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MADE WITH LOVE

We're all different. Different people from different places with very different lives. But love, and one other thing can connect even the most opposite of people: food.

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PASSION

Lelan Dunavant

Two years ago, Lelan Dunavant started making granola bars simply because they were a quick, healthy breakfast that were convenient and easy to make. The bars became very popular with her friends and family and soon Dunavant was asked to make the bars for wedding favors. Dunavant and her husband thought of a name, took to Paint and created a logo, and Le Bar was born.


Now, Dunavant sells the bars at farmer’s markets and festivals in the Nashville area and on her website as a part time gig. Starting in June, Dunavant will take on Le Bar full time. She plans to start selling her bars in local coffee shops and grocery stores. Dunavant believes this will really help Le Bar grow because she says the Nashville area is big on buying local.


“They’re convenient, healthy and they’re local so I think that’s a win-win for everyone,” Dunavant said.


Dunavant currently is finishing out her last school year as a high school college counselor. While she says she has loved working in education, it’s time for her to take on Le Bar full time. Education used to be her biggest passion while cooking took the back seat. But the scales have tipped and Dunavant said she’s excited to be able to really focus on her cooking.


“I think food is also a way for me to be creative. I’m not a creative person in general, I mean I can barely dance, I can’t paint or draw, or play an instrument. But I think food is my art form,” Dunavant said.

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THAT'S NUTS!

How to Achieve Granola Perfection

Lelan Dunavant started making granola bars because they were healthy and convenient. Now, she sells them at farmer’s markets and on her website. She says that often times you’ll find that with granola bars you usually give up either the health factor or great taste. Her mission was to create a granola bar that had all three.


Her biggest tip is to focus on the flavors. She makes hers with a combination of oats, nuts, dried fruits, seeds and sweetener. Dunavant says you can pretty much use any combination that you want to achieve the perfect granola bar! Just remember: the fruits give the bar the flavor, and the oats and nuts give it texture!


“Cherry Pie” Granola Bar

Lelan Dunavant 


Ingredients:

• Almonds

• Walnuts

• Prunes

• Cherries

• Oats

• Maple Syrup

• Flax Seed

• Cinnamon

• Salt


Directions:

  1. Combine in a bowl (or mixer if you have one)

  2. Press evenly into a pan

  3. Chill and cut

  4. Enjoy!



If you want to make your granola bars healthier, try using different ingredients for sweeteners, which also help bind the bars together. Dunavant uses maple syrup but she says you can use honey, agave nectar, brown rice syrup or molasses which are all healthier alternatives to sugar!


“I like to make things on the way and slowly tweak the recipe, making it more flavorful each time as well as healthier!”

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NOURISHMENT

Natalie Boddeker

Natalie Boddeker never thought that she would open a store and spend her days selling homemade juice. Starting off, Boddeker would look at juice recipes from other people and try those juices to see if she liked the flavors. Then she started to change some of the ingredients to ones she liked better to see how the juice changed. She blew up five different juicers in the process of her experimentation.


“It’s just trial and error,” Boddeker said.


Boddeker started out juicing for herself and simply wanted to educate others on how to do the same. But people wanted her to make the juice. One thing led to another and Zest was created for her to share her juice with the community. She started out in just farmer’s markets but has since opened a storefront in downtown Bowling Green.


Boddeker said she in no way planned to make her juicing into a business and thought she would keep it small, but the community wanted more.


“I worked for 18 years as the store manager at Barnes and Noble and that’s where I was going to retire from. That’s what I loved doing. But I just saw a need and I felt like if people wanted juice than I needed to make it available to them,” Boddeker said.

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YOU CAN JUICE, TOO!

How to Juice at Home

Juicing might seem like a daunting task, but Natalie Boddeker, owner of Zest, will tell you otherwise. In fact, she believes that everyone should juice. The biggest key to juicing the right way, is to make sure you have the right equipment, says Boddeker.  You’ll want a juicer that has at least 800 watts so that it can properly juice those harder, nutritious, vegetables like sweet potatoes and beets. She suggests investing in a quality juicer so that it will last you. Boddeker says that when she first started she blew up a number of juicers that couldn’t withstand harder vegetables.


