On this episode of the Swallow Your Pride podcast, Theresa sits down with Kelly Kalseth, founder and CEO of Momma Gourmet, a company that is changing what pureed meals look and taste like for people with swallowing disorders.
Kelly's journey started in 2015 when her son Caleb was born premature at 30 weeks and was later diagnosed with Tracheal Malacia. After navigating thickened liquids, swallow studies, and surgeries as a first-time mom, Kelly saw a massive gap in the food options available to people on modified diets. When she toured a Meals on Wheels kitchen and saw the shelf-stable brown purees being served to clients, she knew she could do better.
Today, Momma Gourmet provides chef-crafted, flash-frozen pureed meals made with real ingredients like red beets, cauliflower, lentils, quinoa, and Greek yogurt. Every meal packs at least 28 grams of protein and ships nationwide on dry ice. Kelly talks about the emotional experience of eating, why food presentation matters even on a pureed diet, how she's expanded into halal meal options, and her goal of getting nutritious purees into senior living centers and hospice programs. She also shares a client testimonial from a caregiver whose 99-year-old mother eats every single bite.
If you work with patients on modified diets (or love someone who's on one), this episode is going to make you rethink what's possible.
Episode Page: https://syppodcast.com/395
🔗 Learn more or set up delivery at https://MommaGourmet.com
The post 395 – When Pureed Food Tastes Better Than Your Dinner: Inside Mama Gourmet’s Mission to Change the Game appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:12):
Welcome to the Swell Your Pride podcast. I'm
your host, Theresa Richard. I'm a board certified
specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders,
a mobile thieves business owner, and founder of
the MedSLP Collective.
This podcast is all about delivering the latest
evidence based practice to medical SLPs everywhere. Whether
you're a new clinician seeking tangible tools for
treatment or a seasoned vet stuck in a
(00:33):
rut, my goal is to help ditch the
old school ways of the past that no
longer serve you or your patients, to reinvigorate
your passion for our field, to broaden your
knowledge about our scope of practice, and to
inspire you to practice at the top of
your license. So if you're listening, I encourage
you to swallow your pride, be open and
willing to learn because let's face it, your
patients deserve that kind of care. With that,
(00:54):
let's dive right in.
Just a quick disclaimer that all statements and
opinions expressed in this episode do not reflect
on the organizations associated with the speakers and
are their own opinions solely.
Good afternoon, Kelly.
Hi. Good afternoon. Thank you for having me.
Yes. Thank you so much for joining me.
Alright. So welcome back, everybody. On today's episode
(01:16):
of the Swell Your Pride podcast, we have
Kelly Kalseth.
She's the founder of Mama Gourmet, a company
dedicated to bringing flavor, dignity, and nutrition to
those on puree diets. With a degree in
food science and human nutrition, Kelly transformed her
family's personal experience with swallowing challenges into a
nationwide service, providing chef crafted purees to families,
hospitals, and community programs like meals on wheel
(01:38):
meals on wheels. Her work bridges compassion and
culinary innovation to make nutritious eating accessible and
enjoyable for everyone. So thank you again, Kelly.
I I like I said, I just love
meeting people that think of new and creative
ideas, and
and yeah. So welcome.
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.
I'm it's been a journey since I've started
MamaGorbital. Yeah. Well, let's start from here.
(02:01):
Let's start from the beginning. What work what
can you tell us about it? Yeah. Absolutely.
So, well, I guess go back to 2015.
I was working in corporate America, and I
was pregnant with my first baby. And all
of a sudden, my water broke at thirty
weeks, and I didn't realize what was happening.
But I delivered a beautiful, healthy little boy,
(02:22):
three pound baby.
Caleb,
came in early. And from there, you know,
my life changed. So
it took about five months to realize that
we had a swallowing disorder on our hands
with our son. And it actually wasn't even
me at first who figured it out. I
was working all the time. I had my
son in daycare.
And the daycare
(02:43):
teacher came up to me, and she's like,
I need you to hold this other baby.
And it wasn't my baby. And I'm like,
okay. There's this cute little baby. I've been
holding the baby. And she's like, do you
hear this baby breathing? And I'm like, no.
And she's like, no. Hold Caleb.
My child. She's like, do you hear him
breathing? I'm like, yeah. This is I thought
this was normal. I was a first time
mom. I was, you know, so scared.
(03:03):
So that started our journey of, like, what's
happening?
And we went through
doctor after doctor, and then we brought into
the ENT where we did our first swallow
study. And it turned out our son was
born with something called tracheomalacia.
So he was essentially aspirating
every time he was drinking his bottle. And
(03:23):
we luckily in Chicago, we have Lurie's Children's
Hospital, great doctors, great speech pathologists,
a great community and network of people and
families and doctors and supporters.
