A Couple Cooks :: Sonja Overhiser in the Momlight
A decade ago, Sonja Overhiser found herself in the shoes of many twenty-somethings, newly married, in a new house, and wanting to do some adult socializing. She and her husband, Alex, thought it would be fun to host a dinner party for their friends. The catch - they didn’t know how to cook. Sonja jokes they existed on Hot Pockets {her} and Taco Bell {him} and had no real interest in cooking. And somehow 10 years later, this blogging powerhouse couple is gaining an international following, has created over 1,000 recipes featured on their blog, and recently published their first cookbook. What you’ll discover is an incredibly humble and thoughtful mompreneur looking to improve herself and her world.
What started as a one-time couple’s adventure into cooking quickly blossomed into the Overhisers discovering they loved their time together in the kitchen.
“We saw food as this something that could be creative or fun and something that could be done together,” Sonja explained. As they continued to bake, blanch, and broil their way through the kitchen, they began exploring more into the genesis of their food and its impact on consumers and the planet. The book Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating by Mark Bittman, which challenged them to think about the way their food choices affect their bodies and the world around them by encouraging a whole food, plant-based diet. This means, primarily eating unprocessed foods derived from plants. While inspired by the idea, Sonja wasn’t sold on it. “I thought, I’m not the type of person who would eat vegetarian, that’s not me.” Instead they focused on simply eating more vegetables, and it grew from there. They started by cooking one vegetarian meal a week and now eating 90% vegetarian. “We have found the way to get ourselves to eat a lot of plants, is not to feel bound by strict rules. We allow ourselves to eat meat when we are out for a special occasion or if we have a real craving.” And with that life change grew their blog, A Couple Cooks.
Sonja and Alex ran their blog and subsequent podcast on the side while maintaining careers as technical writers.
Over the years A Couple Cooks gained notoriety and finally Sonja made the leap to full-time blogger, food writer, and cook when their son, Larson, was born 2.5 years ago, and Alex followed in her professional footsteps soon after. Nearly a decade since their foray into blogging began, Sonja is still amazed at how far they’ve come. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams, and especially that I blog about cooking. I grew up not cooking at all. My mom was really worried I wouldn’t be able to survive, because I had no interest in feeding myself,” she laughed. “Now, I pinch myself thinking that I get to do what I love.” That love has gained the Overhisers national acclaim, including features in theWashington Post, Huffington Post, The Today Show, Oprah, Food & Wine, and Bon Appetit.Sonja’s newest passion project - Indy Women in Food - grew out of her love of cooking and drive to support women. Co-founded with Ashley Brooks, Indy Women in Food aims to foster collaboration and empower women working in the Indy food scene. “It’s been really exciting to watch, we started it just because we wanted to connect women working in food and create a place for natural collaboration to happen,” said Sonja. “We have uncovered incredible women doing incredible things around the city.” Recently they began a DiverseCITY series of panel discussions shining a light on women of color doing cool things in food in the Indianapolis area. They hope to help more women find a space and support in an often male-dominated field.
SPEAKING OF FOOD-DRIVEN MOMMAS:
We featured Sprouts Cooking School's Stephanie Drewry in the Momlight this Spring
These days, Sonja is focused on enjoying her family, blogging, and cooking, especially with their son. Bringing Larson into the kitchen to cook has been important to them, in fact they’ve been doing it since he was born. “We are always having him taste and smell or allowing him to stir. We are trying to expose him to everything, realizing that on any given day he may like one thing and not the other.” She laughed that as a toddler, Larson often prefers the entertainment of his Legos to whipping up a new dish, but says the key to getting kids interested is letting them do things. “You just have to be okay with messes and cleaning up a little more,” she explained, saying he will mix, add ingredients, pour, and scoop now and plans to increase his involvement as he grows.
Sonja hopes more families will discover the benefits of a whole plant-based diet, encouraging people to take baby steps.
“Start with one recipe. Don’t feel like you have to have it all figured out right away,” she said. “Maybe go to A Couple Cooks, browse around, and find a recipe that inspires you.” She added it was a gradual lifestyle switch for their family, but one they have found to be rewarding and easy to maintain. “Our goal is to make our recipes as simple as possible to make. They should be easy and healthy, but have a really amazing flavor.” Want to infuse more plant-based options in your diet? Check out A Couple Cooks; pick up their brand-new cookbook, Pretty Simple Cooking at Homespun, Goose the Market, Nicey Treat, or anywhere books are sold; and give A Couple Cooks a follow on Instagram to see the latest in their adorable family and mouth-watering culinary adventures!
