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The Meditative Power of Cooking: Jillian's Story of Healing and Transformation
Have you ever wondered what it takes to turn a personal turning point into a career transformation? Join me, Portia Chambers, as I sit down with Jillian, a seasoned professional chef who embarked on a culinary journey after burnout in social work and a lupus diagnosis. Her story of moving from one fulfilling career to another is a testament to the power of embracing change and following one's passion. We share insights into how food became her meditative escape, offering solace and creativity while distancing from the need for external validation. This conversation is especially meaningful to me, as my daughter dreams of becoming a chef, and Jillian's experience is both inspiring and enlightening.
Food is more than just sustenance; it's a universal language that builds community and connection. Jillian and I explore the emotional bonds food creates, sharing personal anecdotes about our families and the shared experiences around the dinner table. We discuss how cooking and baking serve as forms of meditation, providing satisfaction and solitude. With Jillian’s unique perspective, you’ll discover how food bridges differences and brings people together, regardless of their backgrounds. This episode is filled with stories that highlight the powerful role of food in our lives and the joy of creating inclusive dining experiences.
Sustainability and creativity in the kitchen go hand in hand, and Jillian is a wealth of knowledge on the topic. We delve into practical tips for reducing food waste and crafting meals that resonate with the seasons, emphasizing the use of local produce and pantry staples. From the technique of preserving celery for bean soups to setting unconventional business hours, we discuss various ways to innovate in the culinary world. Jillian's journey from social work to culinary arts showcases the exciting possibilities within the food industry, offering inspiration for those contemplating a similar path. Join us for an episode brimming with personal growth, the joys of cooking, and the boundless opportunities that come with embracing change.
Connect with Jillian on Instagram @faretheewellbychefjill
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Join me, portia Chambers, as I sit down with women just like you, sharing moments in their lives that shaped them into who they are today Stories of motherhood, betrayal, transformation, love and loss, vulnerable conversations, deep connection and collective healing. Welcome to the this Is we podcast. I am so excited to have our next guest here with us. Jillian is a professional chef with nearly a decade in the industry. She's built community around topics such as local food and sustainability and demystifying dietary restrictions. Living with chronic illness and growing up in small town Ontario has taught Jillian the importance of our relationships with others and ourselves. Welcome.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited you're here and I do have to share with everybody that this is your first podcast. It's like interview recording and I feel so special and privileged to be the first, because it's always so exciting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm so excited it's gonna be great.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be amazing. So I actually haven't heard Jillian's story and I feel like this is really the vibe for season three of this. Is we, where I am literally just talking to people, blind more or less, and it's always such a treat because it allows me to be a lot more curious and I don't necessarily know where the story is going. So I'm I'm listening to it just the same as everybody else, which is always very exciting. So I'll stop talking and I'm going to turn it over to you, Jillian, and share, share with us your story of being a social worker social worker turned chef.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so basically, it started in my mid 20s. I was working as a social worker for about five years and I did enjoy my job, but I was just finding it to be really draining. I was becoming very, very burnt out and I realized through that process that just I am very results oriented. I like to see progression. I like to see the beginning, the middle and the end to projects, and you don't get a lot of that in that industry, and I've always loved cooking Ever since I was a kid.
Speaker 2:You would find me in the kitchen at all times, like if the neighbor was baking cookies, I was next door. If my grandma was making stew, I was like helping make the roux, like it was just something that I love so much. I would watch the Food Network as a kid and write down the recipes and then make dinner for my family, but it was never something that I considered as a career, and it wasn't until I was diagnosed with lupus in 2011 that I started to change my eating habits a lot. I got more focused in on nutrition because I wanted to heal my body naturally as much as I possibly could, and that's kind of what catapulted this like okay, I'm not happy in this career? What are the possibilities?
Speaker 2:I have this interest now in nutrition and because I was cooking at home a lot more, because I couldn't really go out to eat, because I had restricted my diet so much, um, that I was cooking for my friends and family at home or at their houses, like I'd be like I'm coming over for dinner but I'm bringing everything, everything to make dinner, because I never wanted to inconvenience everybody and I someone I have no idea who it was and I thank this person, whoever it was out there hopefully you're listening and you can be like. That was me but someone said to me like, why don't you go back to school to become a chef? Like, go to culinary school, you're so good at this, you love it so much, um. And I was like, oh my gosh, that's such a great idea. Um, and that's basically how it happened. I and then at that point started doing some research and I found George Brown college's, uh, culinary management nutrition program. So it wasn't just chef school, it had the nutrition component and the rest is basically history.
Speaker 1:That is wild. I'm very fascinated. This for two reasons. One, I love listening to people's stories and I love when there's transitions in their lives and it's almost the complete opposite of what they were originally doing. And two, my daughter wants to be a chef, so I'm just like so can you so do it? Cause she'll be off at school next year. Maybe we'll see what she's going to do. But George Brown is on her list. All right, yeah, it's up there. George Brown is on her list. All right, yeah, it's up there. It's up there. Um so, how was I want to talk about the moment when that person uh, that we do not have their name, uh, uh, you know, kind of opened your eyes a little bit and said, hey, like why aren't you doing this? Like, what was that moment like for you?
Speaker 2:Like, what was that moment like for you? Uh, scary and but just like so freeing. Because I felt like at that moment, like that time in my life, I was so down and I felt so low, like I didn't really know where to turn. And I came from a family, um, where people stay in their careers their whole life, like my mom worked at a hospital, like within this hospital network, for 40 plus years. My dad worked in the same, like trucking industry for his entire career, basically, and it was just like. It just felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. Like I was like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense.