So we went through the whole process and
essentially it was thick in his liquids to
nectar thick, which I know there's been do
you even thicken liquids anymore? I mean, there's
so much behind it now. But back then
in 2015,
(03:44):
2016,
we had to thicken it with rice. We
had to thicken his bottle feeds with rice,
and then they they said the safest thing
we can do for our child is to
get him off the bottle,
teach him how to drink formula or breast
milk and formula out of a straw, and
then get him on pureed foods.
So thus began my journey
of mama gourmet.
(04:05):
So I was at the time working a
lot of hours,
fifty, sixty, sometimes seventy a week. And
I would come home and I would take
care of my baby. I would put him
to bed, and then I would make, like,
a blue apron meal for my husband and
I. And so we were just going through
and and my son is, again,
taste testing every single recipe. I was hand
making every single puree. I wanted to see
(04:26):
the food that was going into his body
because he already had
we already had at this point a couple
surgeries,
under our belt and just
I mean, you you know the swallow study.
I do. The first swallow study I did.
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. They shove that camera
down his throat. And I remember the doctor
having, like, no tact, like, just why is
he crying? I'm like, he's a pain pain.
You just shove.
(04:47):
And the speech pathologist was, like, stroking my
arm. Kelly, you got this. You're a great
mom. And, you know, we were going through
all of the better. But it was just
so traumatizing. So I was like, if I'm
gonna see anything that goes into my son's
mouth, it's gonna be what I feed him.
And so,
originally, we were just kinda talking about why
isn't there a blue apron for baby food?
(05:08):
And this was in, you know, 2016, 2017.
And so my original concept for mama gourmet
was that. It was blue apron for baby
food, and I had a whole twelve week
process that got kids from
purees onto small bites and solid foods. And
I would start going to baby shows,
and it was wonderful.
And I had a great experience where I
got to meet a lot of the moms,
(05:29):
especially in Chicago. I would go to, like,
mom fitness classes, and I would hand deliver
food to people.
And then at the same time, this was
2019,
I met,
the guy who has the Meals on Wheels
of Chicago,
contract. And he said, hey. We're looking for
purees because this is you know, why don't
(05:50):
you come take a tour of my kitchen,
come see what we have going on. So
I went I toured his kitchen, and then
he showed me what they're feeding puree clients
at the time. And it was, you know,
the one
it's not pretty. It was brown.
It was shelf stable. It you know, it
lived for twelve years without anything. You know?
So it was just I was like, what
is happening here?
(06:11):
So at this point, I was like, let
me help you. Let's figure this out. And
so that's how it kinda started with Meals
on Wheels. And then as you know, 2020
happened.
COVID kinda shut down, and we went to
just I was cooking just the meals for
Meals on Wheels because I was an essential
worker at the kitchen for them and to
make sure that those that community still got
my meals.
(06:31):
And so that's in 2020, and I was
also pregnant with my third baby.
And at that point, I said, you know,
I think the baby food thing isn't my
true passion. It is
this whole variety of people who cannot swallow.
And just I was just
shocked. I was just shocked at how many
people are struggling
day to day with swallowing.
(06:52):
And I'm like, if I can make good
food for them that they enjoy eating, they
can bring some pleasure back into their daily
life. And so that's been my goal. And
so with that, I grew the Meals on
Wheels of Chicago. I mean, I think I
had two clients at first that they would
approve for pureed meals, but now the speech
pathologist is that go into the home.
They approve a lot more people on my
(07:12):
pureed diet because they know what the food
they're getting is going to be healthy and
happy.
And so yeah. And about a year and
a half ago, I said, well, I'm already
making these meals. Why not
send them to anyone who else needs them?
And so I opened that up,
and I've been shipping online to customers.
Mostly it's mostly it's mostly children. I mean,
well, not their you know, grown adult children
(07:32):
taking care of their elderly family, whether their
parents have Parkinson's or have had a stroke
or have head and neck cancer and they're
struggling with swallowing.
They use me to provide the food for
when they can't always make those meals for
their clients. So
and so it's just been a it's been
a journey and a passion, and I I
just wanna help more people, and I wanna
grow, and I want to if there's a
(07:53):
need out there where I'm not meeting and
people need it, I I just wanna be
that person because this
this should not be a struggle for everyone.
Yeah. Yeah. Thank thank you for sharing this,
Kelly. I there's so many thoughts, so many
things going through my head, but thank you
for your work. I mean, we'll just let's
just start there. Thank thank you for that
because you're totally right. There's it's it's one
thing to be diagnosed with a swallowing disorder,
(08:13):
and then it's another thing to manage it
and live with it and navigate it.
