If You Didn’t Know, It’s Because You Never Asked!

Author: admin   |   0 Comments   |   Categories: Behind the Chef   |   Tags: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

“Growing Pains”

It’s been six years in this dessert called Vegas. Back in 2006, I really don’t know what my goal was of moving to Las Vegas from the Jersey Shore. Literally, I lived 20 minutes from the shore where my ex-wife and I lived with her parents and our daughter. I’ve been working at Whole Foods Market in Red Bank, NJ for a little less than a year when I saw an opportunity for me to relocate close to the West Coast. Was it for a better life? Was it for more money? Or was it to just to be the rebel that I was and explore the world that no one around me ever explored before? I really don’t know why I left New Jersey in the beginning but all I knew was that it was something I needed to do.

Now I won’t bore you with the story of “What happened in Vegas.” What I will tell you is what I gained from my experiences here. Well maybe not…

Before 2008, my life was all about providing for my family. Both my ex and I turned 21 in Vegas but never really partied. We both just worked our asses off to “raise” our daughter. Me, I clocked in and clocked out, loved my job but was just basically clocking in and out and earning a pay check. Nothing more, nothing less.

My daughter Cecelia motivated me to work hard and ask questions later. Everyday I came home from work, all I wanted to do was play with her, dance with her, and just enjoy my life as a father. We loved going out on adventures and seeing the city we lived and loved! My family was my life. Seeing them happy was all that I needed to keep me going. And they were happy.

After a while, work became mediocre. I was a Customer Service Supervisor since I opened my first Whole Foods in NJ. I loved interacting with customers and my job was not that hard. I was organized and determined to do the right thing, productive, and loved going above and beyond. I made some great friends working at Whole Foods Market. But with all those positives, I was missing something. Where was my passion?!

I needed something more. Now, don’t get me wrong, my daughter was everything to me. She was a constant. But you know how they say, things come in twos? Well, I needed something to go along with the love I had for my daughter. Then, the answer came to me, a wife! My ex and I got married on August 8th, 2008, yeah, all the eights were a symbol for “infinity.” I love how I talk about her back then as my ex already. Well I guess you can predict what happened.

I believe that God creates things and destroys things for a reason. Low and behold, my marriage was something that was destroyed because it shouldn’t have been created in the first place. I mean, I loved her so much. She was my first love (that I exclaimed in public) and I mean I genuinely cared about her. She was the mother of my daughter. Isn’t that enough, title and love? Apparently not. Our lives went down the wrong path together. If anything, we failed together. We drifted apart and it ended kinda nasty. I’m sure not as nasty as others…here I go again making excuses. Ok, it was horrible. I was broken-hearted, lost my confidence, and that’s when I turned to God.

In the summer of 2009, a little less than a year from when I vowed a life of infinity with my ex, I left immediately for New Jersey. Leaving everything behind, work, friends, my wife and the life I created. My daughter came with me to “start anew.” Trying to begin my life all over again I fell into depression and just denial. I turned to my family and a couple of friends (literally, there were just two) for help. But I could not keep my mind out of Vegas. I left everything back there, the support system I created with coworkers, the life I “dreamed” of, and the unresolved problem with my ex. I tried to build something in NJ. With the help of my family, those two friends, and especially God, I did. I realized what that second thing I needed in my life was. I found it, my passion for food and cooking!

With the help of some prayer. I created the idea of Serve M.E. Now. A play on words describing serving God, who is entirely about M=magnificence & E=excellence, now. God helped me through a lot of my pain and despair. So it was only fitting to praise him for giving me my talents and passions. Serve M.E. Now, or how I like to call it, SMN, is a personal catering company where I provide in-home, on-site catering for clients with all tastes and desires. It was the best thing I had going for me next to my beautiful daughter.

While all this creativity and passion was sparking, there was still something missing, unresolved. I hated that feeling of unfinished business weighing heavily on my shoulders. So, after 7 months of roughing it, three jobs plus trying to raise my daughter (with the help of my parents and siblings, of course), I needed to go back and settle things in Vegas. This time, I’m back on a mission…to live my life for only two people, my daughter and myself.