Speaker 2:And then thinking about you know, when I was a kid and how much I loved cooking, and you know, like going back to those memories, I was just like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. And then thinking about you know, when I was a kid and how much I loved cooking, and you know, like going back to those memories, I was just like I would. That was me at my happiest Like what have I been doing all of this time, you know? And I was also like going through a breakup at that time and I had bought a house with my previous partner and I was in my like. It was just the whole thing just came together so seamlessly and that's what made it feel so right, like I was, like this is meant to be, you know, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I would always think that that would be so. I think I think exactly what you said, like a weight to be lifted off your shoulders, and sometimes it feels nice when somebody can recognize something within you that you just have not seen yet, and it's just, it's a nice like oh, I never even really thought that I could do that, or that would even be an option for me. I just wanted to, you know, figure out how to, like, you know, I could make meals with, like, having lupus and everything like that, rather than actually making career out of it. So how has it been, you know, navigating that, going back to school, you know, years later, yeah.
Speaker 2:So that was. It was really tough. I won't lie, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It was, it was brutal. Like going from working full-time, having all of that income, to being a full-time broke student again. Side note, are we allowed to swear? Yes, okay, okay, yeah, like being a broke-ass student for the second time in my life was really difficult. It was also difficult for some of my family members to accept.
Speaker 2:As a social service worker, you don't make a lot of money and that was always kind of a bone of contention between some of my family members and I have. Just, like you know, you pick this career where you're not making a lot of money, you're also miserable. And then when I decided to go back to school to become a chef, they're like you're going from one low paying job career to another. Like what are you thinking? Like what is the matter with you? So it was really hard with my family for quite some time, like I would say basically the entire two years of my culinary diploma and into like the following two years years. And it wasn't until I really started to find my footing in my private chef career at that time, right after school, that my family members are like oh, she can actually make some good money doing this and like she's really good at this.
Speaker 2:And you know, the starting salary as a private chef starts anywhere from, like you know, 50 to $75,000 a year. So, and that's starting. So it was once those conversations started to happen. Everyone was like, okay, maybe this isn't so bad, you know, but it was tough. It was definitely quite the adventure, the journey.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and actually I was actually going to ask about your family or just other you know, outside influences, because I feel like, especially when we make a big change in our life, there's so many people, especially people that have only done the same job their entire life, that, just like my husband's, like very corporate.
Speaker 1:It's not that he's narrow-minded and I, but he just him. It's just like that success to be at the same company for 30 plus years. This is success. This is true dedication, where I'm like oh, whatever, like whatever is my heart spark to do, I'm going to do and move over to do it and stuff, and he's just like I can't, the like the, the instability of it all.
Speaker 1:Um, but I was going to ask about the family, or just like those outside influences, because sometimes those, their fears and their own insecurities can really play influence in our own decisions and can make some of the things that we are trying to do for ourselves really, really hard. So did you find that they had any pull or were you just kind of like? I'm in this and I'm going to prove you guys wrong, because I feel like when people think, chef, and I think I was, I wasn't so much this, but my daughter had said it. But you immediately go to like long working hours in a restaurant exactly probably what your parents were thinking. Like you know you're getting paid next to nothing. You're going to work 12, 15 hour days just to literally sleep and go back Like you're immediately thinking of the bear, like every time you think chef.
Speaker 1:Like you're not, but there's so many options. Like I'm like to my daughter, like you could be a private chef, you could have a catering business, you could do a variety of different things. It's really not one thing. And it could end up like you open a bakery because that's how much you love things. Like um, so I lost my question there. But did you find that their influence had ever changed anything? Or really felt like this kind of subtle nagging or pull at the back of your head being like did I make the right decision?
Speaker 2:Yes. So, um, definitely in my twenties I was still in that like mindset of like I needed everyone's approval. So it was really hard for me, like emotionally, uh, mentally, to step out of that and be like, no, I can do this. And you know, there's still moments now, even into my later thirties, where I'm like I don't know, you know, and I want that outside approval from my family. But I just I kept going back to that feeling of like, the freeing feeling of being like I love this so much. And you know the saying of you know, do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life is something I like. Breathe, it's it really. Anytime I'm in the kitchen, nothing else is happening around me.
Speaker 2:It's just like solitude and it's amazing and beautiful. And it doesn't matter if I have three ingredients or 20 ingredients, it doesn't matter what they are Like, I'm just. I'm so happy.
Speaker 1:I love that and can relate to that so much, especially the solitude point, because I don't know if anybody knows this you might not even know this but I bake, so I make sourdough and sourdough bagels for my community. I bake twice a week, like every morning, so I bake tomorrow morning and I love it and it's because it's something that I get to do with my hands. It's completely in my own space, my own mind. The solitude of it all, like I can't be on my phone and doing this at the same time, and I think that's why I do it, because it's like it's a little job that brings me a little bit of joy and I love when people enjoy something that I've made. But it's like I call it a hobby job, but really it's like a hobby job that I can do without my phone and it feels so good.
Speaker 2:It feels very connecting. There's something about food that is very connecting. It's tactile, you can see the fruits of your labors relatively quickly and who doesn't like food?
Speaker 1:Homemade food? I love homemade food. I like appreciate when somebody cooks a meal for me because I think I cook all the meal like I cook all the meals in our house, so like I go to my parents house and like it. It has to be a home cook, like there's good restaurants and everything like that. But there's nothing like a beautiful home-cooked meal that was just made with love and thoughtfulness and like you're just eating it. I'm just like oh, this is the best.
Speaker 2:Yes, I totally agree, and it's funny because a lot of people are very intimidated to cook for me and other chefs. Um and my friends are still like, oh, I can't cook for you. I'm ordering takeout. Or like we're going for dinner and I'm like you could make me Kraft dinner and hot dogs and I would be so happy. Like you don't understand how nice it is to have someone that actually is like I'll cook for you, Sure, yeah.