And if you're relying on your family or
caregivers to, you know, provide that for you,
it's we we talk a lot about caregiver
burden and, you know, how and and I
get that too. My my son, you know,
requires modified diets, and, you know, I'm grateful
that I have a nanny that spend that's
a lot of what she spends her time
(08:34):
doing is is preparing meals and preparing food
for him. And, yeah, I I completely 100%
get all that. So I wanna I'm I'm
really I I love this. And and, again,
I I can't say thank you enough for
doing this work, but I would I'd love
to know more about the business. So is
it just you? Do you have a whole
commercial kitchen? Do you have a team of
people? What what's the whole behind the scenes
look like?
(08:56):
Well, it's a lot. I have a commercial
kitchen. So I actually get to work out
of I have a small little corner in
a space at a commercial kitchen, which actually
does all the meals on wheels of Okay.
Cool. The county.
So they because I'm helping them out, they're
helping me, and so it's wonderful. And I
did hire my first employee, but, no, I
do do it all myself. I know. It's
crazy. I have machines that help me heat
(09:16):
seal,
and I have, you know, processes. I batch
cook. I cook everything fresh. I batch it.
I flash freeze it so it's fresh.
And so I just you know, every week,
I'm making I have a a variety of
10 meals. I do about three types of
meals each week, and I make them in
bulk, and then that's kinda how I rotate
it out.
I would love to get more help. But
(09:37):
for me, part of it is still I'm
just I wanna make sure that every single
meal that goes out there
is a per it get it gets my
level of approval.
You know, I'm trying to incorporate the IDDSI
levels.
So most of my all my meals are
either level between three and four. Where I
struggle with saying, IDDSI level four is that
I flash freeze my meals, and then when
(09:59):
they warm them up at home, you know,
sometimes there's a bit of moisture. So
in there. But my clients, they're usually fine
with that, and they have the ability to
if someone's on a level four to thick
into where they need it, you know, with
at home
capability.
That's fantastic.
Yeah. So so tell me more about where
how can people, you know, order if they're
interested or or yeah. What does that process
(10:19):
look like? Oh, yeah. Definitely. Directly on my
website. So it's m
o m m a
g o u r m a t dot
com. And so I offer because I ship
and I ship on dry ice, it's most
convenient for most affordable for the clients to
purchase either 14 meals or 20,
because they come in bulk, they fit in
(10:40):
your freezer,
so it's no no big deal on the
space. But, I also have a client
that I started working with a couple week
couple months ago, who
is on a halal diet. And so he
had asked me would I be willing to
make some of my meals either all vegetarian
or with halal chicken broth. And I said
absolutely. So I've been doing that with him
(11:00):
and he's been taste testing the well, his
dad has been taste testing the recipes and
really loved it. So I just launched this
week. I now have a halal option on
my website as well. That's awesome. Awesome. I
I love that. Yeah. I mean, there's there's
obviously so much you can do with this
and so many people that need this service,
and and that's just awesome. Have you have
you thought about expanding to more Meals on
(11:22):
Wheels? Or Yeah. I would love to expand
on more wheel Meals on Wheels. I have
the ability to do that. I found a
trucking company where we can, like, send pallets
of frozen food across state lines if we
get there. Where I've struggled in Illinois is
that each Meals on Wheels is, like, operated
out of their own little community. So Cook
County's city of Chicago, it's great. And, you
(11:43):
know, they're very ahead of the game as
far as, like, making sure that everyone's needs
are getting met. And they even do they
even do ethnic different meals depending on different,
either they do kosher, they do Indian food,
they do vegetarian. So they they're very open.
But some of the other ones in Illinois,
I've tried to get in with. They just
they just make the food from the hospital,
and they have volunteers deliver. So they they,
(12:03):
for their liability, don't wanna offer purees yet.
So I would love to see that change
because we have them. They're here. Let's feed
the people who need it.
But yeah. No. I would my goal is
to grow Meals on Wheels, but also could
I get into senior living centers or hospices?
Maybe we're we not we don't have to
have the chef that's in the house have
to make all these specialized one off meals.
(12:25):
You know, maybe that would be a service
that I could provide to help them out.
Kelly, I I just love this so much
as I said. But, you know, tell me
tell me more about where this comes from.
You're this is clearly a passion
driven project for you, and, yeah, share more
about that if you can. Yeah. Absolutely. I
mean, from when I was a little kid
coming home, I had a stay at home
mom, and I would walk into a house
(12:47):
smelling, like, delicious
meal every single night, and I love that.
And so part of me being a parent
is I wanna provide my kids with a
delicious home cooked dinner whenever I can, whenever
the schedule allows. And so I think the
importance of food and having the meal that
tastes delicious,
It's just the emotional experience of eating, and
(13:08):
I don't want
people who maybe they just have they're struggling
with swallowing. They should have that same experience.