It was rough at first, my ex and I, to say the least, we’re not seeing eye to eye. I moved in with two friends from Jersey, I started all over at Whole Foods, and was back with my crew in Vegas. Life was great, so far. Until drama inserted itself between my friends. But hey, things come and go right? That was the first thing to go (or you can say first case to be closed)

Meanwhile, my daughter had to adjust living with parents who were separated, living in two different homes. She had the notion we were getting back together. It sucked to continuously crush her dreams. I hated myself. I felt like the worst person in her life. How can she love me? I didn’t do what she asked of me, to be a family.

I needed something to regain pride in myself again. So I did what I knew best, cook! Whole Foods Market offered me a chance to pursue my dreams. Cook and bullshit, I mean provide great customer service! ;-P I loved it! I cooked every day at work, created my own recipes, showed off in front of customers and team members. My confidence was back! Then, SMN, got some attention as well. With the help of some friends, I acquired a few catering events that got my name in the Las Vegas community. Six months later, I got called to do the unimaginable, become a private chef for a well-to-do (Jewish) family.

So I did it! 4 years after moving to the desert, I’m building a career with WFM and started a viable business that showed great rewards. Immediately after working for this family, I realized I loved this. I found my passion and I’m sticking to it. Plus, my daughter finally accepted reality and I did everything I could to work things out with my ex. Now we’re a well oiled machine. This is what God wanted for us. To be a loving team for our daughter, we did it! Things are looking up!…right?

Here I am, a little over a year later, and I’m a new person. Career-oriented, self-motivated, loving, hard-working father, whole foodie-by-day, foodie-by-night, but I’m still missing something…family. I grew up with over 25 blood relatives living within 2 miles of my house. I knew what it meant to be part of a community. However irritable and frustrating it could’ve been, it was still family.

My daughter only has me, my ex, my ex-in-laws, and my late ex-brother-in-law (RIP Allen) to grow up with out here. We are a great group, however divided, that’s what we had to offer. My ex and I have no time to join the PTA, hang out with the other parents and kids, or join after-school activities. My daughter has no one else to grow up with other than her young-adult parents and their young-adult friends. It’s not fair and it’s not right. So I gotta do what any 26 (almost 27) year old GAY (how do you like that for subtle), single father has to do, move back to where you started and ask for the help from your amazing, unrelenting, always reminding, forever loving parents!

These past two years alone, I learned so much, the value of friends, the value of children, the value of passion, the value of love, the value of dreams, and the value of life itself. By my own definitions, I became an incredible chef, healthy-eating guru, businessman, father, and lover of life. I’ll be the first to say I still need to work on becoming an incredible brother and son, but I can’t do that without living around family right? Maybe?! Anyway, I have never felt this complete and incomplete in my life. Remember having to complete a project at school? Then, at the end when you received your grade of an ‘A-‘ along with the statement, “needs more content!”? Well, that’s how I feel.

I achieved all I wanted to achieve out here or at least that I could. I got the ‘A’ I’ve been aiming for BUT have no real content, I need MORE! I’m ready to take the next steps but feel like I can’t budge out here, alone, in Vegas. Now that my ex and I are in a better place (heaven compared to before) and my career jump started thanks to WFM and SMN, I need to make my next move. I need to expand my horizons and set down my family’s roots.

My daughter and I will be back in New Jersey this coming June. With the help of my parents and family, I’m ready to move into the next chapter in my life. I am hoping to expand my experience and skills to create SMN into the company I dream it could be. I want to dive into different aspects of the foodservice industry to learn what I need to make SMN successful. I want my daughter to grow up surrounded with loved ones that you can’t stand but just can’t live without. I want her to experience a community as amazing as I did. She is the most important thing in my life and I want the best for her. Even if the best means swallowing by pride, going back home, and living the life God intended for me.

New Jersey…he’s baaaaack!!

