“Nagi and Dozer” An Australian Cooking Duo

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Well, the headline is not true. “Dozer”, the beautiful energetic golden retriever doesn’t cook, he leaves it up to his human “Nagi” but he is her willing food tester.

How can you not fall in love with Dozer and Nagi? I am a dog lover. We are currently THE HUMANS of our dogs “Patches” and “Vader” and before them, there were many others. I stumbled over the cooking blog RecipeTinEats by accident and was first attracted to the dog, but then got quickly distracted by the recipes.

Nagi and Dozer were different. Her recipes, the videos, the ingredient photo, the amount of comments from people who actually tried the recipes, everything was intriguing about it.

And so I followed RecipeTinEats and one evening when my husband tortured me with football on TV, I read up on the Nagi’s story. Turns out Nagi had a successful career in the corporate world and one day she decided to risk it all and follow her dream and she started her now-famous cooking blog.

That’s my kind of human. That’s my kind of woman. And that’s why I am writing about her today. I admire women and men who follow an inner calling and against all odds make their dreams come true.

Until yesterday I didn’t know much about Nagi’s dream and now, after I learned about it, I not just like her, but admire her -openly.

Nagi has done what so many of us hope for. She did not just write a cooking blog. No! She does so much more. She has made a difference and continues to do so every day. She is making a difference in so many people’s lives!

But first back to her cooking!

I have tried some of her recipes and my husband loves them all -so do I. She creates and cooks wonderful meals and if they happen to be healthy, then it happened by accident (her own words). Truth be told, a while back she asked her fans and supporters what they wished for and it seems I wasn’t the only one who wished for healthier recipes, due to my diet and health restrictions. Many of us answered in the comments and Nagi listened.

Her home-made Hamburger Helper from scratch is a standard in our home, and so are the Vegetarian Sweet potato steaks with Tahini Yogurt Sauce

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How could I resist? “The eye eats too,” an old Austrian saying and it’s so true. The more appealing a dish looks, the more likely will I try it.

My husband’s favorite. The one-pot Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade), was altered by me to fit into my husband’s cardio diet. Skim cheese can taste good!

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Nagi and Dozer are well known in Australia so it didn’t come as a surprise when Nagi decided to write her own cookbook. It took her a year and she was just rewarded the Book of the Year, which is not a small accomplishment.

I looked at the cookbook and wished for it but didn’t order it. It was a bit over my budget, even though there really isn’t a budget, just a self-declared pain limit when it comes to spending. My mind hasn’t adjusted to the new price reality -perhaps it never will- or maybe the time when we lost everything has made me frugal.

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And then I saw the video and now I will order her cookbook. Not right away, because we need a new washer and dryer and two new mattresses first, but after that’s taken care of this year, there will be room for things like the cookbook of my favorite food blogger and some other luxuries. How could I not buy her cookbook?

Nagi runs a food bank and you know what I like most about that? She and all her helpers make recipes and portions that leave the people feeling like they mean something.

When the gentlemen in the video said that, my heart melted and I nodded. That’s so often missing in our times. We help people in need but we don’t think bout their feelings. Food isn’t just food, clothes are not just clothes, blankets are not just blankets. All the things people need have meaning and most importantly, the people receiving help mean something too.

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Nagi and Dozer don’t know that I am writing this. She doesn’t know me, but I feel I know her a bit now.

I hope she doesn’t mind being on my blog.

Check out her blog but most importantly, watch the little video clip about her dream to have a food bank. 100,000+ meals a year, that’s not a small thing to do. That’s huge!

The quality of the meals, the mindset of Nagi and her wonderful helpers. It all shines through.

Thank you, Nagi! Thank you, Dozer! Thank you, helpers!