Here is a bit about me...
I love to cook. I’ve always loved to cook and to develop new recipes! As a Culinary Coach, I offer inspiration and customized cooking instruction to people who have a desire to learn how to prepare tasty dishes that match individual lifestyle and dietary health requirements.
Many of my clients have food sensitivities and eliminate items such as wheat, gluten, sugar, dairy, soy, eggs, beans, corn, or yeast. Often they have recently been diagnosed with celiac disease or a high count of candida, and they are baffled about how to shop and cook for themselves. Sometimes they can’t figure out what to make when preparing meals for someone else who has major diet restrictions.
I bring many years of experience as a Personal Chef and a Bed & Breakfast owner in Calgary, AB. In both of these roles, I designed delightful, healthy, and diet sensitive meals for people with a wide variety of dietary needs. I have recently moved to Victoria, BC, and I am excited apply my expertise as a Culinary Coach here in this mecca of gorgeous local organic food!
| A large part of my success with eliminating 20+ years of pain caused by endometriosis can be attributed to Glo’s gentle guidance, encouragement, and her creative recipes for making gluten, sugar, and dairy-free food taste amazing! Natasha, Client |
My philosophy about food
Many people say to me: "I can’t be bothered to cook. I have no time. I wish I could just take a pill and forget about eating altogether." Most of us lead busy lives with food options around every corner, available for a fast, filling snack or meal. They fill us up, but they don't always satisfy.
We eat, but do we taste what we are eating? We gulp and slurp and swallow, but many of us couldn’t tell you what was actually in that dish, especially an hour later. Me? I like to experience my food. I delight in the colors of an eggplant, yam, red pepper, or blood orange. I want to see it, smell the aroma as I grate the zest of a lime, squeeze a lemon, rub fresh rosemary between my fingers. I’m happy when I can grow fresh herbs in my garden for a salad or soup. It’s wonderful for me to live in a climate where raspberries and grapes wax eloquent in my own backyard!
For me, cooking isn’t simply about eating. It’s about engaging my senses, about art and meditation, about nurture and compassion. There’s soulfulness in the crisp refreshing crunch and flavours of a Vietnamese Salad Roll with a Spicy Almond Dip. We’ve all heard it a million times, but when food is prepared with love and gratitude - love for the ingredients and the earth, gratitude for the ability to be able to chop and stir and purchase or grow these foods, love for the people it will feed - there is energy and power in that food. Therein, lies nurturance, food that heals. Every time I dig into a Tabouli salad of fresh mint, tomatoes, parsley, lemon, and millet I feel healthy, as though I’m doing something positively outstanding for my body! This kind of healthy eating is NOT about deprivation, but about celebration of the innumerable vegetables, grains, lentils, beans, fruits, fish, eggs, meat, nuts and seeds that I can eat!
What is my philosophy? I see it as challenging myself with a variety of vegetables, spices, food combinations in order to create flavourful food for myself and to help instil that same joy and curiosity in others. It is my desire to assist people who have dietary challenges to prepare meals and snacks that are satisfying and delicious, broadening their scope of possibilities in a planned yet delightful way.