Stay tuned for “The Great Construction”…

Breakfast, It Should Be Mandatory

Author: Chef Florvil King Valdez   |   1 Comment   |   Categories: Healthier Eating

It’s the most important meal of the day!

No, seriously, it is the most important meal of any day of any living animal.

Quick breakfast facts:
-It’s a natural, caffeine/energy boost in our day. (Only if it’s a healthy, plant-strong, meal)
-It helps our body to start metabolizing, setting us up for a healthy digestion throughout our day.
-We just came from a 6-8 hour fast, it provides our bodies with nutrients we’ve lacked all night.
-Keeps a steady release of hormones and insulin to keep us on the up-and-up.
-If you bulk up in the morning, you’ll never binge or over-eat in the afternoon or night time when we have the least time remaining to digest the food we just ate.
-It provides kids (and adults) with healthy brain activity to process all that is learned at school. The bulk of school work happens in the morning. Energize your children with a healthy, plant-strong breakfast to be more attentive at school.
-If eaten every day, the less amount of caffeine or energy you’ll need to keep on going the rest of your day.

Last week at my Engine 2,28-Day Challenge at Whole Foods Market, Henderson, I spoke about breakfast and featured three easy and fulfilling dishes that can empower a plant-strong eater each morning. (For specific recipes, clink on the links) I shared Eat Right America’s Chocolate Smoothie which is a “green” smoothie filled with spinach, blueberries, flax seeds, and natural, unsweetened cocoa that is great for breakfast or even an after school or after workout snack. It provides tons of antioxidants from the blueberries and chocolate, omegas and fiber from the flax seeds, and potassium and vitamin c from the bananas and spinach. SCORE! Along with the smoothie, I served up WFMs Cocoa Almond Baked Breakfast Quinoa which is basically a plant-strong protein power bar. It’s amazing and easy to make. Filled with quinoa, hemp seeds and milk that provide the bar with tons of protein, dietary fiber, and essential fatty acids. You get your Omegas and complete protein in this amazing chocolate protein concoction. The best part about it is that the chocolate is not an overwhelming, super sugary, sweet flavor. You get the natural flavor of cocoa, my favorite, that provides us with much needed antioxidants! This recipe helps out the hardworking individual as well. You can make a large batch of these the beginning of your week and have a bar each and every day without all the work to follow it.

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Then, I gave them a hot breakfast option. My own breakfast taco recipe. It’s my plant-strong tofu scramble made with Gimme Lean sausage (an oil-less, soy protein meat alternative), peppers, onions, mushrooms, and spinach served with WFM Henderson’s in-house made corn tortillas and their guacamole and salsa. Man, they took one bite and just by the looks on their faces, did not miss the oil, meat, or dairy one bit. Now the sausage alternative provided the dish with enough sodium that I didn’t need to add any other sodium replacer. (As a side note, what I always tell my students is that we definitely want to keep sodium levels below 200mg of sodium per serving but we also need to be aware of the ingredients we put in each recipe. I chose a higher sodium containing ingredient so then we have to watch the sodium content in the rest of the ingredients. It’s all about moderating our entire meal, not necessarily each item) This is my favorite way to serve up tofu scramble. The minute you start making tacos, you forget that it’s made with tofu and what you’re missing from a regular taco, and you just enjoy eating plant-strong!

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Those are only three recipes that you can interchange your meal of champions with. The most important thing is that you eat a healthy, plant-strong breakfast. Trust me when I say, it’s my caffeine for the morning. It’s not only your “cup-of-joe” but it’s also a meal at the same time. It’s a win-win! Try it because your body needs it.

A Path That Keeps On Giving

Author: Chef Florvil King Valdez   |   0 Comments   |   Categories: Behind the Chef • Healthier Eating   |   Tags: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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My plant-strong journey started over two months ago. With one Engine 2, 28-Day Challenge behind me and another one on its 9th day, I’m feeling positive about this endeavor. Along with the challenges, I have lost 24lbs (without a workout regimen), my cholesterol levels have gone down 175 points, I have more energy in the morning, and an interest a formal education in dietetics is in the works. This new path in my life has not only kept me on a healthier road but has enlightened me on how I can share this unbelievable “cure” of western disease with, literally, the world.

