If you have had a chance to turn on the Cooking Channel to see an episode of “Tia Mowry at Home,” you’ll agree that the mother of two can cook. In fact, it is one of my favorite cooking shows that will stop me in my tracks to watch as Tia Mowry whips up some of her favorite dishes and drinks for family and friends.
Two years later after her show launched in 2015, Mowry released her first cookbook, “Whole New You,” in 2017 that served as a book for healing as she shared her story of having endometriosis, a condition when tissue develops outside of the uterus that is often painful and can lead to infertility. This diagnosis changed her life, causing her to change her diet which ultimately transformed her body.
Her YouTube show “Tia Mowry’s Quick Fix” followed in 2018, quickly amassing more than 400,000 followers who tune in to watch Mowry host a variety of easy-to-do videos that include anything from “Beauty & Style” to “Tasty Recipes.”
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This year she kick-off 2019 with a new and exciting partnership with McCormick. The actress and kitchen aficionado is sharing some of her favorite recipes that incorporate the spice line into everyday cooking with the goal of helping fans create a “Feel-Good New Year.’
“I am really excited to partner with McCormick and their herbs and their spices. This was a no brainer for me to partner with them. I put them in almost all of my favorite dishes that I make,” says Mowry. “I just truly believe that these herbs and spices, they take whatever dish you are making to the next level. I am a huge fan of just adding and boosting lots of flavor to any dish and they definitely do that for me.”
I had a chance to speak with her for a few minutes during her time in New York earlier this month to learn how to spice up my own recipes as well as what the future holds for one of our favorite culinary stars.
What would you say are your top five [staples] you must have in the cupboard at all times?
My top five would definitely have to be of course herbs and spices. So, you have your garlic, you have your pepper, chili flakes, parsley, basil, just to name a few. Onion powder. I love onion powder!
Of course, oils are really important, so whether that is avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil, the list goes on and on. Grains, so brown rice, white rice or pasta. I like to cook with quinoa pasta, brown rice pasta. I like to try and test different pastas out. Snacks are always fun to have in your pantry, whether that is walnuts, peanuts, cashews which are great to always good have on deck. Flours. Spelt flour, all different types of flour.
Tell me a little about your culinary influences growing up and when did you really start to really come into your own in the kitchen.
I grew up in the kitchen. Well, if I am really honest and frank with you, my mom had me in the kitchen at six. She put me on a little stool and I was washing dishes.
Both of the parents, you know they were working so it was about the kids around the house helping any kind of way they can.
I really feel like my culinary experience or journey really began when I was like around 12-years-old. I was my mom’s sous chef. So during big meals like Thanksgiving or for Christmas dinner when she would have to cook for 15 – 20 people, she would have me in there, and if some fried chicken needed to be seasoned, she would have me do it. If the collard greens needed to be cut up, she would have me cut the collards, wash them, just do a lot of prep work. Then she saw that I was good at it and so she really put me to work.
So I always say it kind of even started as a chore. So for a week at a time, I would swap out with my sister, I would cook for the entire family; breakfast, lunch and dinner. So that is when I just really, really fell in love with cooking and to have a career with it now, to have my own cookbook out and to have my own YouTube show, I am really living my dream. I absolutely love to cook. I am so passionate about it.
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Where do you get the inspiration for your recipes?
Especially, in particular with my cookbook, “Whole New You,” this book embraces the whole new you approach for the body and the soul. I was inspired to eat this way because of some health issues. I had something called endometriosis, and in order for me to have children and not have too many surgeries for this condition, my doctor was like, “You need to change your diet,” and that is exactly what I did.
So I was inspired, number one, to go on this wellness journey to make healthier choices for my meals and snacks because of that. But also, I look at Instagram. I go out and I eat. I am just inspired by traveling around the world and trying and tasting different things.
What can we look forward to in 2019?
I am so excited about 2019. First of all, just being a mother to two incredible children. They make my heart beat, they really do. So just being a great mother to them, being present in their lives and loving on them unconditionally.
I have a show coming out on Netflix. It is called “Family Reunion” with Loretta Devine and Richard Roundtree. They are phenomenal. I am really excited about this show. We are talking about amazing groundbreaking topics on the show and I think it will be great for the whole family to enjoy. Check out my YouTube Channel, “Tia Mowry’s Quick Fix,” I am going to be making some more videos, so that is what I have going on so far.
With a second cookbook brewing in the background, be sure to stop by McCormick’s site to check out Mowry’s recipes that include Tia’s Crispy Roasted Chickpeas and Tia’s Turkey Meatballs and be sure to follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
