Eat, Love, Play With The Community... Repeat

Hello! If you don't already know me or my blog, I would love to introduce myself or re-introduce myself for that matter. I am a mom to three boys- 8 year old twins Étienne and Sébastien and 6 year old Matias. For over four years, I have been blogging on family meals, cooking multicultural cuisines from scratch and getting kids in the kitchen to cook. My children are older, less dependent which allows for me to get back full throttle in my beloved culinary profession. 

As a Culinary Consultant and Real Food & Food Education Advocate, my passion is to inspire people to cook from scratch and to learn about multiculturalism through trying different foods. I have been a Food Professional for over 15 years, from catering, to product and recipe development, to writing for food magazines, and currently, my biggest joy- cooking with adults and kids of all ages (right now mainly newcomers)! Knowing how to cook is a life skill must! It paves for a happy healthier future with smarter food choices and boundless deelish creations- a lifetime of adventure for all your senses! I have been so blessed in my career- I got to work in so many facets around food. It's been a real fun journey. For me now, it's all about paying it forward... imparting Food Education and teaching Cooking through School and Community Collaborations, in hopes to get the young and old alike excited creating in the kitchen! 

Let's be real! There's no use in taking all this knowledge to the grave with me- it has to be about giving back and sharing it! At the same time, it is even more important that I keep up my energy by staying active which includes strength training (you should see the amount of schlepping I do for my classes). Eating well and exercise without question goes hand in hand. Not only do I need to do it for myself, but I have to be that part- it's keeping it real to connect with everyone I work with, especially the impressionable youth. To inspire and motivate, I must live by my words 360°. As a result, my blog content is moving towards my work with the community and living a healthy lifestyle with good eating coupled with regular exercise & activity. Instead of the family table, it's also the neighbourhood table- still family but in a big community way. I hope you join me. If you are looking for ideas to create a culinary program or want to get into food as a profession, Contact Me.

Colour Your World with Food and Exercise- literally! Make Monday about Moving Mountains. It's the start of a new week, whatever you have on your agenda, just do it. Shred those excuses! NAMASLAY! 🙏👊

OM with a side of PoW PoW- Reggae and Roundhousing.

This summer I have two big programs on the go. The first is hosting a Summer Culinary Program with these fantastic youths (about 50), shown here with my boss Derek. This year, thousands of refugees from Nigeria arrived in Toronto and are living in hotels. TDSB Community Services reached out to hear directly from the youth to discover what supports and resources they wish to have. Thus, we have organized a number of activities to help foster this community and ease the transitional challenges faced by Canadian newcomers, and one area is Cooking and Food Education 😀. 

TDSB Blog Post: Refugee Youth – BBQ @ Scarborough Bluffs

At my first 6-week summer culinary program class with Toronto's recently landed Nigerian refugee youths at Terraview Adult Learning Centre. They have been living in hotels since arriving and meals are cooked for them (often the same kinds of food). The only alternative is making simple no cook foods in their hotel rooms with a cutting board and knife. The key to my sessions are real take-aways- simple, healthy food ideas they can easily replicate and within a low budget, while introducing multicultural flavours and dishes. We made up two delicious dips- Mexican Guacamole and Mediterranean Lemony Dill Yogurt Dip served with a host of various healthy vegetable crudites to kick things off! Some were apprehensive to try something new, but at the end they were tasting a bit of everything, and exclaimed it was delicious 😋. Will they try making them-- most said yes!!! 😁 That is the biggest reward for any teacher-- students taking the learnings outside the classroom, adapting it in real-life and sharing it forward. Coming up, BBQ and picnic packing safety tips and some easy-to-do gorgeous salads to go! 🍅

Mexican Guacamole and Mediterranean Lemony Dill Yogurt Dip

The other summer culinary project in the works is a free four-week series Neighbourhood Table community family cooking program (kids ages 6-12 with their parents) with the Arab Community. This is in partnerships with St.Philip's Lutheran Church and ACCT 😀. The first theme is around fresh herbs. Along with a 4 course menu (app, salad, main and beverage) arts & crafts and physical activities will be offered at various "garden themed" stations. What we have planned is going to be fantastic for the participants and everyone involved!

Alas, Happiness is eating gelato, chillaxing and discussing a personal partnership and community projects with this stunning lady Ashima Suri @ashima_limitless (my counterpart in the school year's Parent Engagement Culinary Program)! An Artist, Story-teller, Healer, Community Builder, Yoga Teacher, Choreographer and Friend-- her beauty and big heart shines inside out with everything she does 💞 #soulsistersynergies #believeandachieve #☝️❤️

I am So-O Excited to field the many projects and partnerships that continue to come my way all in the name of health, wellness and fitness :D. If you want to collaborate on a community project, want to start a culinary program or a culinary career, Contact Me. I will be thrilled to brainstorm and discuss with you. 

Here's to a happy & healthier now and tomorrow!