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I love this picture of Homer Simpson because he literally captures what most of our country feels healthy living will do to them. I want to prove everyone wrong! Healthy living will be the only thing that keeps us alive WITHOUT complications!

Over at Whole Foods Market, I’m running my second Engine 2, 28-Day Challenge with another incredible group of people willing and wanting to get healthier. My first group of challengers inspired me to continue to teach others about what I know. But not only did they inspire me to keep sharing my knowledge but also to pursue a more in-depth training on dietetics and nutrition. This second group of mine are continuing to empower me to keep striving to learn more and to perfect what I do best, teach people how to cook in a healthier way than what we are accustomed to. I honestly thank God for being able to work at WFM because that’s where I found my interest in healthy cooking and living.

More recently, I received news that made this journey much more real and achievable. Whole Foods Market offers Total Health Immersion programs for their Team Members to teach and empower them on how to improve their lives and health. I am greatly appreciative of their want to better the lives of their Team Members. That’s exactly why I love working for the company, they care about the people who work for them. Anyway, I applied and was chosen to participate in the Engine 2 Total Health Immersion program this coming spring! Needless to say,

I’M SO EXCITED!!!

To top it off, guess where it takes place?!?! I’ll be eating, living, and breathing plant-strong for an entire week at the Kalani Oceanside Retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii! And if there is still room next to the cherry on top, I’ll be learning from the top experts in the world’s plant-strong community as well as working out with the best trainers in their respectable fields. I wonder if you can tell that I’m really excited?

On a serious note, the best part about me taking on this immersion program in Hawaii is that I can speak to these experts and find out if this path I’m hoping to take to go back to school is the right path to be on. My main goal is to be able to help transform people’s lives to get healthier, to rid them of their chance to contract a western disease, by teaching them how to live a plant-strong lifestyle. Too often, customers come into WFM searching for food on a list given to them by their nutritionist. A nutritionist that they just met after being recently seen by their physician and told that they have to watch their cholesterol, their blood pressure, or that they may be dancing with diabetes. Now when I help shop with a customer and they purchase everything they are allowed to eat, then what? They go home and don’t know what to do with half of these new, healthier, ingredients. That’s my point. They are told what they can and can’t eat but aren’t taught how to live this new way. Now, no disrespect to nutritionists or dietitians, but they aren’t trained to teach people how to live and cook this healthier way. I want to be able to give a patient or client medical advice, explain why they can’t live or eat like they normally do, then show them how to actually attempt to better their lives by showing them how to cook these new foods and make sense out of them.

When I spoke to registered dietician from the Desert Springs hospital in Las Vegas, that worked with me at the JDRFs Hope & Health Symposium at UNLV 3 weeks ago, she shared with me her complications with what she does. She agreed with me that it’s never a complete path medical professionals lead patients on to. They show them what they can or can’t do or eat, but that’s it. More than likely, the patients go home and attempt to change their lives but without proper knowledge on how to utilize these new ingredients and they never stick to their diet. Or worse, they stick to the diet but in an unhealthy manner. That’s where I want to come in. But not only come in at that point, I want to provide clients and patients with the entire treatment. I want to transform Serve M.E. Now into a “heathy living” service where we can diagnose, treat, and teach a patient to live healthier and keep it that way. And as far as I’m concerned, the only way to achieve these results to live plant-strong!

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[SMN PLANTicious Recipe] Green Garlic Dip

Author: Chef Florvil King Valdez   |   0 Comments   |   Categories: [SMN] Recipes • Healthier Eating   |   Tags: • • • • • • • • • • •

Who doesn’t like an traditional, yummy, and cheesy Artichoke Spinach dip to go along with their chips and salsa or wings for that party or for a game day celebration? Well I developed this recipe because I needed something to replace that wonderful concoction to serve up to my plant-strong eating clients. I featured this dip at my ENGINE 2, 28-Day Challenge cooking class at Whole Foods Market, Henderson last week. They enjoyed the dip and, more importantly, resembled the flavors of that cheesy artichoke dip we were all so used to. My favorite thing about this recipe is that it’s filled with so much kale and spinach that you get more Vitamins C and K than you can get in an everyday multivitamin.