So my food smells good when you warm
it up, and it salacious.
And I have a really interesting well, a
great quote that I love, but, this is
from one of my clients
in Florida. And she's, she wanna let me
know. She goes, the biggest complaint from caregivers
(13:29):
is pure grade food tastes awful, and it
tends to start thickening once you warm it
up.
So yours do not, and they're delicious. I'm
so glad I found you. Your meals are
nutritious. At 99, mom has no skin breakdowns,
no constipation.
That that's two of the biggest issues with
elderly and limited mobility, and she eats every
single bite. So thank you so much for
(13:49):
your delicious and nutritious meals. Oh, I love
that, Kelly. I love that. I get some
of that all the time. And Yeah. And
and that that is honestly such a huge
you know, so much of obviously, what we
do as speech pathologists is is the swallowing
portion, but there's also so much
research and data and statistics to support, you
know, dehydration, malnutrition
in in this population. And sometimes it's caused
(14:11):
by swallowing disorders, sometimes it's not. You know?
But this is such a it's such a
huge concern that if we are just throwing
foods that, you know, for lack of better
term, are of zero nutritional quality,
then, of course, we're gonna end up with
those things. You know? Then we end up
with patients, like you said, with skin breakdowns
and wounds, and and it's just a it's
a uphill battle of of how we
(14:32):
heal those without proper nutrition and nutrients. So
I just I love love love love that
so much. Talk to me a little bit,
Kelly, about about the presentation
of of how you serve this. Because I
know that's also a huge complaint that people
get is
it looks like a glop of yellow and
a glop of green and a glop of
brown, and I have no idea what that
(14:52):
is. And and I know there's all sorts
of creativity with food molds and things like
that. So I I know you're passionate about
nutrition. So let let's talk about really the
appearance of it and then also what you
use to make the foods so nutritious.
Yeah. Absolutely. So
I am working on creating the food food
molds. I don't currently do that now. I
just have a it's a tray and it
has
(15:12):
a 12 ounce entree and two side dishes,
but they're not globs. They're beautiful colors. We're
talking oranges and
pinks. I use red beets that just have
a gorgeous color.
Lots of orange, lots of green, lots of
cream. I like I love, cauliflower. It's one
of my favorite ingredients, and it's the best
(15:33):
to absorb
different herbs and spices and great flavor.
So I'm working on the molds. The issue
with the molds that I have come to
find
is that
you really need, like, a thickening agent in
there, whether it's tapioca powder or, you know,
another when you're just using real ingredients such
as, like, beans and lentils
(15:53):
and chicken broth and beef beef stock,
and different vegetables and different fruits, it once
it heats up, the kind of mold falls
away. But I will tell you that my
clients love it. They say they see the
rich colors. They're not so concerned
with the way it looks. Nothing looks like
oh, I don't I don't know if I
should eat that or not. Nothing's questionable.
(16:14):
It comes it's beautiful,
wide variety of flavor and color.
But yeah. So I cook everything
with
vegetables and fruits, and then I either do
a bean or a lentil
or quinoa
base. And that really creates that amazing consistency
that we need for that level three or
(16:35):
level four puree.
And for flavor, I'm not a stranger to
herbs.
I don't see added salt. I know some
salt lives in the chicken stock we use,
but it's minimal.
But just making sure that every bite our
clients are getting, they're getting delicious food that
looks vibrant.
What what do you do for as far
(16:55):
as protein? I know that's a huge thing
for for a lot of patients that are
healing from wounds and burns and things like
that.
Yeah. Absolutely. So I just do the vegetarian
proteins,
but I do use a chicken, stock and
a beef stock, which also has added. I
don't use, like, the broth. I use, like,
the actual Gotcha. Delicious stock.
But yeah. So I don't love the way
(17:15):
actual meat purees when you freeze it and
heats it up. And so I've just chosen
to use,
the stock and then the the
veggie protein as well as, I some of
my meals also are made with Greek yogurt.
But every single meal is at least 28,
grams of protein. Holy cow. Oh, that's amazing.
That's awesome.
(17:35):
I love that. I I know one of
the biggest things I like joke with my
nanny because she'll, you know, just my kitchen
will be just distracted sometimes when she so
she'll dispatch cook tons of meals for my
son. And I'm like, this kid eats healthier
than everybody else in the family. Yeah. The
thing you know, she'll, like she uses sweet
potato, and she uses Yes. All these really
nice bright, you know, vibrant vegetables that she
purees. And, yeah, this is awesome. I I
(17:57):
love this so much, Kelly. I I hope
that this podcast episode really gets some some
legs for you and and gets into the
right hands and ears for some people. But,
yeah, I I just especially if it's direct
to consumer and there's a lot of families
that could benefit from this and just, you
know, your your passion and your why
for doing this is is very, very evident.
