Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Valerie Wilson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Valerie , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
My purpose is to share the healing benefits of food. I came into that purpose when I was young and saw how my body reacted to food. I was in my early 20’s when I discovered eating organic, whole foods from mother nature, not tampered with and how following a macrobiotic lifestyle was what I had been searching for since I was in my teens.
In my teens I developed eczema and the doctors were no help. Just by observation I realized when I ate white sugar my eczema would flare up. I gave up white sugar a few time and the eczema was better.
I started to learn that our food was highly processed and it was contributing to many health issues. That is when I discovered macrobiotics.
As a teen I had a crush on the TV star Dirk Benedict. I watched him on Battlestar Galactica and he also played Face on The A. Team. I had heard he had cancer and wrote a book about it however for years I could not find the book. One day I was visiting a friend at the health food store he worked at and there on the book shelf was the book by Dirk Benedict I had been looking for, Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy. I was very excite and started reading it right away.
It was one of those times in your life you will always remember. This book made complete sense to me. It spoke to my soul. It described how we are suppose to be eating whole foods, grown out of the earth without being tampered with and without being sprayed with chemicals. The book also talked about the energy of food and how the energy of what you eat becomes the energy of who you are and can create health in your body. I could not put this book down. It changed my life.
I then went our and bought all the books on macrobiotics I could find and went to work at a macro cooking school. Then I started my business of teaching cooking classes, personal chef services and counseling people.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am known as Chef Val, and have been in the food industry since 1985. My first job was managing a delicatessen and my second job was managing a French restaurant. I discovered macrobiotics in 1993 and worked as an assistant for a macro cooking school for two years. In 1997, I also became vegan and have lived a whole foods, vegan lifestyle ever since. I started my business called, Macro Val, teaching cooking classes in 1997 and still teach in Westland, Michigan. Currently I teach in person and virtual classes every month. My classes focus on the health benefits of whole, organic, vegan foods and the energy of the food. Based on the ancient knowledge of the Orient, I teach about cooking for the different seasons following the Five Transformations of Energy. I offer lifestyle counseling based on food choices. I have helped people overcome health issues such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, Meniere’s disease and allergies. For the past 20 years I have been writing for Health and Happiness Magazine, based in Marquette, and the local magazine Body Mind Spirit Guide in Michigan. I offer personal chef services specializing in cooking for anyone who has health issues. I host an internet radio show called, REAL FOOD with Chef Val. In 2022 I started writing my Substack blog, I Am the Creator of My Health. I am the author of six cookbooks: Perceptions in Healthy Cooking, Healthy and Delicious Cooking Spring Season, Vegan Cooking with Kids, Year Round Healthy Holiday Dishes, and Summer Season Healthy and Delicious Cooking and Simply Health Scrumptious Desserts.
I love to cook. I am passionate about creating new recipes and am always coming up with new ideas. My mom likes to tell the story of when I was 9 years old and I created my first recipe. I consider my mom as my first cooking teacher. As a kid I would enjoy being in the kitchen cooking and I still have the enjoyment whenever I am cooking.
My passion is in teaching cooking classes. The fun of sharing delicous, recipes that people can make for themselves and sharing that healthy food can be delicous is my goal in my classes. I had had wonderful feed back from my students who love my recipes. It is always a pleasure when my students send me a picture of their finished recipe that they learned in class.
I teach cooking classes every month. There are different topics depending on the time of year. For example, in the summer I do Grilling Classes which are some of my students favorites. I am working of creating Spring Dishes now and am planning my next both, in person and virtual, Wed. May 22, featuring an amazing dessert, Asparagus Cake with Sweet Potato Frosting.
I am also offering a series of classes called: Healing with Foods #2 – Poultices, Healing Teas, Natural Remedies and More. Saturday: April 27, May 11 and June 1 ,11 AM to 12:30 PM (ET).
Week one: April 27 – Ume Plum Paste, Miso and Nori Sea Vegetable – Topics covered: cuts and scrapes, digestive health, but bites and stings, skin issues.
Week two: May 11 – Dead Nettles, Mustard and Basil
Topics covered: high blood pressure, colds and flus, skin issues, brain health, heart health, bug repellent.
Week three: June 1 – Cabbage and Tofu Poultices
The poultices will be demonstrated in class and taught when they are needed to be applied.
If the class has already happened, you can purchase the recording of the class.
website: www.macroval.com
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/macroval
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefval_macroval/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0Mrkgw51oB1oGucaqg-ncA
Patreon Cooking Channel: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=63892185&fan_landing=true
Blog: https://valeriewilson.substack.com/p/lectins-anti-cancer-foods
Radio Show, REAL FOOD with Chef Val: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/macrovalrealfood
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
When you feel something deep within yourself as the truth, listen to that. Follow through with the path that lead you down. Your intuition is your most powerful tool to fulfill your hearts desire. Always listen to your intuition. If you love to do something, keep doing it. If you have a passion for something follow through with that passion.
When I came across macrobiotics, eating according to nature, balancing the energy of your food and eating whole unprocessed food, I knew this is the way we are suppose to live. My intuition told me to follow this path.
I have always loved to cook. When I was a kid, I enjoyed cooking in the kitchen with my mom. If is a blessing to be able to do what you love for a living.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
Then in 1993, I read a book that changed my life. It was Confessions Of a Kamikaze Cowboy, by Dirk Benedict. This down-to-Earth book tells the journey Mr. Benedict took to heal his body of prostate cancer through changing his diet. This truthful book introduced me to Macrobiotics and the principles of energy, I had been looking for his book for years after hearing about it. And since I don’t believe in coincidences, everything happens for a reason, this book came just at the right time in my life to send me down the path of my life’s journey. I had the pleasure of re-reading this book back in 2017. The first time I read the book, it was all about food. But this time, after changing my lifestyle and eating habits, I read it from a different perspective. I found the book very spiritual, and realized the story was all about letting go. If you have the opportunity to read this awesome book, please don’t pass it up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.macroval.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefval_macroval/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/macroval
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0Mrkgw51oB1oGucaqg-ncA
- Other: Substack Blog: https://valeriewilson.substack.com/ Patreaon Cooking Channel: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=63892185&fan_landing=true REAL FOOD with Chef Val radio show: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/macrovalrealfood
