Hi! Welcome to Joe’s Healthy Meals.
I am Joe Boyle the chef. I am the writer, experimenter, and photographer of this food blog. Mary Jo is my wife, technical adviser, and proofreader. She’s also a great baker and provides me with beautiful bread.
Background
I was born in a small rural town in west-central Illinois. It was in the heart of farm country. My dad was the Agriculture teacher at the local high school and he drove a school bus, picking up the farm kids on the way into town.
We lived there until my second grade when we moved to the big city, Peoria. My dad got a job as a Livestock Marketing Specialist for the government. All that I recall about that is at around noon, he would be on the local radio with the livestock market reports.
I eventually ended up growing up in suburban Chicago. For my college years, my dad got transferred to Minnesota and I went along to attend school.
Education
I attended Lakewood Jr. College in White Bear Lake, Minnesota for one year and that is where I met MaryJo.
For the remainder of college, I attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a degree in Art Education.
While at the U of M, I joined Army ROTC, and after graduation became a Second Lieutenant with a commitment to perform 2 years of active duty. Air Defense Artillery was my choice of duty and I ended up in Everglades National Park at a Nike Hercules Missle Battery.
Culinary History
Mary Jo and I got married when I was in Missile School in Fort Bliss, El Paso Texas. We ended up in Homestead, Florida for two years then moved back to Minnesota.
Fast forward 20 years which brings us to my culinary excursion. Mary Jo was always a great cook and I learned so much from her. She made cooking and trying new ingredients and recipes fun.
I started cooking daily for the family because I was the one at home in the afternoon with our before Mary Jo got home from work. That was the beginning of my love of cooking. Over the years I’ve learned to appreciate the value of a good recipe and a good chef. I’m still learning, experimenting in the kitchen and I still cook all of our evening meals.
Start A Blog!!
We retired, bought a 50-foot boat, sold the house and everything, and drove it from Minnesota to Florida. We intended to do The Great Loop but Mary Jo broke her leg and that whole idea fell apart.
We ended up staying in Dunedin Florida where Mary Jo got a job. I was on the boat doing maintenance and cooking dinner every night. I didn’t have a job but decided to start a food blog! I didn’t have a clue about the business, but I did have quite a few recipes to share.
I decided on Joe’s Healthy Meals because “Who doesn’t like healthy?” I try to keep most recipes healthy but not always…I hope that’s okay. I include a nutrition label on most recipes so you can determine if the recipe is right for you.
At Joe’s Healthy Meals, we’ll show you some of my best recipes and I’ll search for recipes that sound interesting and give them a try. I’ll also give you some tips on tools and techniques to make food preparation fun. I hope you enjoy the meals and recipes I come up with.
Featured In
Throughout its ten years in existence, Joe’s Healthy Meals has been featured on: Tasty.co, Southern Living, Boston Magazine, Brit.co, Yahoo, The Spruce, and She Knows.
You can find me on Pinterest FaceBook Instagram @joeshealthymeals
You can contact me with questions and suggestions at my email: joe@joeshealthymeals.com. (I do not accept Guest Posts. Thanks)
What’s Up?
We still enjoy boating and keep a boat on the Mississippi River in Minnesota. Here is a photo of one of our last fall cruises with my daughter Katy, her husband Dean, Mary Jo, and me.
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