Speaker 1:It doesn't even need to be fancy, like I think sometimes the simplicity, like you had said, like grab dinner and hot dogs, like a coffee tastes better when somebody else makes it, even if it's the exact same thing that you do every single day, like you're literally pressing the Keurig button, that coffee immediately tastes better, absolutely. And it's the same with food. And I would love to bring up the connection piece in food because I think I know that you've done a lot of dinners, um, and connection is so like I don't know. Connection is amazing and it's nice to connect with food.
Speaker 1:It's funny because my dinner partner and I were talking earlier today and because I bake and she sent me this I'm sure you've seen these but the tablescapes with all the bread on it, like where they cut the baguettes and they lay them all up vertically. And she's like sends it to me and I was like, well, I guess I could make a lot of bread, we could do this. And she's like, wouldn't it be so cool to do this like really cute parting gift with your bread? And you know people like you know breaking bread together. And I was like, yeah, I'm like that's kind of cool and it's kind of the same thing that you just touched upon. Is that that connection? So please share with us more about that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so.
Speaker 2:Like I was saying earlier, like my um, I was always in the kitchen as a kid and it's funny because my dad's side of the family owned multiple food-based businesses before I was born and when I was young.
Speaker 2:So my dad's side of the family gets it and understands food and connection, and one of the last business they had was a family restaurant and in my hometown everyone knows my last name and everyone remembers Conway Gardens, which was the restaurant that they owned, and they remember certain dishes and the servers and the people in the kitchen and just like it's just such a beautiful thing, like I can't go anywhere in my hometown without someone being like waving to my dad or stopping us in the grocery store or something. And I mean the town is like over 20,000 people at this point, so it's not that small anymore. So I mean that in itself just speaks to connection. But I think food is one of those things that, no matter our political views, religion, race, sexual orientation, anything, we all come together over around food, around the table you know, and it's something that we all have in common.
Speaker 2:We all need to eat and it's all something we can relate to, can relate to, um, and I think that's what's so beautiful about food is, you know, at a lot of the dinners and events food-based events that I've hosted, people come from all different walks of life and all different age ranges and they're all together sharing food. And I only do family style dinners. I don't do anything else, even my private chef stuff. I very rarely would do individually plated meals and it was because for me it was. Food is my heart and soul and I want other people to enjoy it the same way that I want to enjoy it. And I want people passing those platters and helping the person next to them holding the plates or the tongs or whatever, because that in itself kind of creates this connection and this like family, like interaction.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean it's called family style for a reason, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was just immediately. I was thinking it was like creates this like subtle bond in a way where, like you have to kind of ask for help, and it's that's sometimes the hardest thing for people to do is be like I can't hold this platter and scoop it on my plate. So it's like, can you hold this while I scoop it and then I'll do the same for you, and it's like it's an easy gateway to like conversation Absolutely. And people love talking about food. They love talking about like their favorite dish or like the restaurant that they went to um, or just like the things that they're eating right now. Like I think it's, it's fascinating, I think it's really like really, really cool and I love, I love the mention of your dad and the family restaurant. Like immediately, immediately to me. I'm like he's famous. He's famous in a small town. Everybody knows his name. Like people are waving to him famous in a small town yeah, why not?
Speaker 1:and I think I think the restaurant like immediately when you started talking about it and people coming to the family restaurant and everything like that, like my husband about I didn't have a family restaurant or like friends that had a family restaurant growing up or anything like that, but my husband did and he had a great. He had his friend, a great friend of his um, had a restaurant in town and they were always there and they and that bonded him to that family in such a deep, memorable way and to this day, like that restaurant is still not there or that restaurant, the building's still there. It's like a standalone building and he'll still drive by and be like. I used to do this there and I had like conversations with people there and I'm like that's so amazing to have that opportunity to be welcome into like a family restaurant and just be like come on in, come eat, because there's there really is nothing. Like come on in, come eat, because there's there really is nothing. There's nothing like that and you're not getting that so much anymore.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, it's so true. I mean, I'm very fortunate, I consider myself very lucky. I've lived in my neighborhood for like 12 years at this point. So I do feel like that happens when I go dining out in my neighborhood, cause I know everyone and I've been here for so long at this point and it very much feels like a small town in the big city, um, but that's just. I think you know, because I've lived here for so long, the neighborhood is like it's definitely changed a lot since I've been here, but a lot of the store owners, restaurant owners have remained the same, um, so there is that like homey connection feel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, I know there's pockets of that. I know where you live and I don't know if you want me to say, well, I don't know where you live, but I know the vicinity of where you live, but there is like nice little pockets in there. I think it's like the same as my small town. My mom's always, like you, always know everybody and I was like, because I've worked and lived in this town for so long, it would be weird if I didn't.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I'm like I live in Toronto so it's like you know, I know lots of people who live in different areas of the city. But, you know, oftentimes I'm talking to friends and they're like they'll come to my neighborhood and we'll be walking and they're like you know everyone and I'm like I've been here forever, you know, and the neighborhood is gentrified. So I feel like I've kind of like, in a way, grown up with the neighborhood. You know, I moved here in my 20s and like this neighborhood, this place, like my apartment where I live, it's like seen so many different versions of me that's so cool, that's so neat.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know I'm such a small town like I always tell my husband we're gonna move away, and he's like Portia, no, you're not, I'm like, I know I love'm such a small town Like I always tell my husband we're going to move away and he's like Portia, no, you're not, I'm like, I know. I love watching the town grow and change and I like to know, like I have changed in this at the same time, that I'm not necessarily standing still. So, coming back to like the family style dinners is there in all of the things that you have done, is there like a story within a story where you have seen connection over food? Or just like a moment in your, you know, in your chef life I don't want to say career, that could be friends, it could be with people that you don't even know Just like a moment where you're like were like wow, like I did this and it wasn't about serving the meal, it was about something more so I think this kind of goes along the lines of what you're asking, but I so I was.
Speaker 2:For a period of time I was working, uh, with Jess Janz, who's the host of Dinner with Strangers. Yes, and um, I was cooking for dinner with strangers and this uh person came to one of the dinners who I recognized from Instagram and her and, uh, her best friend, have a essentially, it's like a financial literacy platform that they educate people about financial type things on Instagram. And she came to the event and at that point, um, I was really trying to figure out if I wanted to write a cookbook or how I wanted to progress my career. Um, and she came up to me at the end of the dinner and she was like, where can I find your recipes beyond Instagram? Like, we already connected on Instagram and I want more than just this. Like, do you have a cookbook? Is there a dinner with strangers cookbook? Like, what's the deal? And I was like, no, like this is just kind of you know a thing that I do and I, you know I don't really write down the recipes for dinner with strangers and she was saying she was like you know, I really love how you've curated this menu for 20 plus people, all based around their specific dietary restrictions.
Speaker 2:So dinner with strangers we don't set the menu until we get everyone's dietary restrictions, and then it's, and then I come up with the menu, and that's how I've done pretty much all of my events. So for me, I want everyone to feel welcome and because I've worked in the private chef industry for so long, I got so well versed in the dietary restriction realm that I was able to come up with these family style meals that made everyone, no matter what their restriction was, feel included and like they got to enjoy things just as much as everyone else at the table. Um, you know, like the vegetarians weren't eating like a cauliflower steak or a portobello mushroom, um, because that's what they typically get yes, exactly.
Speaker 2:Um. So she was like you really need to have this cookbook. Like you have a natural talent for being able to create these dishes with all of these different dietary restrictions whether it be gluten-free, dairy-free, no pork, you know, no legumes, whatever. What have you. And that sparked the idea. And that sparked the idea. And it's funny because now her and I and her business partner are working on an e-cookbook. That's cool and it doesn't specifically speak to dietary restrictions.
Speaker 2:But another thing that I'm really passionate about is food waste and how to use things in your kitchen and being sustainable. So we are developing a cookbook right now that is speaking to just that. So it's using things from your fridge, freezer and pantry that have been in there forever. Like we all know that we have that jar of lentils that we're like what the hell are we doing with? You know it's charged. Yeah, we bought this during the pandemic. We need to use it. It's, like you know, quite a few years old at this point. So those recipes Circle are basically made out of all of these types of things, things that we commonly have, as well as spices that we have in our pantries, because people don't often realize that spices start to lose their potency after only six months. So I've created, we've created spice blends from the spices that are already in your pantry that you can then use interchangeably in any of the 12 recipes.
Speaker 1:That's cool. There's so many things in here that I'm so excited to talk about because I'm like, I'm all about sustainability. I love it, especially food sustainability. I'm a huge person, like I do like meal prepping not meal prepping but I plan our dinners every week in advance and I'm always like, okay, if I'm getting celery for this, what can I put celery in? Because this isn't an item that we eat regularly and I know I can put it in water and it lasts a lot longer. Like, obviously, that's what I do to keep it lasting longer.
Speaker 1:Um, but you know, it's like trying to figure out because I hate food waste. I have chickens and they consume a lot of our food waste, but there's a lot of things that they just can't eat and won't eat, right, and I shouldn't have the mindset where it's like, well, I'll just give it to my kitchen or my, my chickens and just waste it. I still try to, you know, have the food sustainability. And it was funny that you had mentioned like things in our pantry. I literally this week I opened my pantry and there's a can of white beans and I was like, why did I buy this? I bought this because I wanted something from this and I'm like was it a hummus? Was it like a cold salad? I can't remember. So like next week I'll be like looking up a recipe with white beans in it, because I'm like I just can't leave this in here forever.
Speaker 2:My favorite hack for canned beans or beans in general, especially white beans because of their color is you blend it into a creamy soup. You don't even know it's there. You're getting the added fiber, so you're getting those nutrients, and you just like you know you have kids, so it's like they won't even know it's there either. You're blending that soup anyways.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God, I know what I'm making next week for dinner. I have a recipe already in my mind yeah, it's.
Speaker 2:uh, that's my favorite way to use them, because my mom actually just called me this morning saying I'm making this casserole and my dad is having cholesterol issues so they've been trying to eat more fiber. And my mom just called and she's like okay, I'm making this tuna casserole. If I blend this can of beans that your dad bought and just dump it in with the mixture, is that going to be okay, because my parents hate the texture, yeah, and I was like, yeah, it's going to be fine, you won't even know it's there. And she was like, really, you're not just like saying that because you want me to eat it. I was like, no, mom, it's going to be fine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's just going to be like saucier, and I love sauce.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh Sauce and sauce in any dish will make me happy.
Speaker 1:I'm like there's never enough Agreed. What is your favorite meal to make people? I really wanted to ask this If you have like a dish, like a signature?
Speaker 2:dish that you just love making. So chefs get asked this question a lot, lot and it's always funny because I feel like it really just my answer always depends on the day. You know, the mood, the time of year. I'm very pro local eat what we have in season. I've done so many um collaborations with uh like Ontario Produce Marketing Association and local berries and apples and it's something that is just like so near and dear to my heart, like we should be eating the food that surrounds us um as much as possible. Um, right now I'm very much in like my pasta and risotto era.
Speaker 1:I'm kind of liking this.
