Ann Wayne Lake Zurich

Daily Herald Correspondent

As an avid home cook and stay-at-home suburban mom, Ann Wayne loves planning and cooking family dinners every night. "Inspired by Rachael Ray and her 30-minute meals, I provide healthy and nutritious meals for my husband and four children," the Lake Zurich resident said (you can see them for yourself on her Instagram account @whimsicalann). The 54-year-old fills out her days with a home-based business supplying creative, handmade invitations, decorations, and party favors.

Wayne finds inspiration for her family dinners in cooking shows and magazines looking for new recipes to try. "I improvise and tweak recipes to make it healthier, gluten-free versions without compromising taste," she said.

Another fan of garlic, Wayne adds it to nearly everything, and she admits to sneaking veggies and other healthy ingredients into her meals so well that her kids don't even notice. A serendipitous purchase at a neighbor's garage sale, an immersion blender, is her current utensil obsession but she's absolutely wild about her Instant Pot. "This love is so strong I have recently begun teaching Instant Pot cooking classes to help others learn pressure cooking and to share the love," Wayne beamed. She has been having fun experimenting with perhaps the second trendiest utensil - a spiralizer. "It makes eating veggies fun for the whole family."

She recently began pickling onions and vegetables, too, but it's not all about the veg. Wayne's guilty pleasure is her mom's homemade cookies. "Sugar, Oatmeal, Snickerdoodle, Chocolate Crinkle, Pizzelle, Ring-a-Rosie, Chocolate Chip, Elephant Ears - it doesn't matter, I'll eat them all," she declared.

Clearly a "foodie," she is eager to begin the Cook of the Week competition to express her creativity using new products and ingredients. Just don't put peanut butter on the ingredient list. "I do not like the smell," Wayne admitted. If my kids want a PB&J sandwich, they make it themselves."