Homer Glen Blogger, Cook Publishes Cookbook

HOMER GLEN, IL — A Homer Glen blogger and cook is releasing her own cookbook in April. Stefanie Bundalo, the founder of popular food blog, "Sarcastic Cooking," will publish her book, "Quick Prep Cooking with Your Instant Pot: 75 Big-Flavor Dishes That Require Minimal Work" on April 2.

Bundalo said she has been blogging for over seven years. She said she worked from home on the book and developed, tested and photographed all 75 recipes in the book while still managing her blog.

"I started the blog on a whim and immediately fell in love with it. I taught myself how to cook and bake and experiment in the kitchen. I come from a science background," she said.

Bundalo, who grew up in Downers Grove and moved to Homer Glen in 2015, graduated from Illinois State University with an Environmental Science and Public Safety degree. Growing up, she said she never really loved cooking.

"I liked to experiment in the kitchen with my brothers and dare each other to try our grossest flavor combinations. That was the extent of my cooking until I got back home from college."

She worked as a health inspector in restaurants and then a catering manager, and she said she grew tired of not being ever able to actually cook the food.

"That's when my whim of a food blog really took full focus for me," Bundalo said. She blogged for about two years, and began to get sponsorships and some money from ad revenue. She quit her job in 2012 and became a full-time blogger.

In December 2017, Bundalo said she got an email from Pagestreet Publishing asking if she had ever thought about doing a cookbook. Bundalo said she first thought the email was spam, but quickly began emailing back and forth with the publisher.

"I was very much into the idea of quick prep weeknight dinners and my publisher thought with the whole Instant Pot craze why not try to cater it to that device and make cooking even easier for people," she said. "That was how Quick Prep Cooking with Your Instant Pot was born. The great thing about a multi-cooker is that is has a sauté, slow cook, and pressure cook function. The book is all about making those special meal times easier to achieve."

Her book features recipes like Mexican Coke and Lime ribs, Lemon-Paprika Smothered Pork Chops and Lobster Fettuccini. All the recipes require just 15 minutes or less of prep work.

Bundalo said the real work on her book started for her when she had to sit down and write the introduction and introductions for each recipe.

"The cooking, testing, retesting, and photographing was the easy part for me," she said.

You can pre-order her book now on Amazon. Bundalo is also working on another cookbook, which is a collaborative effort with three other authors, which will be out later this year.

" I look forward to the success of the book/books and continued connection with all sorts of people through our mutual love of cooking."