Speaker 2:So it's honestly, I'm like every time I open my pantry I'm like, okay, I've got like six different types of pasta noodles, like what are we doing with this today? And then I just go into the fridge and whatever veggies I have hanging out and I do. I'm more partial to a uh, like a creamy sauce or like a smooth sauce in my pasta. I do love a bolognese or, you know, a ragu, don't get me wrong, but I do just love that like a pureed style sauce. So like even something like carrots. I will roast the carrots, blend them, add some cream, some Parmesan and then like that's my sauce and also a great way to get in more veggies. Yeah, so yeah, and I'm big on texture, so there's always like some type of toasted nuts or bread crumbs or something just to like give you a little crunch.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Fresh herbs always in everything. We don't utilize fresh herbs enough, um, and they just add so much, and I get that it's a pain, um. But like you said earlier with the celery, you know, if we think about ways that we can use these things ahead of time as opposed to just buying them on a whim, um, and if we plan ahead, then they'll get used. You know, and once we process fresh herbs, they will last much longer. You can make a chimichurri and leave it in your fridge for weeks.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, and it's totally fine, you can marinate some chicken and throw it into the freezer with that chimichurri, you know.
Speaker 1:Um, I think that's often something that goes bad in people's most often yeah, and especially an herb that you don't use often, but I have my, like my three herbs that I use very often Cilantro, my fave. If I can find a dish to put cilantro in, I will find it. Um, I love it. I know it's not for everybody, some people it tastes like soap and some people just taste like cilantro, but I, I love it. I know it's not for everybody, some people it tastes like soap and some people just taste like cilantro, but I, I love it. It reminds me of Mexico and I think that's why I love it so much. Basil obviously, that's a must and I like it because to me it's not just pasta. I put it on my salads to add, cause I'm not a big like lettuce flavor person. So it's like I need something else that will take the flavor.
Speaker 1:Um, and time I think time is like a classic way. I'm not even a chef. This is just what I do at home a classic winter. I use it in every soup that I make because it's just so good, it's so flavorful and it can be very light or it can be like strong. Um, but yeah, I know, I I try to be as sustainable, as sustainable as possible with my cooking because I don't like food waste, and so is there any tips that I know we like, totally sidetracked from what we were originally talking about, but I just feel like this is information that we don't hear enough of, and I think sometimes it's planning, of course, but sometimes it's literally just like opening up your fridge and opening up your pantry, like you had said, and kind of understanding what you can make with certain things.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So I have a few, I think, for me. Um, when I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by my fridge, my freezer or my pantry, I like to make a list of everything that's in there and then, before I go grocery shopping, I'm like okay, what can I use, what do I want to use this week from the fridge, freezer and pantry?
Speaker 1:What meals.
Speaker 2:Can I make out of that and what do I need to buy to fill the gaps? Yes, and I also am someone that doesn't like I don't advocate for over planning either. You know, especially those of us that live in an urban setting we're going out for dinner, we're ordering takeout, we're too tired to cook, whatever the situation may be. So I think a lot of the time I know so many people that like meal prep and they'll meal prep for the whole week and then three, two, three of those meals end up going in the garbage because they just didn't feel like eating them or they didn't come home that night or whatever. So for me, I'm very much like for three or four days max, you know. So that's like number one.
Speaker 2:And then, as far as like specific ingredients, you want your herbs to last longer, you want lettuce to last longer, you want spinach, greens of any kind. Basically, throw a paper towel into that bag or plastic package. It will absorb the moisture and keeps things fresher for longer, because moisture is what makes things go off. And I think that's one thing. I love dill, you love cilantro. I love cilantro as well. Cilantro is like my number two, but dill is my like love, dill and dill, because it's even more delicate than cilantro and parsley.
Speaker 2:It goes off a lot quicker. So, like that, paper towel in the bag will save everything. Try to get it as dry as possible. Also, wash the herbs as soon as you get them home, wash them, dry them in a salad spinner, because you're a lot more likely to use them if you don't have to fuss with washing them, drying them, yada, yada, yada, um. So they'll just get used a lot, a lot faster. Celery you mentioned keeping celery fresh. Wrap it in tinfoil. It will keep it crisp for weeks, weeks like. I think I've had this celery in my fridge for over. It will keep it crisp for weeks, weeks. Like I think I've had this celery in my fridge for over three weeks and it's not limp, it's still very crisp. Just aluminum foil Is it still on the stock.
Speaker 1:Yes, okay, I feel like that's a key question.
Speaker 2:No, I think I've done it with just the like like you cut it. Yes, and it'll still. Well, I've done it with just the like like you cut it, yes, and it'll still keep.
Speaker 1:Okay, yes, I'm going to try that, because I always put mine in water, but it only lasts, like I would say, like a week and a half, two weeks, and then it starts to get a little bit like you have to change the water frequently. But I only know that because I used to work in a wing place and everybody knows you get celery carrots with your wings.
Speaker 2:So so I used to work at a wing place.
Speaker 1:So we know the tricks. Yeah, celery. Well, I didn't know the tinfoil trick. I think I've never heard of that in my entire life, so that is my takeaway.
Speaker 2:It also helps with whole heads of lettuce like romaine and iceberg as well.
Speaker 1:Oh, I find iceberg gets soggy fast, but I generally only buy that in the summer.
Speaker 2:Yes, the the thing with iceberg is if, as long as you peel it off as opposed to cutting it and then trying to store the cut um it will last longer. So a lot of people will just cut into the head, cut half of it and use it, but the other half away and that part that you've cut, it oxidizes because of the chemical reaction between your knife and the air.
Speaker 1:The things we are learning today. Do not cut your your head of lettuce. Peel those leaves off. Peel those leaves off, Then you get nice little bowls. I use them for like buns because you can get like really nice bowls. You kind of like squish it a little bit to get it soft and then you just peel it. That's what I do yes, I love it the things we learn.
Speaker 1:Um, what else? What else? Is there anything that you would like to add? I'm like, I'm so. I feel like we could talk about food forever and I'm sure not everybody, because I can literally talk about sustainability forever. I think to me there's so much more to be learned, and I love learning from other people because they've done it, they've firsthand experience. Right, instead of it being like, well, I saw this and but never tried it. I love learning, learning about sustainability, anything that I can make, because to me, sustainability is not only like putting money in your pocket, but you're also helping the earth around you, and I think to me that's like a win-win absolutely well and I think, too, like that in itself, like sustainability can really like tie into so many things, and like you're talking about the health of the planet.
