professional (I'm both), I know that you may not have the time or the energy to create elaborate meals. At the same time, you don't want to eat unhealthy fast food all the time.
So, I thought of sharing the kind of meals I make for my family: real, fuss-free food that everyone enjoys eating at the dinner table.
You'll notice that the recipes are not from any one culture; rather, they are curated from all over the world with influences from American, Mexican, Mediterranean, British, Chinese, and South-Asian cuisines. I believe that with the coming of the internet, the world has truly become a global village where we are all connected with each other in so many ways, one of them being food. I am forever discovering, experimenting, and refining new recipes, and the only criteria I have are that they should be easy to make, healthy, and delicious!
To this end, you'll find a lot of quick and easy recipes as well as one-pot meals. I believe in making use of modern appliances to make life easy, so you'll also find quite a few instant pot, and air fryer recipes.
Oh, and there are some 5 ingredient recipes as well as 30-minute recipes for those of us who don't want to go through mile-long ingredient lists or spend hours in the kitchen!
There are recipes to suit every need, so do check out the recipe index to see what resonates with you.
What are you going to make today?