About

Be sure to follow me on Instagram,Twitter and Facebook for more great content that you won’t find on the blog. Questions? Email me at sara@dinneratthezoo.com.

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About Me

I’m Sara – a wife and mother to three girls. I’m also a food lover and a photographer. Before I had children I was the ultimate “foodie” – I cooked elaborate multi-course meals for friends and family with exotic ingredients and dined at the finest restaurants. I made absolutely everything from scratch. I regularly commuted into the city on the weekends for classes at the culinary academy. I owned 70+ cookbooks. I was in love with the art of cooking.

Then I had three children in two years and everything changed. I still loved to cook, but I just didn’t have the same time to scour the markets for specialty ingredients or drive an hour to Napa for lunch. Instead I channeled my love of food to preparing healthy and delicious meals for my daughters. You’d think that with my background, my girls would have sufficient exposure to a variety of foods to avoid picky-eater syndrome. That ended up not being the case at all, 2 of my 3 girls are quite picky. It is a huge challenge to come up with meals that all three will actually eat. I know I’m not the only mom out there looking for healthy recipes that are also kid friendly, which is why I decided to share my recipe repertoire with you.

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Qualifications

  • I have 22 years of experience in recipe development, which has resulted in the production of over 1,500 unique recipes.
  • I have studied at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco in the areas of knife skills, pastry, international cooking and candy making.
  • My recipes have been featured on major websites including BuzzFeed, The Kitchn, MSN, Country Living, Women’s Health Magazine, POPSUGAR, Glamour, Tasty, Oprah Daily, The Guardian, The Pioneer Woman, Parade, Good Housekeeping, The Today Show, Delish and Food Network.
  • I have created recipes for large brands including Sonoma Gourmet, SeaPak, Foster Farms, Johnsonville, ConAgra, Gorton’s Seafood, Rojo’s, Blue Bunny, Safeway, Blue Diamond Almonds, Tyson, Cheerios, Dole and McCormick.
  • My work is featured in the Beautiful Smoothie Bowls cookbook.
  • I have served as a cookbook reviewer for Contra Costa Times newspaper.
Dinner at the Zoo girls

What You’ll Find on the Dinner at the Zoo Website

More About Sara & the Blog

I’m new to the site, what recipe should I start with?

For a quick, easy and healthy meal, I recommend trying my honey garlic chicken stir fry. This recipe is so popular that it has been shared more than 1 million times on Pinterest!

What photography equipment do you use?

I use a Canon Mark III digital camera along with a Canon 100mm f/2.8L macro lens for the majority of the photos on the site. All photos are taken in natural light conditions.

Do you have a cookbook?

I do not have a cookbook available for purchase at this time.

How can I save your recipes?

You can create an account to save your favorite recipes on the site all in one place. Simply click the heart icon on the side of any recipe post to get started.

Some of my All Time Favorite Recipes

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