Chef and The Dietitian

A little over a month ago, I had the opportunity of a lifetime. I watched the sun rise as I drove to Kinston, North Carolina to spend 2 days working alongside none other than Chef Vivian Howard. She has shared her southern roots, charm, and cooking tips on her show, It’s a Chef’s Life . Her award winning show is about “people, place, tradition and family told through the lens of food.’ If by chance you have not watched it, treat yourself and purchase it through the PBS website or purchase it on Amazon. Her very famous, very popular restaurant, Chef and the Farmer was just blocks away from where we did the taping.

So this dietitian was on cloud nine to be in her presence. I was so happy, and excited and nervous and downright uncertain what the next two days were going to entail. I was invited by Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina to embark on two days of shooting some videos with her to promote healthy recipes and cooking tips, along with promoting the fact that nutrition counseling is a covered benefit with most BCBSNC plans. This has been a benefit that BCBSNC has offered for years, because BCBSNC is invested in the health of its members. Nutrition counseling can truly help to treat, prevent and sometimes reverse chronic disease.

As soon as I arrived, I was greeted by a very friendly staff from BCBS and the crew that works with Vivan Howard on her show. I was overwhelmed and amazed at the sheer number of people it takes to set up and film, no matter how short the segment.

We made 3 different recipes on camera with 3 different guests. With each recipe we tweaked it to make it healthier, and trust me, Vivian Howard had some pretty amazing tricks to share. The first guest was her very own daddy, and we had a lot of fun making a healthier, and I mean MUCH healthier spaghetti than you can ever imagine. Stay tuned for the next blog article to learn how Vivian Howard makes her spaghetti sauce.

We worked from 8:30- 5:30 both days and my favorite part was we got to taste test every yummy dish ! The first night was absolutely amazing also because my son Jeff and his wife Claire drove to Kinston and we ate together at The Chef and the Farmer. We had the absolute best seats in the house, we were able to sit right beside the window were you can watch dishes being prepared. We treated ourselves to 2 different appetizers and we shared 3 different entrees, and we all gave every dish a big two thumbs up! It is so worth your time to take a trip to Kinston and eat at her restaurant. It is quite an eclectic little city.

Here is a clip of one of our healthy eating tips that we recorded to promote the BCBSNC benefit.

We also worked with a local fireman and we made mashed cauliflower and gravy. Here is the segment we did with Sam the Firman!

Stay tuned for the next blog post with our cooking tips along with recipes!