Whole food, simply prepared, cooked from scratch — I call it Honest Food.
Hello there, I’m Dawn Viola, a culinary and holistic nutrition expert, executive chef (and two-time Food Network champion!), and founder of This Honest Food.
When your food choices suddenly have to change, along with your lifestyle, creating healthy meals at home can become a daunting task. Whether you’re struggling with chronic illness like autoimmune disease, diabetes, or heart disease, or struggling to balance food allergies and sensitivities, like me, I help you cook the foods you love, without abandoning delicious for healthy.
I believe that food is medicine, and can help you heal on a cellular level. But transitioning into healthy eating can be overwhelming with all the dietary changes required to live your best life, so let’s take it one bite at a time. Literally. It starts here, where clean eating is simple, easy, and as deliciously natural as it should be.
This Honest Food is a judgement-free zone where we create healthy versions of your favorite foods, explore healthy cooking techniques, talk about foods that heal and how to better manage those that don’t, and connect with like-minded, clean eating kindred spirits.
Every health journey begins with food, because food changes everything.
Using food to heal my body and reverse the autoimmune damage caused from years of misdiagnosed food allergies, I made a pledge to myself (which you can read here) to make one small healthy change, every day; to crowd out processed foods and make whole, nourishing foods a priority; to be more adventurous in the kitchen; to make smoothies my official drink, and to eat more vegetables. These changes allowed my body to work smarter, not harder, and I immediately began to heal from the inside out. You can read more about my food allergies and my fight with food here, and at the Orlando Sentinel.
One small change, every day, is all it takes to make a big impact on your health and well being.
As you take a look around, you’ll find a variety of helpful ways you can help your body work smarter, too:
- Wellness programs that help you understand how food plays a significant role in preventing and managing disease. (coming soon!)
- Instagram Cooking Stories that show you how simple (and delicious) from-scratch cooking can be.
- Free resources, like eBooks, real food recipes, and natural living tips.
Nutrition and Culinary Credentials
I have a Master’s degree in Health and Nutrition Education, am a classically-trained certified executive chef, a former Le Cordon Bleu culinary and nutrition instructor, and a published author/food writer. I also have a background in marketing, and film production.
Did you see me on Food Network?
In addition to developing and testing recipes for my blog, I often partner with organizations and brands who share my same honest food philosophy. I also compete in professional cooking competitions. The most fun I’ve had at a competition was when I’ve appeared on Food Network. Most recently, I spent two days filming Cooks vs. Cons, and won the $10K grand prize. You can read more about my Food Network adventure here, and can catch reruns of the episode on Amazon.
