Hi! My name is Roxane Johnson De Lear and Vege Joy is my whole foods/plant-based personal chef and culinary nutrition expert service based in Tinmouth, Vermont and Boston, MA. I want to cook for you! As a personal chef, I will work with you to cook one to several weeks’ worth of whole foods/plant-based meals based on a customized plan just for you and your family. I offer consultations, cooking classes, kitchen purges to align your healthy lifestyle with the food in your cupboard, and any other help you need to step fully into your nutritious and delicious future.

Plant-based means that I only cook meals that focus primarily on nutrition from plant-based sources. Some people call this a vegan. It doesn’t mean you have to be a vegan to let me cook for you. I am inclusive and work with omnivores, vegetarians, paleo vegans, gluten-free plant-based folks as well as those with specific food allergies. The idea is that you eat plant-based during some of the week when I am cooking for you but you feel free to eat what you like when I’m not cooking for you. As Michael Pollan says, "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”

Besides having a Masters of Science in Biology, I am certified in FOK no-oil diet cooking recommended by Forks Over Knives and the Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine. I am also certified as a Culinary Nutrition Expert from the Academy of Culinary Nutrition. As a culinary nutrition expert, I have the expertise and science-based knowledge to create plant-based meals that aim to help you, the customer, live a more delicious and health-inspired life.

Vege Joy is an answer to your questions:

o What’s for dinner tonight?

o How can I follow the recommendations from my doctor and eat more healthy, whole plant-based foods without spending so much time preparing meals?

o How can I spend more time with my family, doing the things I love (instead of thinking about what’s for dinner)?

o How can I eat more locally and do more to support local organic farmers?

o How can I eat great food at home without ordering the same old take-out which I know is high in fat, high is salt and does not contribute to my goal of living a healthy lifestyle?

Why Vege? Because we focus solely on plant-based nutrition. Science shows that by eating plant-based meals, we can reverse disease. This is also one action we can take to help slow down global warming and improve global food issues.

Why Joy? Because you will feel joy when you come home to a refrigerator full of delicious meals. You will feel joy when you experience feeling better in your body and mind. You will feel joy at knowing you are doing the right thing for your family and the planet. You will feel joy once you realize that you are spending time with those you love, doing the things you love, instead of cooking (if that’s not your thing).

Background

Can I tell you something personal? In 2007 I lost my fifty-year-old brother, Larry, to heart-disease and Type 2 diabetes, lifestyles and food-related illnesses. I had begged him to get help and to see an obesity doctor; to get treatment for his Type 2 adult-onset diabetes; to start taking care of himself, to start taking walks. He told me what I wanted to hear and said he was getting help. He wasn’t. He was helping all those around him but put himself last. Only a few months later I found him no longer breathing. He had died in his sleep. His heart could no longer pump the blood through his system. I believe his lifestyle and the Standard American Diet (SAD) had killed him. I was the one who had to call my father to give him the news. It was devastating for all of us who loved him.

Do you have a loved-one you worry about? A father or mother, sister or brother, husband or wife or a good friend who struggles with a food-related illness such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure or depression and has been told to lose weight by their doctor or health practitioner? Maybe this even fits a description of yourself.

My name is Roxane Johnson De Lear, and I started my business, Vege Joy Whole Plant-based Personal Chef and Catering because I know, from personal experience and research in science, that our health and the quality and vibrancy of our lives depend on the food we eat. Through the art and science of Culinary Medicine, I have a mission to help people who desire better health but may not have the knowledge or time to prepare the food that will support health and longevity. We provide delicious and creative whole plant-based meals cooked in your home or business. We take care of it from shopping to cooking, to storing your meals and clean-up. As much as we are able and depending on your budget, we aim to use organic, non-GMO, locally sourced produce in the meals we make. We desire to feed you and your family nutritious and delicious food that provides you with the energy and well-being and that supports you and a sustainable planet. We use sustainable packaging that can be composted or reused and we stay away from plastics as much as possible.

I love to cook and have been doing so for many years on my farm-to-table plant-based journey. My knowledge spans simple whole food fare to more complex eclectic and ethnic dishes using plant-based ingredients. I believe that food should not only be good for you, it should also be amazingly delicious. Great tasting food happens with creative recipes, high quality, healthful ingredients sourced from farms regenerating healthy soil and growing produce with flavor in mind.

Local, organic and seasonal foods are available from the farms and food providers I work with; including produce, grains, legumes, wild edibles, dairy & eggs (for vegetarians) and specialty items such as fermented foods and condiments.

Meals may be customized to your dietary needs and preferences, including: Vegan, Raw Vegan, Vegetarian, Plant-based Paleo, and I can make all of them Gluten and Allergen Free. I am certified in Forks Over Knives oil-free cooking and am a Certified Culinary Nutrition Expert.