About
REBECCA STOTTS
How Vibrant Food + Life Came to Be
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I have always loved food, but I haven’t always eaten my vegetables. It would be fair to say, that I haven’t always loved healthy food. Growing up, I was the veritable picky eater. In junior high, I survived on a steady diet of potato chips and chocolate milk for lunches. I ate some fruit, and I liked the types of vegetables you’d find on a chop salad like iceberg lettuce and cucumber. After high school, it dawned on me that I was getting nowhere near the nutrients I needed for my body to be healthy. I had to actively learn how to like vegetables as an adult. I put myself on the remedial “eat your vegetables” plan. I started out making pureed soups to get used to the flavor of cooked vegetables, and eventually worked up to preparing them in a variety of ways. After re-training my palate and experimenting with many recipes, I began enjoying all manner of cooked vegetables.
To this day, they are the favorite thing on my plate!
Let your creativity shine...
Culinary nutrition is different because it explores the practical application (cooking and eating) of nutritional knowledge.
All the knowledge in the world is not going to be of benefit if we can’t apply it to our daily living- and let’s be honest, food, both preparing and eating it, take up a significant portion of our day. I am passionate about cooking and eating at home. Yes, there are a myriad of options for eating out, taking out, and meal delivery. But in the kitchen, you can let your creativity shine, you can eat healthy for a fraction of the cost of take out or eating out, and you can control everything that goes on to your plate so you know you are sourcing the best ingredients for you and those you love.
I’m excited to share my passion with you!
Cooking has always been a passion. My mother had my sister and I in the kitchen from an early age. She was formidable in the kitchen and taught me the essentials of preparing food. My interest in the nutritional information behind the home-cooking started around the time of the clean eating movement. I started to pay more attention to where my food was coming from and the manner in which
it had been grown. I started paying more attention to what was on my plate and how it made me feel. I started seeking out organic, locally grown and raised products. I happily spent days at the farmer’s market dreaming about what recipes I could whip up in the coming week.
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My personal passion for eating beautiful food grew into something much more after I became pregnant with
my first child. Obviously, I wanted to give my child the best start in life, so I paid great attention to what I was eating.
Then 6 months after she was born, I developed postpartum anxiety. I had a suspicion that a change
in my diet would help. Some members of my extended family are gluten intolerant, so I made the decision to
remove it from my diet. No surprise, I started to feel better physically and my anxiety decreased substantially. This dietary change made such a tremendous difference in my life and really only deepened my passion for healthy eating and exploring how nutrition can play such a fundamental role in our lives.
That is when I decided to pursue a Certificate in Culinary Nutrition.
A little bit about my food philosophy!
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All the recipes provided by Vibrant Food + Life are gluten free and dairy free. We believe that food should be sourced as close to where we live as possible, this means making friends with your farmer’s market or checking out a CSA (community supported agriculture). Whenever possible and as often
as possible, food should be organic. At Vibrant Food + Life, we respect all diets and can modify
recipes to accommodate any dietary choice or need. As such, when meat is included in the diet,
we prefer to source local, grass-fed/range-raised meats and sustainably caught/Oceanwise Fish.
Want to know how culinary nutrition can help you in the kitchen?
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Cooking is an act of love
& just a little more...
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Rebecca Stotts was born and raised in Calgary, though she has had the opportunity to travel and live abroad. She is a wife and mother to two beautiful little girls, ages 5 and 2. She is the primary meal planner and prepper in her busy household, so she knows the struggle is real! Rebecca has a degree in social work and was employed in that field in a number of settings over her career. Rebecca has also had the opportunity to be a stay at home mom. She enjoys reading, meditation, and camping.
