Hi, I’m Chef Lauren!

“For me, it’s a spiritual experience. It brings me back through time, through all the versions of me I was before I became who I am now.”

It begins with my grandmother. Nana Rita was your typical Italian woman, short and plump and always cooking and urging us to eat. I cannot think about my Nana Rita without thinking about her insane roasted garlic red peppers (which - no matter how hard I try - I simply cannot replicate) or seeing her standing over a pot of sauce that’s been simmering for hours. Inside that pot is also an assortment of sausages and meatballs that have been cooking and absorbing the flavors of her sauce for hours too. And the smell emanates throughout the entire house.

As a child, we would often drive from Montreal to Toronto to visit her and the rest of my family. My dad liked to drive at night - and it being a 6 hour drive -  often we wouldn’t arrive at my grandmother’s house until 3am. Instead of walking into a dark house, we would always walk into a well lit house, happily greeted by the smell of some kind of Italian food. My grandmother would be in her apron with a wooden spoon in her hand, filling our bowls with pasta or soup and sitting us down around the dining room table as if it wasn’t 3 o'clock in the morning, but instead, some sort of regular dinner hour.

I happily gobbled up everything my grandmother ever made for me, but I certainly took her cooking for granted.

“I stepped out of the rigidity of what I thought it meant to be a manager and into the flow of a leader, one who understands that what it takes to lead a team is compassion, understanding, generosity, kindness and authenticity.”

In fact, I didn’t acquire my grandmother’s love for cooking until later in my life when I was working as a manager at lululemon in 2006. Truth be told - I wasn’t very good at it. I was promoted too quickly and didn’t have the emotional maturity or business sense to understand what true leadership was about.

That all changed once I took a trip to Los Angeles in 2007. I was immersed into the world of farmers markets, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. My friend, Cassandra, would make her purchases and then cook meals from scratch during my stay there. She had this network on the television all day that I’d never heard of: The Food Network. A station entirely dedicated to cooking shows. I couldn’t quite understand it, but I became positively enamoured with one particular woman: Ina Garten (ask the Barefoot Contessa).

Inspired by Ina, my friend Cassandra, and the California farmers markets, I flew home to Montreal and immediately purchased all of Ina’s cookbooks. I began cooking (think Julie and Julia style). I quickly realized that there was no way my boyfriend at the time could eat all of the food I was making, so I began to invite my staff from lululemon over for dinners.

And that is when everything clicked - and transformed.

In cooking for them, I was in service to them. I have flipped the roles. Slowly, they began to relax and open up, and I began to learn about the beautiful reciprocity that is leadership. Beautiful working relationships blossomed - as did some lasting friendships, people who I am still friends with not almost 20 years later. I stepped out of the rigidity of what I thought it meant to be a manager and into the flow of a leader, one who understands that what it takes to lead a team is compassion, understanding, generosity, kindness and authenticity.

“Cooking is my love letter…”

After 4 years of transforming my life and my relationships - working and otherwise - through food, I left lululemon to attend culinary school. 

I worked for The Food Network’s Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes as his head baker on Melrose (total full circle moment - to be living in LA and working for a famous Food Network chef after having been inspired by that very same network I had never heard of in that very same city just 5 years prior).

Fast forward through a healthy meal delivery service in Malibu where I served about 30 families every week; selling vegan gluten free baked goods at the Malibu Farmer’s market and local restaurants; Publishing a vegetarian Paleo cookbook in 2017 (you can check out The Accidental Paleo here); taking a break to focus on my two children (born in 2016 and 2019); moving from Cali to Texas in 2022 and stepping back into cooking full time in 2023.

And here we are! Every week, I serve up healthy, delicious, farm to table meals to my clients, and after so many people begging me for the recipes and meal plans for their own families every time I would post videos of what I was serving up, I decided to do just that:

To take the guesswork - and even the planning itself - out of meal prep and planning so you can serve farm to table, high quality food made with love to your family each week. 

I’m excited you’re here and ready to create a new story with food.

Testimonials

  • Lauren is that someone that everyone should have in their life- even if simply through her insightful and mouth watering blog. She is a light - inspiring, loving, encouraging, and most importantly, authentic. I have worked with Lauren on many levels and she truly adds to any situation she is a part of - committed to the end. She walks her talk. When I think of integrity, I think of Lauren. She will bring out the best in you and you couldn't ask for a better coach to take you through whatever journey or process awaits. And it doesn't hurt that she is beautiful to book (inside and out).

    Jodi Guber, founder of Beyond Yoga

  • Lauren's approach to health and nutrition is refreshing. It's approachable. It's flexible and easy, and it's filled with killer recipes that I've had the good fortune of enjoying at one of her many gatherings. Do your best, and forget the rest!

    Tony Horton, Star of P90X

  • Lauren Lobley is an extraordinary lover of life - which makes her passionate about instilling this love in the people she meets and works with. Through tireless and infection enthusiasm, creativity and curiosity, nutritious and delicious recipes, insights, wisdom and resources, Lauren is committed to sharing ways to live the best life possible and bringing out the most 'delectable you'!

    Liza Utter, of Liza America’s Host

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