By Stephanie Cohen
Roslyn@antonmediagroup.com
As a stay-at-home mother, to have a hobby or the time for one is an indulgence. For me, it is singing, and that small hour I get to myself with my voice coach a week is my slice of heaven. It is my little way of not giving up my childhood dream. Imagine being able to parlay your childhood hobby and dream into a potential career while still being a stay at home mom. Impossible right?
Not for Nicole Meyer. Since 2011, Meyer, 37, turned her childhood dream into a reality with her food blog NibblesbyNic.com. Meyer, a stay-at-home mother to Noah, 4 and Ella, 8 has always had a passion for cooking and food.
“I remember as a child my friends and I would have a pretend cooking show Chef La La Mae,” she recalled. “Our staple was four cheese English Muffin pizza which is still the best.”
Meyer was an avid tennis player growing up, so nutrition and healthy eating always was an important part of her life. After receiving a Bachelors for Interpersonal Skills from the University of Delaware, she worked for eight years in commercial real estate. The hours were intense and long, and Meyer eventually stepped away because she knew the job was not practical for starting a family.
The blog came about when her son Noah was one. She was at the park with a few friends and they were all sharing recipes. They were all so intrigued by her Turkey meatloaf recipe that they all asked for the recipe. A light bulb went off: What if she started to just email her friends a recipe a week. Well, it snowballed from there. People started to forward her recipes, and before she knew it she had 300 people on her email list.
“The list was so large I had to split it into two separate emails, because my server couldn’t send out so many at once,” says Meyer. “Then in passing someone said , ‘You know you really should start a blog.’ Meyer laughs, “A blog? What’s a blog? I knew nothing of computers and was a little intimated by the idea, but I wanted to challenge myself.” After teaming up with a great web designer who still helps her to this day ,in four to five months she launched NibblesbyNic.com Now, four years later she does everything on the site herself. It started out small with one recipe a week, but evolved to two and then three. ” Many people will struggle to find a meal for your family, to consider yourself a cook you cook 3 nights a week. There is nothing wrong with left overs are ordering in a pizza.” Meyers explains. Meyers recipes are inspired by simple, healthy, fresh ingredients. On a trip to Capri before she had children, she was inspired by the simplicity and wholesomeness of the ingredients. It’s this inspiration she tries to incorporate into her recipes. But she also knows moms have to be realistic, adding, “I have to two kids so I will make a festive cake pop for dessert and make sure dinner we have some vibrant veggies and a healthy protein for dinner. My husband Eric and my kids are very patient. Even though I am cooking for them anyway it is still for the blog so I can’t be repetitive. Plus , they can’t eat till i have taken the perfect picture of the food to post.”
Due to the popularity of her blog and some heavy social networking on Meyer’s part, she has garnered some high-profile media attention, having appeared on ABC’s The Chew for a one pot wonder segment, showcased a chia crusted chicken on Dr. Oz , kid-friendly mac and cheese for Rachael Ray and an under-200-calorie dessert on The Steve Harvey Show.
The next step for Meyer is her book that is coming hopefully in time for Mother’s Day and the graduation season in both print and electronic. Being put out by Life Rich Publishing, the book is a guide on how to entertain guests in a stress-free way.
“This is will be your best friend and event planner all rolled into one,” Meyer adds. “It is all about easy hands free entertaining. No knives or forks needed.”
From there she is hopeful one day do have a cooking show of her own and have her own line of modern serving pieces.