Speaker 2:But like even just in this whole conversation about me transitioning from social work to becoming a chef of like I became such a happier person and like of course, there's still times in my you know my job where I'm like not so happy, but like that in itself is just like putting good energy out there and to the people around me and people really feed off of our energy, as we know, and like that in itself just feeds into the connection piece that we were talking about. And just you know, the connections that I've made both personally and professionally since becoming a chef are leaps and bounds beyond the connections that I ever made as a social worker, and I do often joke that you know, in as a social service worker.
Speaker 2:Oftentimes there's not a lot of young people that go into the industry, it's usually people. Usually social work is like a second career for people. So I kind of like did it backwards and, for lack of a better term, I always felt like I was working with dinosaurs and I felt like I could never relate to anybody. They couldn't relate to me. They also thought that I didn't know enough because I was so young and I was just you know, that young, whippersnapper, green energy person, and it was really hard to like implement any sort of change, uh, in the organizations that I worked for. And you know, the non-profit sector is really hard. Um, there's a lot of red tape, there's a lot of hoops that you have to jump through, um, and people aren't often interested in hearing your new and fresh ideas. Um, and I think that's honestly like one of the things that I love about the food industry as a whole in general is there's, like you said earlier, there's so many different ways and routes that you can go and like.
Speaker 2:Just as an example, I was a private chef. I do these dinners. I'm also a culinary professor now, so it's come full circle. I'm teaching at George Brown. So it's you know there's so many opportunities. I've had lots of TV opportunities as well. I'm working on this ebook now and hopefully a cookbook in the future. So there's just like endless opportunities.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's amazing. I just it makes me so excited because I love, I love what you had said, that you know, being a social worker, there was no change, or, if you want to change, you were literally bashing your head against a brick wall and just hoping that someone would notice, yes, and be like, yeah, we are going to pick up what Julian's saying Maybe she is onto something over here and I could imagine how frustrating that would be and how draining that would be to just not be heard and being like I have a great idea, like let's get some progressiveness into this. And I know what you mean about the social worker being a second job, because I know so many people that did the opposite. We're kind of like self-employed and then they went and became a social worker, which I was like why? But whatever your passion is, I'm all about supporting it.
Speaker 1:Um, but yeah, like I couldn't, that's like I don't know, like I'm got a little bit speechless in a way, like just still kind of processing it, just the the drastic change of the two and it wasn't necessarily just about you know, working what, like a quote, unquote corporate job, going into kind of a self-employment world, but just the inability to have change in that one job and then going to a job where the opportunities are honestly freaking endless, really could take you anywhere you wanted to go is amazing. And it's exciting to be able to kind of have all of that at your fingertips and being like, what, what am I doing this year, what am I doing this month? And I love that. It kind of that.
Speaker 1:You're back at George Brown on like a full circle moment and I was gonna ask you about it, but I haven't seen any posts on your story so I didn't want to say um or ask about it, but I I just think I think that's so like, that's just so cool and it's fascinating to me because that's something that I would never do. And so watching those full circle moments for people and going back, you know, teaching at a school where, where you once were taught, at a time in your life where you took a step in a different direction that takes a lot of courage and bravery to do, is so cool. And now you get to inspire the hearts and minds of others that are probably, you know, at a similar path or a different path, is so cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been really interesting and, like some of the, the chefs that taught me at George Brown and the professors are still there, so now I'm working alongside them, which is really interesting Like I still feel, like I don't necessarily feel like they're my peers, even though they are. I very much feel like they're here and I'm here, yeah, but yeah, like it's and you know as much as it's transitioning from social work to chef and having all of these opportunities. Sometimes those opportunities, then, having so many options and opportunities, can also be paralyzing as much as you're like, oh my God, this is amazing and wonderful. You're like, oh gosh, what's the best choice? You know, yes, it's like you're. You're like, okay, this person did this, maybe I should do that. And like you know, that sounds cool and interesting. But I think it's just so important, and not just in our careers, but just to be open and just try things. You never know what's going to come of it. And there's been so many times where I'm like, oh, I don't want to go to this event. Or like this person invited me to this. Or like, oh, I have to do that and I go and I meet someone or, you know, something has inspired me from that event and then it transpires into something beautiful and amazing, you know. So, yeah, it's so. I think it's so important for us to just really have an open mind.
Speaker 2:There was a book that I read, I think it's by Carol Dweck, and it's called Mindset and it really talks about like, like, not having a fixed mindset and it like changed my life. I was so hyper-focused in my twenties while I was a social worker and, like you know, you buy the house, you get married, you have the kids, you have this career, you do all these things. That's what all of my friends in my hometown were doing. And it's so interesting now because I go back to my hometown and I see these people and they're like, oh my gosh, jill, like your life looks so exciting.
Speaker 2:And I was like and you know, when people say things like that to you, sometimes you're like, oh, is that in like a negative way or like. But sometimes you're like, you know what? My life? My life is fucking exciting and I love it, you know, and I'm so glad that I didn't get stuck in that career that I didn't love. And, you know, even getting a diagnosis of lupus is like I'm gonna live with this disease for the rest of my life. There's nothing I can do about it. You know, um, and I think that would be really difficult for some people, and thankfully I'm lucky enough to be um well enough to basically be able to do whatever I want, um, because a lot of people with lupus aren't so lucky, um, and but things can change Right.
