Welcome to It's Cooking With Magda!

My name is Magda Dagnall and this is my food blog where I intend to post about my culinary explorations. I have always been very passionate about cooking and trying out new recipes has been my hobby for a very long time. I have a growing collection of cookbooks and cooking magazines that I'm constantly pouring over. I hope to inspire you to try out my recipes and tips.

I grew up in Poland where I graduated from college with a B.S. in Environmental Conservation and teaching credentials. I spent a year teaching biology and chemistry in a tiny town there when I decided it was time to explore the world and widen my horizons. I joined my family in California over a decade ago and never looked back.

Shortly, after my arrival I met my future husband, Jud. We have been married for almost a decade now and are a proud parents of two very active, creative, messy, loud and sweet boys. Jud is an amazing photographer who has been very patient about teaching me about photography.

I have always been interested in cooking. I remember watching my Grandmother making fresh noodles for her chicken noodle soup typically served for Sunday dinner. My Grandfather always liked it steaming hot with lots of freshly ground pepper, saying that if you didn't sweat a lot it wasn't good enough. Recently, I visited Poland and my Grandma, at 85, made me her plum dumplings that were just a pure heaven! I remember watching my Aunt Maria make delicious cakes and salads. She was constantly trying out new recipes and searching for the best ones. My Mom makes amazing dishes with fish and she is the person I call with various culinary questions.

Living in California provides me with an amazing amount of fresh produce all year long. I love going to Farmers' Markets a couple of times a week. Being exposed to so many different cuisines from all over the world gives me a chance to try new spices, fruit and vegetables in my cooking. I really enjoy Mediterranean cuisine as well as Indian, Thai and Japanese. I try to limit the amount of meat our family consumes as I believe the plant based diet to be the healthier one.

Our household is pretty busy and it gets hectic sometimes. I have a good collection of easy, quick and healthy recipes that have been tested in our house and work very well and I'm going to share them here with you. Over the last 7 years I talked to many busy moms who mentioned how hard it is to