When’s the last time you sat down and truly savored that bite you took of the food you were eating?

Well, for me, when I really look back on my life, I probably never savored a bite of food.

Like, chewed it nice and slow and tasted all the flavors that one bite provided.

Well, I know I did when I was a kid. Have you seen children eat? They take their time!! Something we adults need to do more often!

But, there was this one time in my adult life…the year I was learning to become a Health Coach at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Oh man, my friends and I learned to art of slowing down when eating and we used to take one square of chocolate and let it just melt in our mouths. It tasted like heaven, but man, was it hard to do. All I wanted to do every time was chomp chomp chomp it as fast I could.

So when I say, savor, and you’re not sure what I mean, let me ask you something, have you ever seen the movie Ratatouille?

Let me tell you how I got to where I am today, here, creating this food blog that I like to call, Savor That Bite, and why I love cooking, baking, food photography and most of all, slowing down to SAVOR it all!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been in the kitchen.

If my parents were making a dinner that I didn’t like, I’d be in the kitchen making my own dinner.

It was usually turkey tacos. They were my favorite! I made them ALL the time!

I also fell in love with baking. I can remember making Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies all the time, too.

When the holidays came around, I fell in love with some of my mom’s Pillsbury holiday recipe books and I’d make all kinds of different Christmas cookies and appetizers that the cookbook provided.

I still remember the feeling of making Santa face sugar cookies…the red hat and chocolate chip eyes and red hot nose and white frosting for his beard…it was SO fun!

I remember when I was in Home Economics in high school and my friends and I made Apple Crisp. OMG! I fell in love with making it and tasting it! LOL!

It was during this time, too, when I also became very passionate about nutrition and exercise.

I started making my own salad to bring to school for lunch every day. I gave up soda because I realized the caffeine was giving me headaches and I started doing all kinds of different exercise videos and jogging outside.

My college life!

When I started college, I wasn’t sure of my major.

At first, I thought about psychology because I felt like I must have been pretty good at helping my friends with conflicts in their lives, because they were always coming to me for help and advice.

I remember one of best friends always calling me at 3 am because she needed help with her boyfriend problems…I didn’t mind one bit! I loved being there for her and helping her!

But when I took my first psychology class, I got scared, because I thought it was going to be too hard for me, and I wouldn’t pass, so I moved on to something else…nutrition.

But, the same thing happened when I took my first nutrition class. I really wanted to pursue it, but, again, I let my self-doubt thoughts get in the way because I thought, “This class is too hard and I’ll never pass and become a nutritionist” and I ended up pursuing something else…writing.

I’ve always loved to write! So I thought, this is it! I can do this!

I finally decided that Journalism would be my major with the hope of writing for a music magazine, like Rolling Stone, because I was, and still am, a huge lover of music and seeing live bands. I even thought about becoming a radio DJ, too, but, I ended up pursuing writing instead.

I wrote for the college newspaper, The Alligator, a few times and another local newspaper called INSite Magazine, that featured articles on local bands. I even got to take photos, too! I loved it!

Here’s a few that I wrote…

Life after college…

After receiving my Journalism degree from the University of Florida in December 2000, I had a hard time finding writing jobs back in my hometown, West Palm Beach, FL.

I was getting so discouraged, but when I went to visit my friend from college, who taught first grade, I visited her classroom while she was teaching and I thought, “I love kids! I could go into teaching and I could teach them writing!”

So I went back to school and received another bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Florida Atlantic University.

I loved my time learning how to be a teacher. I loved my time doing my student teaching in first grade. I really loved being around the kids and helping them learn.

Once I received my teaching degree, I ended up moving to Guam, to be with my college sweetheart, who was living there because he had joined the Coast Guard after we graduated from the University of Florida together.

While we lived on Guam together (for a year!), we got married and I began substitute teaching as I waited to receive my Florida teaching certificate.

We moved back to south Florida and I ended up finally getting a full-time third grade teaching job. I was so excited, but as the year went on, my excitement turned to tears.

I was the most stressed-out I’ve ever been in my entire life.

And, because of that, I started looking for Journalism jobs again.