Speaker 1:But, like, I'm living my life based on like what I want to be doing now and like what I want my future to look like you know, oh, you said so many good things in there and I think a takeaway that I got from what you just said was the trying. I think that is the biggest hurdle for people to do is to just try and to be a beginner. Because, as you were saying that, I'm thinking, oh my God, if I didn't try, we wouldn't be talking right now. Right Like, if I didn't try, we wouldn't like a lot of things wouldn't be happening in my life right now. I would literally just be the same person that I was several years ago, going like why isn't my life progressing, why isn't anything going forward?
Speaker 1:But I think, yeah, the trying is the trying is the hardest, because that's where the fear and you're like I don't want to be a beginner, but that open minded piece is so key, because then you're like well, if it goes to shit, it goes to shit, and if it's beautiful, it's beautiful, and that's kind of how I live my life now. It's just like I'm just going to try, and if it works, it works, and if it doesn't, then I'm pretty sure I'll learn something.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I think too. It's like I think a lot of us get stuck in the like I can't go all in and it's like you don't have to go all in. I've been talking about your sourdough business.
Speaker 2:I have a hobby job you know, like do something like that, like do something that you're passionate about just for fun, and it's like you're not getting yourself stuck in this, like, oh, I have to do this all the time. This is now my full-time gig. You know, you don't have to do what I did and like go back to school full time. You can just. You know, even right now I'm considering doing a master's, but like I'm considering doing it part-time and I'm like I'm not going to do it right now because I'm just, I don't feel like I'm in a place, personally and financially, where I can like just take that on, even if it's part time. But I'm like, within the next three years, I want to start that process, you know, and just looking towards those things it doesn't have to be right now and all in dip your toe in and see what happens. You know, start talking to people.
Speaker 2:I was so paralyzed by me thinking, like wondering what other people were going to think. I also never wanted to inconvenience people, so I never wanted to ask them for a connection or I never wanted to be like hey, you know, do you want to collaborate? Do you want to do this thing together? And finally, there's still moments where I have that like fear, you know, especially when you're talking about, like you know, working with corporate companies and brands and stuff as an independent. You know, entrepreneur is very intimidating, but like the worst they're going to say is no, and then you just move on to the next opportunity and it just wasn't the right fit, you know, or maybe it just wasn't a right fit right now. Right then it's just, and people are. I've been finding that people are a lot more willing to help you and make a connection for you than I would have ever imagined.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, I think Our natural connectors. Yeah, you know, yeah, I think that's our natural connectors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think people get excited to be part of the process because I was asking my friend she works for Coke. There's a few things I want to talk about. Um, I, she works for Coke and I've been like counting her, like, hey, I need, we need, we need these connections, we need these connections. She's going on mat leave. And then she wasn't like. She was like sure, whatever, I'll get them for you.
Speaker 1:But it wasn't until the person because I'm like, oh my gosh, she's going to nag these people and, uh, you know, you're kind of at the back of your mind like, oh, they're already have this idea, like, oh, these, this person's going to start so I can send it to my friend. And she was like I'm so excited that you thought of me, I'm so excited to have this conversation with Portia, like I can't wait. And I was like, oh my God, that was not the response I was thinking about or even thinking would happen. And I'm like, like you had said, like there's a lot more people out there that want to help, that want to bring people together, that want to bring people together, that want to be a part of it. And because it's nice to go back and look, because I've done an event last year and there was a woman there that no one knew. At this event she was on a panel. No one knew who she was. I found her through somebody else and I just like, I love her, I want her. I didn't even know her and now this woman is now interweaved in all of these beautiful communities. She met so many women there.
Speaker 1:She's been part of other events, she does speaking, and she was very successful before me. So it's not like I made her successful anyways, that's not what I'm saying but just the power of connection, the power of community and just going in and having all these people interconnect. And it's remarkable for me to sit on the sideline and watch be like this one event created this slowly, didn't happen overnight, but we brought some people together. She made some connections, like someone wanted to write a book, she was like a publisher. I was like I know somebody that would be perfect for you. This like who, this is who they are. They got connected. Then, like the circle just grows and grows and grows and it's so, it's so amazing to watch, just to be a part, just a little little part of it. It's so fulfilling and I'm like, okay, who can I help next?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, I love that so much. I am like the person where, if, like, I'm having a call with you or whoever, and you like mentioned one little tidbit of something, I'm like, hey, I call with you or whoever, and you like mention one little tidbit of something. I'm like, hey, I know someone that like, maybe you want to have a conversation with, and then you know, five minutes later, I'm like emailing the two of you connecting you, cause I'm like we all need more people.
Speaker 2:We all should work together. You know, yeah, I a hundred percent agree. Like this gatekeeping thing, it doesn't make sense to me. You know, like why? Why? Do we do that to ourselves.
Speaker 1:It's so cliche. What are those kids saying these days? So sus, I don't know what the terms are. But what I did want to say before we kind of close, wrap up everything and I and what you really like stuck true to me was dipping your toe into something because I think that's so important.
Speaker 1:I know for myself my hobby job my baking. I had a ton of people. I know for myself my hobby job, my baking. I had a ton of people. I've been doing it for like a year and a half now and I have people all the time Portia, you need to open a bakery.
Speaker 1:Portia, you need to do this, portia, you need to do this.
Speaker 1:And I'm like whoa, this is my life, I'm going to do what I want to do and I'm like this to me is literally what it is it's a hobby job, it is something that fulfills me, that provides a little bit of money in my pocket and that, ultimately, is my retirement plan to open a bakery.
