REVIEWSCommunity
Q+ A with Stephanie Fazio, Lealou Cooks; Culinary Nutrition Expert, Cooking Instructor and Freelance Writer
Our friend and neighbour of 10 years is a chef extraordinaire! Stephanie is super passionate about real food and making it easy to bring real food into your home.
Her main mission is to help you eat well so you can feel good every day. She creates custom meal plans and offers coaching for families and individuals, hosts virtual cooking classes and workshops.
Stephanie will teach you how to make small changes that will make a huge impact on how you see food. Read more about Steph and her small business below.
Q. Hi Steph, what drives your passion for healthy eating and making real food a part of your family’s and other’s daily life?
A. Many people think eating healthfully is weird or meant for a select group of people, but I firmly believe it’s meant for everyone.
I love the challenge of changing people’s perspectives of what it means to be healthy. Food isn’t complicated, but food companies want it to feel that way so you’ll buy their crap. It’s a bit of a cycle and I help people see past the marketing.
Q. How do you help families and individuals achieve their goals when it comes to food?
A. Small steps make a huge impact. Many people think eating healthfully is an all or nothing mentality, but it’s not the case. You don’t have to do everything up front and it’s important to understand there’s always room for treats!
Q. What different types of services do you offer to clients?
A. My virtual cooking classes have been so fun and rewarding. I love seeing the smiles when people realize they’ve made something from scratch that tastes good! I also offer meal plans and coaching services to teach people how to eat healthfully and meal plan from start to finish.
Q. What has been your most popular Cooking class to date?
A. My Meal Prep Sunday classes!
Q. We know you have kiddos, do they eat everything you make?
A. No, I wish! My son has been picky since he was seven months old so it’s been a process. I’ve worked hard over the years to get him to try new things and he surprises me every day.
Q. Any big projects you are excited about and can share?
A. I feel passionate about helping everyone so I’m in research mode to see how I can do that. My goal is to have a course that fine-tunes the meal planning and healthful eating process for those who need it most.
Q. You are so creative, we are curious. What is your favourite meal to make?
A. Thank you! That is such a hard question for me because I love making different meals every day. My favourite thing to do is to create ‘something from nothing’. Look in the fridge and pantry, assess what’s there and make something up. It usually involves breakfast because it’s my favourite meal of the day.
Q. When you are not working, what do you like to do?
A. I’m a HUGE book nerd and love to read. So when I’m not working, I’m reading. I also love yoga, working out, and walking by the water.
Q. You live in Mimico, what do you love most about living here?
A. Mimico is one of my favourite places to be. I’ve been here 12 years and I love that I’m in Toronto, but that it feels like a small town. I love the people (it’s not pretentious here) and the over-all community feeling.
Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us! We look forward to attending more of your cooking classes in the future. For anyone looking to order their own personalized custom meal plans or speak with Stephanie, you can visit her website here: www.lealoucooks.com, email her: lealoucooks@gmail.com, or follow her on Instagram @lealoucooks.