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The main ingredients in this dish are definitely the kale and spinach. I thought to add artichoke instead of kale but you know that if I had my chance I would add kale into everything I make. You can totally add artichoke to this dish but for now let’s highlight my super green ingredients. Now all you need is a small sauté pan, a good, high-powered blender, such as a Vitamix or a Blendtec (<– my recommendation!), and patience. Patience to wait for an amazing dish that makes you forget there isn't any cheese, dairy or, my least favorite food on Earth, mayonnaise.

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INGREDIENTS:kale, spinach, garlic, coconut milk (or almond milk), firm tofu, tahini, tamari, nutritional yeast, and ground black pepper. (AS ALWAYS, IF YOU WANT THE FULL RECIPE, SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG AND LEAVE A COMMENT OR YOU CAN EMAIL ME DIRECTLY!)

If you like garlic as much as I do, this recipe would be a go-to every single party you’ll be attending!

What’s also great about this dip is that it’ll keep in your fridge for at least a week. But honestly, you’d be lucky if your batch of this dip last for that long. You can serve this dip with your favorite low sodium, baked tortilla chips, vegetable crudités, fresh pita bread, or as a spread in your roasted vegetable sandwich.

If you liked this blog or want the full recipe for this or any other dish, subscribe and leave a comment. You can also email me at servemenowcatering@yahoo.com.

FOLLOW ME on TWITTER: @servmenow or on FACEBOOK: Serve M.E. Now

[SMN PLANTicious Recipe] Sunday Chili

Author: Chef Florvil King Valdez   |   0 Comments   |   Categories: [SMN] Recipes • Healthier Eating   |   Tags: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

I featured this chili recipe at my last Engine 2, 28-Day Challenge cooking class at Whole Foods Market, Henderson. it was a hit with the challengers as well as the “meat-eaters” back in the kitchen. This “Super Bowl Chili” is great for tailgating and for your next family gathering. I’m positive it’ll hold up at your next company Chili-Cookoff but just make sure you give me some kind of credit. ;-D

This particular chili recipe has been transformed three times before it was made into perfection. It started out as a friend’s vegan chili, then into my turkey/meat chili, then into this magnificent creation. This is everything a chili is described to be, hearty, spicy, bold, and comforting but of course built with my own spins and secrets. I promise that once eating this chili you may not go back to that boring crock-pot stew. If anything, take this as a base or guideline and run wild with it.

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Ingredients: low sodium vegetable stock, corn, bell peppers, Anaheim chili peppers, red onions, garlic, whole peeled tomatoes, red kidney beans, pinto beans, tamari, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, thyme, ground black pepper, and two secret ingredients! (AS ALWAYS, IF YOU WANT THE FULL RECIPE, SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG AND LEAVE A COMMENT OR YOU CAN EMAIL ME DIRECTLY!)

Remember that this recipe and all of my PLANT-STRONG recipes will always be free of processed oils, meats, dairy, and extremely low to no added sodium!

What I love about this dish is that you get your complete proteins along with plenty of natural sources of vitamins and minerals. It’s also high in fiber and flavor! Like I said, use this as a guideline and add your favorite vegetables to this. Have fun with it and explore the seasoning section of your local all-natural grocer (WHOLE FOODS MARKET) and have at it. Remember that seasonings always count for “free flavor.” what I mean by that is that using dried herbs and seasonings pack your dish full of flavor and absolutely no calories!

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If you liked this blog or want the full recipe for this or any other dish, subscribe and leave a comment. You can also email me at servemenowcatering@yahoo.com.

FOLLOW ME on TWITTER: @servmenow or on FACEBOOK: Serve M.E. Now