So thank you so much for sharing.
(18:18):
Is there anything else you wanna share with
the people? I know we already talked about
where you can purchase directly online.
Oh, I think we did most of it.
So, yeah, I just I also just wanna
put myself out there that I am a
a partner in this. So if someone
is like, I I like what you're doing,
but this is what I need. I wanna
have that conversation with them because if I
can help, I will.
(18:38):
You know, I know sometimes you go out
there and
you order something offline or people get me,
and that's what they love. So they're getting
me, they're getting a partner in this. I'm
there to help them.
I do ship
via, you know, third party shipping companies. Sometimes
the food, you know, one out of every
30 will get damaged in shipping. I cover
that. I I just resend it. I I
(18:59):
this is something I'm very passionate about, and
my clients shouldn't have to worry about those
one offs that no one can control.
So I'm just I'm here to help those
families in need and especially
I I just even know, like, with the
head and neck cancers are coming out and
the people doing the radiation. I mean, there's
so much that we can do
and we can fuel,
you know, their good their bodies with real
(19:21):
food to help them heal faster.
Agreed. Awesome. Well, thank you again, Kelly. Share
the website again for people. And if are
you on social media or anything? Is there
any else? Okay. Yeah. Sure. Absolutely. So, yeah,
I'm mama gourmet. So mommagourmat.com.
And then I'm also on Instagram and Facebook,
and you could find me there. Awesome. Thank
(19:43):
you so much for sharing, Kelly.
Thank you.
And that's a wrap for this episode.
As always, thank you so much for listening.
And if you'd like to download the show
notes from this episode, please visit swallowyourpridepodcast.com.
There you can also sign up for our
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If you do like what you hear, then
(20:03):
please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes
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If you'd like to be a guest, share
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on the show, please email podcast@TeresaRichard.com.
Thank you so much for listening and we'll
catch you next week.
Welcome to the Swell Your Pride podcast. I'm
your host, Theresa Richard. I'm a board certified
specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders,
a mobile thieves business owner, and founder of
the MedSLP Collective.
This podcast is all about delivering the latest
evidence based practice to medical SLPs everywhere. Whether
you're a new clinician seeking tangible tools for
treatment or a seasoned vet stuck in a
(00:33):
rut, my goal is to help ditch the
old school ways of the past that no
longer serve you or your patients, to reinvigorate
your passion for our field, to broaden your
knowledge about our scope of practice, and to
inspire you to practice at the top of
your license. So if you're listening, I encourage
you to swallow your pride, be open and
willing to learn because let's face it, your
patients deserve that kind of care. With that,
(00:54):
let's dive right in.
Just a quick disclaimer that all statements and
opinions expressed in this episode do not reflect
on the organizations associated with the speakers and
are their own opinions solely.
Good afternoon, Kelly.
Hi. Good afternoon. Thank you for having me.
Yes. Thank you so much for joining me.
Alright. So welcome back, everybody. On today's episode
(01:16):
of the Swell Your Pride podcast, we have
Kelly Kalseth.
She's the founder of Mama Gourmet, a company
dedicated to bringing flavor, dignity, and nutrition to
those on puree diets. With a degree in
food science and human nutrition, Kelly transformed her
family's personal experience with swallowing challenges into a
nationwide service, providing chef crafted purees to families,
hospitals, and community programs like meals on wheel
(01:38):
meals on wheels. Her work bridges compassion and
culinary innovation to make nutritious eating accessible and
enjoyable for everyone. So thank you again, Kelly.
I I like I said, I just love
meeting people that think of new and creative
ideas, and
and yeah. So welcome.
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.
I'm it's been a journey since I've started
MamaGorbital. Yeah. Well, let's start from here.
(02:01):
Let's start from the beginning. What work what
can you tell us about it? Yeah. Absolutely.
So, well, I guess go back to 2015.
I was working in corporate America, and I
was pregnant with my first baby. And all
of a sudden, my water broke at thirty
weeks, and I didn't realize what was happening.
But I delivered a beautiful, healthy little boy,
(02:22):
three pound baby.
Caleb,
came in early. And from there, you know,
my life changed. So
it took about five months to realize that
we had a swallowing disorder on our hands
with our son. And it actually wasn't even
me at first who figured it out. I
was working all the time. I had my
son in daycare.
And the daycare
(02:43):
teacher came up to me, and she's like,
I need you to hold this other baby.