It wasn’t just me either, all my teacher friends were trying to get out. It made me so sad because I loved the kids, but it was the system that was breaking me.

I ended up getting moved to different school, so I decided to give it another try. It was better, but I still came home crying every day.

Enter my food life!

My husband ended up getting accepted to law school in Virginia and it was this time I ended up finding the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

I applied and got accepted for the upcoming fall class and once we got settled in Virginia, I became an ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) tutor to K-12 kids in the local public school system while I traveled once a month to New York City to become a Holistic Health Coach.

It was amazing!! And my passion for food and self-care skyrocketed even more!

It was during this time when I truly connected with my love for seasonal eating.

I had grown up in south Florida where the weather is always warm, so hot lemon water, soups and stews were never really heard of in my diet because I was basically eating watermelon and pineapple all year long. Ha!

So moving up to Virginia (the coldest climate I’ve ever lived in and ever want to live in! Ha!) and going to the Institute of Integrative Nutrition really connected to me eating foods in a seasonal way that I had never heard of.

I started to love making warming foods like soups and stews and fruit crips in the fall and winter and cooling foods like green leafy vegetables in the spring and salads and fruit in the summer.

I also started to learn how important it is to to chew my food, eat slow, and be mindful of the flavors I was putting into my mouth.

This is when I realized how much I love slow eating and slow living!

And I really connected with this more once I became a mom! More to come on this below!

But most of all, I learned how much pleasure slow eating and slow living provided me and I always wanted to have my life revolve around that slow living way.

After I received my Holistic Health Coaching Certification, I began to take the steps to start my Health Coaching business.

Soon after, I became pregnant with my first born and I reconnected with my love for photography.

I was always taking pictures growing up. My bedroom door in high school was filled with pictures…it was one big collage of pictures of my friends and I, and when my husband and I would travel, I would just snap whatever I was seeing that made me stop and smile.

I never realized I had this photography passion inside of me until after I had my daughter.

I got myself a DSLR and I started learning everything I could about photography.

I fell in love with my daughter and photography! I couldn’t stop taking pictures of her!!

Once my daughter was two, I started getting back into my kitchen to cook and bake. As much as I wanted to just get frozen meals all time because I was so tired from being a new mom, I just couldn’t do it.

I have a serious problems, I just love making homemade meals and baked goods!

I was taking a lot of portrait and general photography classes on Creative Live, but when I saw a food photography course being offered by Penny De Los Santos on there, I decided to take it and OMG did I fall even more in LOVE photography…or shall I say food photography now!!

Because of that love, I became so inspired and so motivated to be in my kitchen cooking and baking AND practicing food photography at the same time! I loved it!!

I didn’t start out the best…but the more practiced, the more I loved it and the more I think I was finally starting to get that hang of it.

My daughter even started taking pictures of her food, too!

Then I had my son and I slowly disconnected from all things food and food photography, because taking care of two littles was the best thing that ever happen to me, but it also was pretty exhausting and because of that, I was only focused on doing the most simplest and easiest things I could do take care of them and myself.

Which meant…think of the easiest meals to make over and over again and try to get rest whenever time opened up for me

I refused to stay up at all hours of the night to work on my blog, because when I did that, I wouldn’t be my best self for my kids.

So I put it on the back burner so I could be there, 100%, for my kids, because being a happy mom to them mattered more to me than anything else.

I did start blogging again once my little guy became toddler, but it was hard to stay consistent.

But this time, I started blogging about all the ways I was calming my mind through mindless-creativity…painting, doodling, coloring and hand lettering, with food thrown in here and there.

I loved using mindless painting and hand lettering to calm the stress of my mind, but I was also always thinking about how I could get going with a food blog and taking food photos again, too!

It seemed impossible when I was exhausted from being in the kitchen all day and all night feeding my always hungry kiddos. And, not to mention, picking up all the crumbs that landed on the floor from them.

Pasta…oh, that’s a fun one pick up off the floor. Not! Ha!

But, yeah, I’d feel something tug inside of me all the time to get a food blog going, but my exhaustion just wouldn’t let me go there.

