Joanna & David: Tag Team Cooking

The most important thing in our lives is staying happy and healthy. – Joanna & David

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  • By Jackie Sun
  • February 25, 2015

Busy schedules usually mean very limited time for grocery shopping and cooking, let alone meal planning, but Kitchen Heroes Joanna and David have figured it out – with tag team cooking! By balancing their hectic schedules and working together, this husband and wife duo are able to enjoy healthy, home cooked meals, which makes for a happy household. To see how they do it, read their Heroes in the Kitchen story below.

Name: Joanna & David Evans
Age: 27 & 28
City, State: Durham, NC
We cook for: ourselves.
Outside of the kitchen we: are a data manager (David) and a fourth year medical student (Joanna).
The most important thing in our lives is: staying happy and healthy.
We cook because: it’s fun trying new recipes, and we get to eat healthier than if we ate out all the time.
Favorite Cook Smarts meal so far: Adobo-Honey Chicken Kebabs

How did you learn to cook?

Joanna is a self-taught cook, after spending years watching Food Network shows and reading cookbooks and cooking magazines.

David learned the basics from his mom while growing up, but has really started to branch out and expand his repertoire since starting to follow Cook Smarts’ recipes.

What’s been your biggest cooking challenge?

With limited time for meal planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning, we need an efficient way to pull dinner off during the week. We’ve definitely fallen victim to buying tons of groceries and then finding that we don’t have the time to cook them — or, we come up with a tasty entree to make, but are lacking in the vegetable department. Joanna is usually the menu planner, but sometimes her schedule is too busy to plan a week of healthy and economical meals.

What have you learned since starting Cook Smarts’ meal plans?

Using the Cook Smarts meal plans has allowed David to take the lead in meal planning and cooking during the weeks that Joanna is working super long hours. Not only has it been easy for David to find recipes, but he’s also been able to use the videos to learn new skills when there are steps he isn’t sure about. We also love that Cook Smarts pushes us to try new vegetables and new styles of cooking to get us out of our dinner rut.


“We also love that Cook Smarts pushes us to try new vegetables and new styles of cooking to get us out of our dinner rut.”


Tell us about your proudest kitchen moment.

We hosted our first Thanksgiving for 12 people the year Joanna started medical school and pulled it off without a hitch (including cooking a 23 lb turkey!). Now our family looks forward to coming to our Thanksgiving dinner every year.

What are your tips for a healthy life and success in the kitchen?

When you’re trying a new recipe, take the time to read through all of the instructions beforehand. If things get dicey while cooking, slow down and take your time if you can. (Sometimes a tasty meal that’s a few minutes behind schedule is better than one that is rushed but on-time.)

Also, don’t be afraid to try new things! Some of our favorite recipes have been things we never cooked before trying Cook Smarts.


It’s so great that the two of you split the cooking responsibilities, Joanna and David! It’s such a good feeling to know that someone’s got your back and you can still come home to a healthy, homemade meal after a long day at work or school. We wish you success in your medical studies, Joanna, and David, you’ll be a pro chef in no time with all the kitchen skills you are learning!

To join Joanna and David and cook meals like their favorite Adobo-Honey Chicken Kebabs, check out our meal plan service. You can get started for free!

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