And it wasn't my baby. And I'm like,
okay. There's this cute little baby. I've been
holding the baby. And she's like, do you
hear this baby breathing? And I'm like, no.
And she's like, no. Hold Caleb.
My child. She's like, do you hear him
breathing? I'm like, yeah. This is I thought
this was normal. I was a first time
mom. I was, you know, so scared.
(03:03):
So that started our journey of, like, what's
happening?
And we went through
doctor after doctor, and then we brought into
the ENT where we did our first swallow
study. And it turned out our son was
born with something called tracheomalacia.
So he was essentially aspirating
every time he was drinking his bottle. And
(03:23):
we luckily in Chicago, we have Lurie's Children's
Hospital, great doctors, great speech pathologists,
a great community and network of people and
families and doctors and supporters.
So we went through the whole process and
essentially it was thick in his liquids to
nectar thick, which I know there's been do
you even thicken liquids anymore? I mean, there's
so much behind it now. But back then
in 2015,
(03:44):
2016,
we had to thicken it with rice. We
had to thicken his bottle feeds with rice,
and then they they said the safest thing
we can do for our child is to
get him off the bottle,
teach him how to drink formula or breast
milk and formula out of a straw, and
then get him on pureed foods.
So thus began my journey
of mama gourmet.
(04:05):
So I was at the time working a
lot of hours,
fifty, sixty, sometimes seventy a week. And
I would come home and I would take
care of my baby. I would put him
to bed, and then I would make, like,
a blue apron meal for my husband and
I. And so we were just going through
and and my son is, again,
taste testing every single recipe. I was hand
making every single puree. I wanted to see
(04:26):
the food that was going into his body
because he already had
we already had at this point a couple
surgeries,
under our belt and just
I mean, you you know the swallow study.
I do. The first swallow study I did.
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. They shove that camera
down his throat. And I remember the doctor
having, like, no tact, like, just why is
he crying? I'm like, he's a pain pain.
You just shove.
(04:47):
And the speech pathologist was, like, stroking my
arm. Kelly, you got this. You're a great
mom. And, you know, we were going through
all of the better. But it was just
so traumatizing. So I was like, if I'm
gonna see anything that goes into my son's
mouth, it's gonna be what I feed him.
And so,
originally, we were just kinda talking about why
isn't there a blue apron for baby food?
(05:08):
And this was in, you know, 2016, 2017.
And so my original concept for mama gourmet
was that. It was blue apron for baby
food, and I had a whole twelve week
process that got kids from
purees onto small bites and solid foods. And
I would start going to baby shows,
and it was wonderful.
And I had a great experience where I
got to meet a lot of the moms,
(05:29):
especially in Chicago. I would go to, like,
mom fitness classes, and I would hand deliver
food to people.
And then at the same time, this was
2019,
I met,
the guy who has the Meals on Wheels
of Chicago,
contract. And he said, hey. We're looking for
purees because this is you know, why don't
(05:50):
you come take a tour of my kitchen,
come see what we have going on. So
I went I toured his kitchen, and then
he showed me what they're feeding puree clients
at the time. And it was, you know,
the one
it's not pretty. It was brown.
It was shelf stable. It you know, it
lived for twelve years without anything. You know?
So it was just I was like, what
is happening here?
(06:11):
So at this point, I was like, let
me help you. Let's figure this out. And
so that's how it kinda started with Meals
on Wheels. And then as you know, 2020
happened.
COVID kinda shut down, and we went to
just I was cooking just the meals for
Meals on Wheels because I was an essential
worker at the kitchen for them and to
make sure that those that community still got
my meals.
(06:31):
And so that's in 2020, and I was
also pregnant with my third baby.
And at that point, I said, you know,
I think the baby food thing isn't my
true passion. It is
this whole variety of people who cannot swallow.
And just I was just
shocked. I was just shocked at how many
people are struggling
day to day with swallowing.
(06:52):
And I'm like, if I can make good
food for them that they enjoy eating, they
can bring some pleasure back into their daily
life. And so that's been my goal. And
so with that, I grew the Meals on
Wheels of Chicago. I mean, I think I
had two clients at first that they would
approve for pureed meals, but now the speech
pathologist is that go into the home.
They approve a lot more people on my
(07:12):
pureed diet because they know what the food
they're getting is going to be healthy and
happy.
And so yeah. And about a year and
a half ago, I said, well, I'm already
making these meals. Why not
send them to anyone who else needs them?
And so I opened that up,
and I've been shipping online to customers.
Mostly it's mostly it's mostly children. I mean,
well, not their you know, grown adult children
(07:32):
taking care of their elderly family, whether their
parents have Parkinson's or have had a stroke
or have head and neck cancer and they're
struggling with swallowing.