Next, Boddeker says to make sure to use produce that you like, since the juice tastes different than the produce itself. She learned to juice with recipes from rebootwithjoe.com, a website by Joe Cross, who changed his life by juicing. She recommends following recipes until you learn what kinds of juices you like.


“A New Orange Juice”

(www.rebootwithjoe.com)


Ingredients:

• 8 meduim carrots

• 1 pear

• 1 lemon

•1-inch piece of ginger

• 3-4 kale leaves (optional)


Directions:

  1. Wash all the produce

  2. Peel the lemon

  3. Put all the ingredients through the juicer

  4. Enjoy!


One thing to remember with a home juicer, Boddeker says, is that a lot of oxygen gets added to the juice during the juicing process. This means that the juice won’t keep for very long. She recommends storing your juice in an air tight container (mason jars work great!) which will keep your juice fresh for 4-6 hours.


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CONNECTION

Kanyawee Skulsillapakorn

Growing up in Thailand, Kanyawee Skulsillapakorn learned to cook at a very young age. While her parents were working she would cook for her sister, but when her parents were home she would help them in the kitchen before they shared a meal together. It was one of the things her family connected over, even if the meals didn’t taste so good.


Flash forward to 2011 when Skulsillapakorn came to the United States as an exchange student and spent a year in Somerset, Kentucky. Being in a new place with a new family isn’t exactly the easiest thing, but Skulsillapakorn says that food is what connected her with her host family.


Then, after extending her time in America and transferring to Western Kentucky University to finish college, Skulsillapakorn found that cooking connected her with people there, too. She has a lot of friends from other countries as well as from her host town in Kentucky and she likes to have them come together for dinner at her house.


“Everyone loves food so when I talk about ‘Would you guys want to come to my house and cook together and eat together?’ It’s something that I feel like I can get to know more about people,” Skulsillapakorn said. 

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SPICE IT UP!

How to Spice Up Your Thai Cooking

Being from Thailand makes Kanyawee Skulsillapakorn an amazing Thai cook. Making Thai food yourself, however, won’t nearly be the same as authentic Thai food. But, there are some tips and tricks that will add a little extra something to your Thai cooking. Skulsillapakorn says to make sure to add spices to your dish. Adding spices really enhances the flavor of what your cooking, and the aroma of a little extra spice isn’t a bad thing either.


Another thing that makes a difference in Thai cooking is the ingredients. Not only is it important to be using fresh ingredients, but Skulsillapakorn suggests finding a local Asian market. An Asian market will carry all the spices and special sauces that you could need.


Pad Pong Kari

Kanyawee Skulsillapakorn


Ingredients:

• ½ onion

• 2 bell peppers

• 5 green onions

• 2 Chinese celery stalks (leaves included)

• 3 eggs

• 2 chicken breasts (cubed)

• White Jasmine Rice

• 3 tbsp curry powder

• Unsweetened coconut milk

• 2 tbsp minced garlic

• 1 tbsp sugar

• Lite soy sauce

• Oyster sauce

• Fish sauce


Directions:

  1. Cook garlic until fragrant then add in chicken

  2. Once the chicken is cooked through, add in salt to taste

  3. Remove liquid from pan

  4. In a separate bowl, mix half of the eggs and the coconut milk with the curry powder. Add to pan and stir

  5. Add in peppers, onions, green onions, and the rest of the egg mixture. Combine

  6. Stir in lite soy sauce, oyster sauce, and fish sauce to taste. Then mix in celery

  7. Enjoy!


One last thing about Thai food: it’s not about the taste, it’s about the smell. Skulsillapakorn can tell what she needs to add to her dish simply by how it smells. The stronger the smell, the more flavorful!

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