Even though I was so exhausted from all the food I was giving my kids, which felt like every second, once they started school, I found myself always in the kitchen making dinner.

As soon as I dropped them off, I’d come home and immediately start making dinner, so it was all ready when everyone got home and all I had to do was heat it up real quick.

I loved this time, because when I cook or bake in a quiet house, it feels like mediation.

It is the best feeling ever!

So even though I thought I was disconnected and had no energy to cook or bake anymore, I really wasn’t.

The only thing I wasn’t doing anymore was taking pictures of it as much as I used to.

But, if I look on my personal Instagram account, I was still taking food photos. Ha!

I even started seeing hearts in my food.

I saw and still see SO many hearts in my food. It’s amazing! And, of course, I’d be taking pictures of them!

I do believe it’s the Universe telling me to pursue food! ;)

So once we moved this past summer, and things started to settle in, I started to really connect again to wanting to start my food blog and get back to learning and taking food photos again.

I started cooking and baking again, and I started to see that it wasn’t actually exhausting me. It was actually giving me energy and bringing so much JOY!

I got my motivation back and I re-took Penny De Los Santo’s food photography class and I started re-reading books I had on food photography already and started to reading new ones.

My JOY was lit up so bright as I started doing this, which made me finally take the plunge and START (again!).

I was looking for a note on my phone one day, and I came across one from 2013 that I wasn’t even looking for. When I read it, I was talking about how I wanted to start a food blog.

I couldn’t even believe it. All these years, it’s what I’ve wanted to do, but I disconnected with it. I completely lost it. I started doing other things.

But now, all these years later, I’m ready!!

I’m ready to be a newbie again and start diving back into all things food and food photography. Because it truly is something that lights me up with so much love and passion and joy and happiness.

It’s not only about recipes and pretty food pictures.

It’s also about how becoming a mom taught me how much I want to slow down and savor life.

I knew I always wanted to do that, especially when I was learning to become a Health Coach at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, but once I had kids, I lost that slow down life.

I mean, it’s super hard to sit back and relax when you have a baby and a toddler and even young children to care for.

It’s like life speeds up tremendously once having kids.

Not only is it hard to sit still for longer than 20 seconds, but it’s also hard to sit down and savor a meal or even one bite.

Once I had my kiddos, I started eating my food faster than ever, and not to mention, eating super fast while standing up.

I’d find myself dreaming of going out to a nice, fancy, candle lit restaurant with my husband (preferably in Paris! Ha!)…all dressed up…just him and I…sitting…sipping on wine…ordering our meal and just sitting there for hours enjoying it all. Sitting there..maybe in the back of the restaurant in our private little booth…SAVORING it all…the conversation…the ambiance of the restaurant..the music playing…slowing looking at the menu and figuring out which meal I’m in the mood for…having an appetizer, a main meal and dessert…tasting all the flavors…letting them linger in my mouth…ahhhh…yes please!!!

Something I knew I was to do again one day and something that I was absolutely going to truly SAVOR once I was able to do that again.

Because when I could do that before kids, I never appreciated it or SAVORed it at all.

I will always thank my kids for connecting me with the importance of slowing down and savoring life!

That is why I have called this food blog of mine, Savor That Bite.

My kids are older now and I can actually sit down and savor that bite now.

I can actually sit and SAVOR an entire meal!! Whaaaat!?!

OMG!!

But, lemme tell you, it still isn’t easy.

Even though I can sit for quite some time and enjoy my meal, I still find myself eating fast.

I will put that bite in my mouth and maybe after one or two chews I’m already putting another bite in my mouth.

It’s actually crazy how hard it is for me to slow down and SAVOR that bite!!!

Life is busy and seems like it’s going by super fast.

So it’s my intention to slow down, and even close my eyes (have you done this? Just like Remy does? It’s absolutely amazing how closing my eyes which chewing and focusing 100% on the flavors of that bite I took immediately slows me down…it’s incredible! You should try it!), when I sit down and have a meal by myself, have a meal with my family and friends or any time I’m eating anything!

Food is absolutely beautiful, too, which is why I love to photograph it.