Speaker 1:But I'm not retired yet, so we're not there yet and I'm not ready to change my life yet. This is a huge undertaking, not just building, you know, going in and building it brick by brick, but literally working and being in it is a huge lifestyle change. But it's interesting how sometimes people don't like when you just dip your toes in and they always feel like it should be more, it should be more, and I'm like sometimes it doesn't need to be more. It's fulfilling me right now, but I think there's something to be said to just dip your toe in, feel what it feels like and then understand if you do want it to be more or if you are just quite content at it being a hobby or a hobby job, you know, or just something that you do for yourself. Like I think that curiosity and that openness is so, so important to just kind of discovering what we like to do for ourselves.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah. I had a conversation recently with another professor at George Brown and I was, you know, expressing various things about where I was at and what I wanted to do, and blah, blah, blah, and he was like if you could shut out all of the noise right now and you picture yourself just one year from now, what are you doing? And it was just just that like full, like that question in itself, like I was like I want to be doing basically what I'm doing right now. Yeah, you know, I really don't foresee it changing that much, and I think that you know the whole thing about. You know people telling you about your bakery you should open a bakery, you should do this. It's like sometimes we just need to shut out the noise and be like what do I want to do right now? Am I listening to what other people are telling me that I should do, or do I actually want to do?
Speaker 2:this thing, and it's okay to have something like that or anything as just a hobby because you enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it doesn't have to be what everyone else considers to be a hobby.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, it's so true. Yeah, I love that question that your, your professor, asked you, because I think that's important and it's often a question I go back to as like, am I doing something right now that I want to do later in life? Is this really fulfilling me, or is it just you know the bridge to get me to the next thing? Or is it just you know, an income that I need to have right now, type of thing? And I always go back to that because I I'm such a person, so opposite of my husband, that like he's like I retirement and all of these things, and I'm like I'll be working forever because I just love helping people and serving people and I, just to me, I'm like I don't need that, like I'm quite content just having a bakery my whole life or having a little one on my property. That's my dream is just to have like a little bakery on my property and I and I try to get him as part of my dream, cause I'm like you know, don't forget like we own that business.
Speaker 1:We make the hours. Yes, we decide when we work. Hello, like we can shut the noise out, like when we open the door, we can be like we're only open four days a week or only open three days a week. Like we can do whatever we want. Like we don't have to go with everybody else and people will come. Like people will make we'll make an effort. Like I've been to place. Like I have traveled far and wide for food items that I never thought I would travel for and have went on days where I never thought I would go on because that is when they're open, or times when they are open. Like you, people will do it, people will will come and and be a part of it if they want to be a part of it.
Speaker 2:Sorry. There's a very successful pasta shop in Toronto that is open for two hours Monday to Friday. Two hours for retail Okay, very successful. I mean they do do wholesale outside of those hours, but they are only open to the general public for two hours every Monday to Friday.
Speaker 1:That's it, you know, and I think that's beautiful.
Speaker 2:Do what you want to do and the people will come. Like, if you're, whatever it is that you're selling or offering is good enough. The people will come whenever you set those hours.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Yeah, it's so true. Oh, I'm taking their business model. I am already liking it. Like to me. I was like, oh, if I opened, like a coffee shop, a bakery, like it'd only be open at like peak hours, it'd be closed at like two too, and then we could sell, we could have the storefront open till a little bit later. People wanted bread but like there's a bakery that's close to me, it's about 40 minutes, it's not that close, but they're literally like only open three hours a day because it's sold out. Like that's literally like. On their webpage it says like until sold out. Because they don't even have closing hours. And, trust me, I've waited in line to be there because I wanted to like people will do it. Been there, done that, do it again 100%.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay. So my last question for you is I asked this, uh, on every podcast is what is one piece of advice that you would like to leave here with everybody? And it doesn't have to be about what we had just talked about. It could be just something that you just carry with you every day.
Speaker 2:Always come back to what makes you feel the lightest Like there's all. We all have something that makes us feel at peace and in control and just calm, and we all have it. We might not all be able to identify it at this very moment, but I really encourage people to figure out what it is for them. And it doesn't have to turn into your career, it doesn't have to be your entire personality, but we all need that solstice, that grounding thing that we can always come back to in those moments of stress and when we just need to shut everything else out. And we all have it. We just need to figure out what it is. And I mean, for me it's cooking and, by the sounds of it, for you it's baking sourdough, yeah, um, and for a lot of people it's journaling or meditation or whatever. But you know, like for you it's baking sourdough, and for a lot of people it's journaling or meditation or whatever. But you know, like for some people it could be like building model airplanes, like whatever it is, you know.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that.
Speaker 1:I think that's so important and it brings it's funny because I had this conversation last week, but it brings so much self-awareness when you get that opportunity to kind of slow down and do something for yourself and you can actually have the time and space to be like, okay, what is happening in my mind, what is happening in my body, um, or you know, you know, kind of go back.
Speaker 1:I'm not a big, I'm a big meditator, so I'm not a big fan of like going back down the doomsday, you know thing and being like what did that person say? But sometimes you can go back and you can observe from a place of non-judgment is really what I'm trying to say is where you can go back to a conversation and be like, okay, this is still sticking with me or whatever it is, or an email or a post or whatever you saw in those times when you are doing something, and be like, how, why did that, you know, bug me so much, or why did that bring me so much joy? Like, why can't I? Or you know, so I, yeah, I love that advice, thank you.
Speaker 2:No problem, so happy to share.
Speaker 1:Oh well, jillian, this was absolutely amazing. I learned so much about so many different things. I'm now going to go in my fridge and take my celery out of the water and wrap it in oil. I don't need it again till next week when I'm making soup with my beans. I don't need it again till next week when I'm making soup with my beans, but I'm going to try it. I am just so in awe and I am really, really looking forward to your ebook because I will be purchasing it.
Speaker 1:Because I love when recipes interweave with the ingredients, because we've all been there when we go on Pinterest and we look up a recipe and we're like I don't have this, I don't use fish sauce every day, like how long does this even last? Like I got into a lot of like Asian cuisine because I needed so many different and I was like I can't allow all these things to go to waste. So then I just learned all of these different things and you know, now it's a staple in my house, but it wasn't before. So delicious though it is delicious, it's great. Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 2:No problem.
