all aboard
THE AIR FRYER EXPRESS Howdy! My name is George, and I’m also known as the School Lunchbox Dad … Google it! My first book, Lunchbox Express, was pretty good. Good enough for my publisher to say to me ‘Hey George, we know how much you love your air fryer and how popular your recipes are … we think it’s time you created your own George-style air fryer book.’ And so here we are, giving you a sneak peak of my new book Air Fryer Express. For those who don’t know me yet, I’m an Aussie dad who loves rocking out to Pearl Jam, writing my own music and poetry, and also having fun in the kitchen. I love creating healthy and creative meals for my daughters, Anela and Kiara, and I’m a very hands-on dad. I’ve been married for almost 20 years to a complete stunner named Marina. I took over cooking and lunch-making duties for my girls a few years ago and ever since I have been looking for ways to make lunches fun, healthy, simple and quick! When I first started making school lunches, I would fire up the oven each morning just to bake a few pastries or scrolls. The girls loved the food I was making, but I had to look for a faster solution. Then, there it was, like a shining light from the heavens … the air fryer! It was a lot more economical, required no preheating and cooked food in half the time. I was instantly inspired when I unwrapped my first air fryer. It was so easy! Just plug in and play.
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For example, when I was growing up, my mum would make baklava and it would take the whole day. Now I can make it in a fraction of that time. My wife and I both work full time, so we need to save as much time as possible. I think of air fryers as smart devices. Like smart phones, they make life easier and help us to get things done quickly. A lot of the recipes in this book are very important to me. For example, the gevrek recipe was my grandfather’s special recipe. He was a baker (maybe that’s where I get my passion for cooking?) and the recipe was sent to me from my aunties in Macedonia. I used to eat many of these dishes as a kid and they fill my soul. My mum got more satisfaction from my sister and me eating her food than anything else and that’s exactly how it is for me today with my girls. I get to express my love for them in the form of a beautiful dinner or a colourful and healthy school lunchbox. I’m so excited to share these lunchbox ideas with you because I have worked really hard developing recipes that I know you are going to absolutely love.
It was a revelation when I discovered how much time I could save in the mornings using the air fryer. Pizza scrolls only took 8 minutes to cook compared to 25 minutes in the oven (including preheating time). That’s a 17-minute difference! I could have my breakfast and espresso, as well as make my wife a singleorigin fi ltered coffee in the time I had saved. When you are a busy parent or carer, time is of the essence.
I’m no chef, I’m just a hard-working dad with a passion for creating simple and healthy food and a mission to inspire people everywhere to make life a little more magical for their kids. With this book, I hope to make it easy for you to use your air fryer to whip up delicious, creative food for your family. Follow these recipes and you’ll be a kitchen rock star with loads more spare time to spend with the ones you love!
The air fryer also gave me the opportunity to recreate some classic dishes that would usually take hours to cook in a regular oven.
x George Georgievski