They use me to provide the food for
when they can't always make those meals for
their clients. So
and so it's just been a it's been
a journey and a passion, and I I
just wanna help more people, and I wanna
grow, and I want to if there's a
(07:53):
need out there where I'm not meeting and
people need it, I I just wanna be
that person because this
this should not be a struggle for everyone.
Yeah. Yeah. Thank thank you for sharing this,
Kelly. I there's so many thoughts, so many
things going through my head, but thank you
for your work. I mean, we'll just let's
just start there. Thank thank you for that
because you're totally right. There's it's it's one
thing to be diagnosed with a swallowing disorder,
(08:13):
and then it's another thing to manage it
and live with it and navigate it.
And if you're relying on your family or
caregivers to, you know, provide that for you,
it's we we talk a lot about caregiver
burden and, you know, how and and I
get that too. My my son, you know,
requires modified diets, and, you know, I'm grateful
that I have a nanny that spend that's
a lot of what she spends her time
(08:34):
doing is is preparing meals and preparing food
for him. And, yeah, I I completely 100%
get all that. So I wanna I'm I'm
really I I love this. And and, again,
I I can't say thank you enough for
doing this work, but I would I'd love
to know more about the business. So is
it just you? Do you have a whole
commercial kitchen? Do you have a team of
people? What what's the whole behind the scenes
look like?
(08:56):
Well, it's a lot. I have a commercial
kitchen. So I actually get to work out
of I have a small little corner in
a space at a commercial kitchen, which actually
does all the meals on wheels of Okay.
Cool. The county.
So they because I'm helping them out, they're
helping me, and so it's wonderful. And I
did hire my first employee, but, no, I
do do it all myself. I know. It's
crazy. I have machines that help me heat
(09:16):
seal,
and I have, you know, processes. I batch
cook. I cook everything fresh. I batch it.
I flash freeze it so it's fresh.
And so I just you know, every week,
I'm making I have a a variety of
10 meals. I do about three types of
meals each week, and I make them in
bulk, and then that's kinda how I rotate
it out.
I would love to get more help. But
(09:37):
for me, part of it is still I'm
just I wanna make sure that every single
meal that goes out there
is a per it get it gets my
level of approval.
You know, I'm trying to incorporate the IDDSI
levels.
So most of my all my meals are
either level between three and four. Where I
struggle with saying, IDDSI level four is that
I flash freeze my meals, and then when
(09:59):
they warm them up at home, you know,
sometimes there's a bit of moisture. So
in there. But my clients, they're usually fine
with that, and they have the ability to
if someone's on a level four to thick
into where they need it, you know, with
at home
capability.
That's fantastic.
Yeah. So so tell me more about where
how can people, you know, order if they're
interested or or yeah. What does that process
(10:19):
look like? Oh, yeah. Definitely. Directly on my
website. So it's m
o m m a
g o u r m a t dot
com. And so I offer because I ship
and I ship on dry ice, it's most
convenient for most affordable for the clients to
purchase either 14 meals or 20,
because they come in bulk, they fit in
(10:40):
your freezer,
so it's no no big deal on the
space. But, I also have a client
that I started working with a couple week
couple months ago, who
is on a halal diet. And so he
had asked me would I be willing to
make some of my meals either all vegetarian
or with halal chicken broth. And I said
absolutely. So I've been doing that with him
(11:00):
and he's been taste testing the well, his
dad has been taste testing the recipes and
really loved it. So I just launched this
week. I now have a halal option on
my website as well. That's awesome. Awesome. I
I love that. Yeah. I mean, there's there's
obviously so much you can do with this
and so many people that need this service,
and and that's just awesome. Have you have
you thought about expanding to more Meals on
(11:22):
Wheels? Or Yeah. I would love to expand
on more wheel Meals on Wheels. I have
the ability to do that. I found a
trucking company where we can, like, send pallets
of frozen food across state lines if we
get there. Where I've struggled in Illinois is
that each Meals on Wheels is, like, operated
out of their own little community. So Cook
County's city of Chicago, it's great. And, you
(11:43):
know, they're very ahead of the game as
far as, like, making sure that everyone's needs
are getting met. And they even do they
even do ethnic different meals depending on different,
either they do kosher, they do Indian food,
they do vegetarian. So they they're very open.
But some of the other ones in Illinois,
I've tried to get in with. They just
they just make the food from the hospital,
and they have volunteers deliver. So they they,
(12:03):
for their liability, don't wanna offer purees yet.
So I would love to see that change
because we have them. They're here. Let's feed
the people who need it.
But yeah. No. I would my goal is
to grow Meals on Wheels, but also could
I get into senior living centers or hospices?
Maybe we're we not we don't have to
have the chef that's in the house have
to make all these specialized one off meals.
