Today we’d like to introduce you to Lena Ognyanova.
Hi Lena, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story is a story of love – my love for food, love for my husband but most of all love for my little boy – Adrian.
I am a Medical Doctor from Bulgaria. I also have a Ms. S. in Preventive Medicine from the International University of Dresden, Germany. I have always loved my profession and I have always performed it with enthusiasm but two years ago, I decided to start a family with the most caring and loving man who has been by my side since we were children. In 2015 we moved to Austin, got married and a year later, our son was born.
When he was six months old, I started feeding him solid food, which I prepared myself. Cooking for me has always been a passion deeply connected to my roots. Women in my country cook daily. My earliest childhood memories are connected with my grandmother’s home-cooked meals and my mom’s Sunday morning pancake breakfast.
For me, a healthy home-cooked meal is a sign for a high standard of living, which I would like for my son to inherit because food is the unequivocal link between a person and the environment. In order for our children and us to be healthy, we need to know what we put in our plates.
Soon after I started practicing medicine, I came to realize that illnesses don’t just happen “one day”, rather they develop over a long period of time, often related to our eating habits and lifestyle. This is when I decided that in order to heal illnesses, I need to be able to prevent them from happening in the first place.
I started researching the topic and this is what led me to enroll and graduate from the Dresden International University in Germany. A big part of my education was focused on nutrition and eating habits. I came to understand that everything a mother eats during the pregnancy has an effect on the baby’s health and what a baby eats from the earliest stages of its life is essential in shaping its long-term health. If we neglect this fact, even the slightest, the result can be fatal.
All the knowledge I obtained over the years made me more responsible in regards to how I feed my family.
When it was time for my son to start eating solid foods, I started researching what the market offers as far as baby foods. I was appalled by the amounts of sugar, high fructose corn syrup (also referred to as a “natural sweetener” on some labels), artificial coloring and artificial flavors added in each and every option out there. Until this very day, my son has not eaten anything that I did not prepare with my own two hands.
I soon started asking myself why is it that other mothers buy those foods when they are obviously not a healthy option. One day I was in line at a supermarket behind a mother and her two young children. She had piled up her cart with quick, ready to serve junk food for her family. She was visibly tired, probably just ended a long day at work. Before criticizing her, I put myself in her shoes – she is a hard-working mother of two, who has to spend time with her family after she comes home from work – there simply is no time to prepare a home cooked meal daily as much as she might want.
This is when I decided to start cooking for the little ones and free up some time for the parents. Instead of cooking, they can now spend quality time with their children and still offer them healthy and diverse meals daily.
We are preparing world-inspired meals from local, organic and seasonal ingredients for toddlers and up.
We deliver our meals to Austin daycares and private schools. They are super fresh because they were prepared just before the delivery.
I am not a professional chef and my food is simple but every single spoonful is healthy and prepared with a lot of love.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The beginning was hard for me because my background is completely different. I basically changed the hospital with the kitchen 🙂 I had to learn every single thing on my own step by step – how to start a business, how to manage money. But I love every single step of the way! My company is my second baby!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Organic Eats for Kids?
We provide healthy lunches for Austin daycares and private schools. We deliver every day fresh meals in compostable packaging.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
The fact that I am medical doctor is surprising for most of the people. I spent ten years of my life in this field and it was so exciting!
Contact Info:
- Email: lena@eatsforkids.com
- Website: http://eatsforkids.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eats_for_kids/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatsforkids
