My dear friend and former student Agata Zasada has her eponymous website. “Agata’s Journey in the Kitchen” looks great.

It’s been a really long time since I blogged, and I keep having the guilty feeling, and I couldn’t quite figure out why. I was thinking maybe I should just close agata.ca, but then my pride would get the best of me.

Then something struck me today. Someone asked me how the holidays were for me, and I was like yeah, I cooked dinner for like 18 people and it was a blast. Their response was “oh right, you had that cooking transformation last year”. I didn’t laugh or disagree. It was true.

I never learned how to cook when I was young. It wasn’t that my mother was a bad cook, in fact, she was fabulous. But my interest lied elsewhere from an early age. I liked being outside, drawing, painting, reading, helping my dad. Essentially *anything* but cooking.

Now in my 30’s (yup, no shame here). I realized that this step I missed was hurting me. I was the heaviest I had EVER been, and I didn’t want to turn to pills or fad diets, so I decided to take control of what I put in my body. I also decided not to do some weird drink only juice and eat 1 chicken breast kinda diet. I wanted nutritious food because one day (fingers crossed) I would be a parent and I would need to not only survive, but also help this little person thrive. Quite honestly on June 30th 2015, I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to do that.

From July 1st and almost for 6 months straight (went to Morocco / 1 wedding / holidays) I was eating and cooking primarily #Whole30 [linked added]. I bought pots and pans (only the best), and for Christmas my husband bought me a few good knifes. I was so excited!

Agata is unstoppable, and a real inspiration.

This week: I am trying her Shepherd’s Pie. Yum!