Everything “Sweet Magnolias” Actress JoAnna García Swisher Cooks in a Day [Exclusive]

From Freaks and Geeks and Are You Afraid of the Dark? to Reba and Gossip Girl, JoAnna García Swisher’s onscreen roles have run the gamut. While she now hosts The Ultimatum: Queer Love and stars in the romantic drama series Sweet Magnolias, none of these compare to the role that García Swisher says she holds most dear: being a mother.

The Florida-born Cuban American actress shares two daughters, Emerson Jay and Sailor Stevie, with her husband of 15 years, former professional baseball player Nick Swisher. The haven she calls home has inspired her to launch a lifestyle platform called The Happy Place, which she describes as a “destination for all things home and happiness,” with a special emphasis on good eats, which is evident in the many recipe videos she posts on Instagram.

García Swisher stays booked and busy, and those morning routines as a working mom can be even more demanding than a day on set, so she’s always looking for ways to reduce stress and stay organized. She’s passionate about minimizing food waste and keeping ingredients fresh and flavorful. “I always love partnering with companies that I actually use in my daily life, and Ziploc is definitely one of them,” she tells The Kitchn. “So when they approached me about sharing tips and tricks for reducing food waste, and how I use Ziploc bags to make our lives easier and more organized, I immediately said yes.”

For this edition of Cooking Diary, García Swisher walks us through her kitchen must-haves, favorite smoothie recipe, and go-to easy meals.

I’m definitely a creature of habit, and right now I’m in my protein era. So there’s a lot of Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. But my kids are really into chocolate croissants. We’re not heavy breakfast eaters, but one of the things I share on Ziploc.com is how we make mornings easy for us. Ziploc helps me cut down on food waste by keeping our fruits and veggies fresher for longer. I like to make pre-packed baggies filled with fruits and vegetables, which I freeze ahead of time. That way, the kids can easily make smoothies in the morning. 

We use Sunday as our prep day, and we prep different snacks that they can easily grab and curate their own lunch boxes. My girls are getting to an age where they really want to do that. Then we use any leftover fruits and veggies for our bespoke smoothie bags, and they are able to grab that very easily in the morning and create a smoothie that I know is nutritious and healthy, which is the most important thing.

Right now, the girls are very into kiwi, mango, and spinach. And then they’ll throw in another little something to jazz it up if they get a little crazy, like sometimes banana goes in there and orange juice and stuff like that, but we are very into the tropical smoothies at the moment.

Dinner is usually a protein and a veggie. I love a roasted veggie. My girls are more into steamed veggies, so I usually do both. We have a lot of broccoli, asparagus, and peppers. I’ve also been dabbling in Crock-Pot and Instant Pot meals. I love a good bowl, and we have this nifty little rice maker now, so there’s always something prepped and ready to go.

Yes. I’m very into dark chocolate. It’s a problem. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have a nice hunk of dark chocolate.

I am a coffee drinker every morning, but I do love a matcha latte.

It’s been great. We’re having a lot of fun! We’re about four episodes in. It’s just been a really wonderful experience so far. I’m actually directing two episodes this season. There’s a lot happening this season, tons of romance, and we’re really getting back to the heart of the women, their roots, and this new chapter they’re stepping into, so that’s exciting.

It really was. This community has been going strong for a while now, and it’s something we’ve truly grown together. Even though it’s a large group, over a million people, it feels incredibly tight-knit and engaged. Honestly, it’s like my personal diary. I speak from the heart, I share recipes I’m cooking for my family, and it’s become a meaningful way for me to connect. We now have an amazing book club that has transitioned into a production company. We’ve produced three movies for Hallmark, all based on a book series we featured in our club. This space has become a place where we connect over everything: food, parenting, grief, lifestyle, what we’re reading, and how we exercise. It’s been such a beautiful and organic evolution, and I genuinely feel like we’ve built this together. It’s very meaningful for me.

It really exploded when I became a mom. When I was growing up, my mom was an amazing cook. I come from a Latin family, and we share a lot of meals together. And my brother is an orthopedic surgeon, but he’s also an extraordinary cook. So much of my great moments from my childhood are all centered around food. And so, after I became a mom, I wanted to create those moments for my family.

We do this breaded chicken that they’re very into, but my favorite meal to cook is arroz con pollo, which is yellow rice and chicken, so they also love it when I cook that. I also make a good pasta dish. My older daughter loves my Bolognese, so that’s a surefire winner.

I do this really great pulled chicken in the Crock-Pot. I’ll make huge batches and store them in the freezer. Then we can thaw it out and add rice or veggies.

Oh wow, that’s such a good question. Atlanta has a really cool food scene. I work in Atlanta, and there are a lot of really talented chefs who come here. I think Tampa’s food scene is really growing, too, which is my hometown. New York and Chicago are also great.

I’m currently halfway through season 5 of Sweet Magnolias, and that will take me through the rest of this year, and then hopefully, we will have another season to share with you in early 2026.