Finally found the courage to introduce myself - Future Nutritionist in the making!

healthygourmet (25)in #healthgourmet • 7 years ago (edited)

My love affair with food dates back to my grandma's kitchen in my native land-Guyana, South America; she was a caterer, I was her sous chef at the tender age of 11. I remained her sous chef until I migrated to the United States at the age of twenty-one in 2004 and then started my own gourmet catering company in 2008 in Atlanta.

Nothing brought me immense pleasure like cooking for friends, family, and clients and watching them chow down my mouth-watering culinary creations which featured a Caribbean-fusion flare. I'm referring to trademark dishes such as Island-BBQ Jerk Chicken, Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast w/ Parmesan Cream Sauce, Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp w/ Raspberry Chipotle Sauce, Wok-Sauteed String Beans w/ Lemon Butter Sauce, Indian Curried Chicken, just to name a few. I delighted the public for almost nine years with my gift of cooking and catering, I catered events for 10 persons up to 350 persons, but it was during the last two years of catering, I felt that something was missing. There was an emptiness, a lack of satisfaction in what I was doing, I still had a deep love for food, but my heart was not into catering anymore.

It was hard enough that I rarely ate what I cooked and offered my clients at my catering functions, my personal diet was a conflict with what I was serving the general public. I was eating healthy meals like herbed seasoned spaghetti squash with roasted curried chicken breast while I serving my clients delectable and fattening entrees like spinach stuffed chicken breast with Parmesan cream sauce. I had no control over what my clients wanted to order, they were paying me for my services.

I did however realize that almost every guest at my events was on a weight-watch. Going through the buffet line for some was a nightmare, I'd hear comments like "I can't have potatoes, I already had starch today" or the most famous line "I'm only having salad". During this epiphany of my dissatisfaction with catering, my interest of the relationship between food an science piqued; I wanted to know how the body reacts to certain foods, what makes us lose and gain weight, what food aids in digestion. I found what my true passion was and what made me happy as it related to food. It was a passion to help and educate people on making healthier choices in their daily food selection. Turning string beans into a tasty dish without all the calories. Armed with this new self-discovery, I enrolled in college for the first time in my life, I am an entrepreneur by heart and I always will be, but in order for me to properly help anyone I needed to educate myself and I wanted to pursue this endeavor the right way. I am currently studying Health Sciences with a concentration in Health Science Professions at Georgia State University-Perimeter College and will transfer to the main campus in downtown Atlanta next year where I will be enrolled in the Nutrition program to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Nutrition Science. Future Nutritionist in the making!

I will be using this amazing platform to upload and share cooking videos, healthy recipes, cooking tips, grocery shopping tips and much more. I look forward to being apart of this wonderful community!