My name is Cassandra Burt, and I was a professional chef, turned full time mom and homemaker. Cooking has always been my passion, ever since childhood. Nostalgia is rich in the kitchen of most homes, but for me it was the epitome of my happiness. Spending time with my grandma, learning as much as I can, gave me the passion and drive to become a chef.
Not only was cooking my passion, but eating was as well. Starting at a young age, I developed unhealthy eating habits, which led to a lifetime of health issues. As well as being overweight from childhood, to adulthood.
By the time I was 21 I was able to fulfill my dream of cooking in a professional kitchen. Without formal schooling, my passion alone landed me a job as the head cook for a seasonal restaurant in the Wasatch mountains. Also at the same time, I had lost over 150 pounds within a year, after a life of obesity. Things had finally taken a turn for better.
That is until I began to experience the worst abdominal ailment I had ever experienced. I began to experience extreme pain, nausea, dizziness, and fainting spells. The worst part of it all, was that I learned that I was experiencing the first of many, severe food intolerance. Life all around became extremely difficult, but I persisted in my passion.
Now, this was in 2007, and back then gluten free and food was hardly known about. But, it did exist, and a friend had mentioned cutting out flour. At that point, I was willing to try anything because the doctors couldn’t seem to find what was causing it.
Lo and behold, I did begin to feel much better without it. And only after an insane amount of tests, hospital bills, and antibiotics. At that point my doctor gave me two options: more tests, or trying an elimination diet. After everything I had been through, I chose to stop seeing the doctors and go to foods for answers and health. Which began to make a huge difference in my life and career.
After the trial and error I began to feel better by cutting more food out of my diet. Then I accepted a new position, as a head chef, for a worldwide company. As head chef, my job was to deliver affordable, healthy, and delicious food. As well as to oversee four other stations and cooks.
Menu creating, food storage, process management, catering, and budgeting. For me, it was a dream come true and I loved going to work everyday! This was the beginning of life long habits of success that would also incorporate into my daily life. This is exactly what has inspired me to start this course.
Now that I am a mom, homeschooler, and homemaker my roll is greatly dependent on my skills. With all that I accumulated throughout my career life, I am confident in running my home. But I also realize that not everybody has the same useful knowledge. Other parents, or anyone who has a busy schedule, can gain a lot from these lessons as well.
Now, I am not unaware of the many classes, free videos, hacks, etc, that are out there. Believe me, I know, I live food, which means I watch food shows and videos too. My biggest issue with those, is that I can’t eat most, if any, of the foods they’re making. Like most people, my diet is very restrictive, and all I can do is imagine that they taste great.
With my ever changing diet, I have spent hundreds of hours researching recipes. Trying to find foods that were delicious and exciting, but also fit into my new diet. Luckily, I love reading recipes! Let’s just say that my kitchen is a full time test kitchen (which happens to be my dream job). My family are my food eating test subjects, but luckily I don’t hear many complaints from them. This has allowed me to experiment with ingredients, meals, mixtures, and desserts!
After moving states, and making new friends, I began to notice a common theme in my conversations. There are so many people who either don’t know how to cook, are not comfortable in a kitchen, or don’t have time. That’s when it hit me. I have and use these skills every day in my kitchen, maybe I should try filming myself doing it. Share our family meals, and my creations.
Well, that’s when everyone started asking me for recipes. Which could originally only be viewed in my family recipe book. It was just a surprise for me that anyone would be even interested in eating like me. Especially if they don’t have to. This was inspiring for me. I thought, “I have taught cooking classes before, maybe I should begin a course for my own recipes?”.
Thus my husband and I have created AltEats.life. Because alt eats, is alt life. It has taken me a lifetime to get to where I am in my health, weight, and family management. It has been a rough road and I have learned a lot, but if there is anything I can offer to help others in their journey, I want to do it! So, this is for all of you. Recipes I use often because they are easy, crowd pleasing, and constantly changing! You are formally invited into my test kitchen as a guest, and if there is anything you can take away from my content, then it will not have been in vein.
Since I am a mother who cooks everyday, many times a day, who also juggles the many tasks, goals, and challenges that comes with alt life living, I had this idea. Why not share my wisdom in the kitchen, help other people, and my family? Thus we have Alt Eats. This is a two man project with my husband by my side. My hope is to share the value and love that is in my heart, and bring comfort to those who gravitate toward me, in the kitchen. So thank you for joining us here today, and welcome to my alt world, where you are not alone, and you are welcome!