But when I eat it too fast, all that beauty really isn’t seen. Because it’s not just the color of the food that’s beautiful, it’s the FLAVOR of the food that is beautiful, too!

Like Remy says, it’s magical!

When I eat too fast, all that flavor isn’t never even tasted.

So, today, it is my intention to slow down and SAVOR my food more!

And when I slow down and SAVOR my food, I will slow down and SAVOR all of what life has to offer, too!

Because life is meant to be lived slow and savored!

Not rushed and tasteless!

Because, let’s be honest, when we eat fast, do we really taste what we’ve just eaten? Nope!

So my goal here on Savor That Bite is to bring the slow back to food…and the beauty!

I used to be very fearful of food. Especially when I was learning about nutrition in New York City.

I learned from so many different nutrition theories and the philosophies from many different health and wellness teachers that made my head spin.

The whole intention was try everything and see what worked best for you, because everyone is different, which I truly believe in.

But as I’ve gotten older, became a mother, my beliefs about nutrition have changed in many ways, but in some ways, has stayed the same.

I’ve figured out what has worked best for me.

The number one thing I have let go of is to not fear food anymore.

I do have a certain way I do eat, and fear can still creep in, like I shouldn’t be eating white rice or white bread, but I allow myself to eat everything now, because we only get this one life and life is meant to BE enJOYed!!

I refuse to fear food anymore! And I always want to see the beauty that ALL food provides!

Now, there’s a few things I am very, very passionate about when it comes to food.

One, I love REAL FOOD ingredients!

I like to stay away from ingredients that I can’t pronounce or I just have no clue what it is.

I like real ingredients.

Like the chocolate I eat from Hu Kitchen. I absolutely LOVE their Hazelnut Butter chocolate bar and the ingredients are so simple and REAL food.

All that’s in it is organic cacao, organic refined coconut sugar, organic hazelnut and organic cocoa butter.

And as for baked goods, if I’m out somewhere, like a party or something, I’ll eat them, but for the most part, I’d much rather make my baked goods from scratch at home.

Same with my meals. I love to make my own breakfast, lunch and dinner.

But, on the weekends, I will go out with my family to a restaurant. I won’t let my ways stop me from enjoying life! Especially with my family!

I love what food offers!

The way it brings people together.

The way it brings me, my husband and my kids together!

The way it brings cultures together.

The way nature provides it for all of us here on Earth.

Food is truly special.

And when I add food photography to this…taking a photo of my plate before I take that bite…allows me truly stop even more and take all that food beauty in before I even take that bite.

I become even more present with all the beauty that is on my plate.

And that is hard to do when life is moving so very fast.

So as the seasons change, you’ll see that here on my blog, too!

I’m so very passionate about seasonal eating. It’s amazing how once the first cold front comes through, my body doesn’t want anything to do with a smoothie or a cold salad anymore…it says, bring on the soup!!!

So you’ll see a lot seasonal eats here!

And, lastly, you’ll see lots baked goods here, too, because if I had to choose just one food to share, it would most likely be baked goods! Because I LOVE to bake!!

As of now, this isn’t a blog for me to develop brand new recipes all the time.

I’m basically a newbie who is wanting to blog and share her journey to getting back to doing what she loves to do in the kitchen (cooking and baking!) and learning how to capture it all with her DSLR again!

It’s a blog that I’m starting so I can get myself out of my food rut that I’ve been in since I became a mom of two.

Oh yeah…I forgot to tell you…once I had my son, I pretty much started eating the same exact meals every week. I stopped cooking a new dinner every single night and I started making one or two dinners a week that provided left overs for the other nights and I ate the same exact breakfast everyday and lunches. And, I still pretty much do that now. So I’m ready to get out of my food rut and start making a new meal every week AND a new baked good every week, too! That’s my goal!

But most of all, it’s a blog about slowing down to SAVOR it all!

I’m so glad you’re here to follow along!

Because it’s going to be a wild ride watching me start out as a newbie and seeing where it all leads me.

I’m SO excited!!

So sit back, relax and enjoy that food! Woohoo!!!