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If you are hosting a party for a crowd, cooking a healthy meal can be an expensive, time-consuming process. It can also be rewarding. Instead of just calling for a pizza delivery or popping some frozen snacks into the oven, put together a menu that will impress your friends, nourish them and leave them feeling satisfied. A healthy meal for a large group doesn’t have to consume you if you plan ahead.

ModernMom was super excited to snatch an interview with Chef Rock Harper, season 3 winner of the acclaimed cooking competition “Hell’s Kitchen”, book author, philanthropist and most importantly, father of three. He opened up about everything — from sharing some touching personal stories to offering moms advice for healthy cooking that kids will actually want to eat. Here’s our Q&A session with the endearing chef:

What do you find the most difficult to get done in your day? If you asked most people, many would answer: mealtime. From deciding what to cook, shopping for the ingredients, prepping, cooking, and finally, cleaning up, it can all seem so overwhelming. That is one of the reasons why we all have become dependent on take-out and fast food. Dial-up delivery is no longer a treat, but a mainstay in many homes. If youre working full time, its easy to let yourself off the hook, but its not that hard to prepare a simple, healthy, and inexpensive meal for your family.

We all have one in our lives. She might be your neighbor, your sister, your best friend, the Mom in the carpool line, or your colleague at work. Shes the crafty one that spends hours making homemade chocolate bats for the kindergarten treat bags or the one that manages to find time (and has the talent) to craft handmade centerpieces. We admire her, as she pours us a cup of homemade cider made from the apple trees in her backyard, but we also feel guilty. The cupcakes we brought to the party? Theyre from the grocery store. The jack-o-lantern on the front porch? It came pre-painted. Before the guilt bubbles up, remember that the holidays arent about the perfect cards or freshly baked treats. They are about having fun and not just for the guests for you, too!