(12:25):
You know, maybe that would be a service
that I could provide to help them out.
Kelly, I I just love this so much
as I said. But, you know, tell me
tell me more about where this comes from.
You're this is clearly a passion
driven project for you, and, yeah, share more
about that if you can. Yeah. Absolutely. I
mean, from when I was a little kid
coming home, I had a stay at home
mom, and I would walk into a house
(12:47):
smelling, like, delicious
meal every single night, and I love that.
And so part of me being a parent
is I wanna provide my kids with a
delicious home cooked dinner whenever I can, whenever
the schedule allows. And so I think the
importance of food and having the meal that
tastes delicious,
It's just the emotional experience of eating, and
(13:08):
I don't want
people who maybe they just have they're struggling
with swallowing. They should have that same experience.
So my food smells good when you warm
it up, and it salacious.
And I have a really interesting well, a
great quote that I love, but, this is
from one of my clients
in Florida. And she's, she wanna let me
know. She goes, the biggest complaint from caregivers
(13:29):
is pure grade food tastes awful, and it
tends to start thickening once you warm it
up.
So yours do not, and they're delicious. I'm
so glad I found you. Your meals are
nutritious. At 99, mom has no skin breakdowns,
no constipation.
That that's two of the biggest issues with
elderly and limited mobility, and she eats every
single bite. So thank you so much for
(13:49):
your delicious and nutritious meals. Oh, I love
that, Kelly. I love that. I get some
of that all the time. And Yeah. And
and that that is honestly such a huge
you know, so much of obviously, what we
do as speech pathologists is is the swallowing
portion, but there's also so much
research and data and statistics to support, you
know, dehydration, malnutrition
in in this population. And sometimes it's caused
(14:11):
by swallowing disorders, sometimes it's not. You know?
But this is such a it's such a
huge concern that if we are just throwing
foods that, you know, for lack of better
term, are of zero nutritional quality,
then, of course, we're gonna end up with
those things. You know? Then we end up
with patients, like you said, with skin breakdowns
and wounds, and and it's just a it's
a uphill battle of of how we
(14:32):
heal those without proper nutrition and nutrients. So
I just I love love love love that
so much. Talk to me a little bit,
Kelly, about about the presentation
of of how you serve this. Because I
know that's also a huge complaint that people
get is
it looks like a glop of yellow and
a glop of green and a glop of
brown, and I have no idea what that
(14:52):
is. And and I know there's all sorts
of creativity with food molds and things like
that. So I I know you're passionate about
nutrition. So let let's talk about really the
appearance of it and then also what you
use to make the foods so nutritious.
Yeah. Absolutely. So
I am working on creating the food food
molds. I don't currently do that now. I
just have a it's a tray and it
has
(15:12):
a 12 ounce entree and two side dishes,
but they're not globs. They're beautiful colors. We're
talking oranges and
pinks. I use red beets that just have
a gorgeous color.
Lots of orange, lots of green, lots of
cream. I like I love, cauliflower. It's one
of my favorite ingredients, and it's the best
(15:33):
to absorb
different herbs and spices and great flavor.
So I'm working on the molds. The issue
with the molds that I have come to
find
is that
you really need, like, a thickening agent in
there, whether it's tapioca powder or, you know,
another when you're just using real ingredients such
as, like, beans and lentils
(15:53):
and chicken broth and beef beef stock,
and different vegetables and different fruits, it once
it heats up, the kind of mold falls
away. But I will tell you that my
clients love it. They say they see the
rich colors. They're not so concerned
with the way it looks. Nothing looks like
oh, I don't I don't know if I
should eat that or not. Nothing's questionable.
(16:14):
It comes it's beautiful,
wide variety of flavor and color.
But yeah. So I cook everything
with
vegetables and fruits, and then I either do
a bean or a lentil
or quinoa
base. And that really creates that amazing consistency
that we need for that level three or
(16:35):
level four puree.
And for flavor, I'm not a stranger to
herbs.
I don't see added salt. I know some
salt lives in the chicken stock we use,
but it's minimal.
But just making sure that every bite our
clients are getting, they're getting delicious food that
looks vibrant.
What what do you do for as far
(16:55):
as protein? I know that's a huge thing
for for a lot of patients that are
healing from wounds and burns and things like
that.
Yeah. Absolutely. So I just do the vegetarian
proteins,
but I do use a chicken, stock and
a beef stock, which also has added. I
don't use, like, the broth. I use, like,
the actual Gotcha. Delicious stock.
But yeah. So I don't love the way
(17:15):
actual meat purees when you freeze it and
heats it up. And so I've just chosen
to use,
the stock and then the the
veggie protein as well as, I some of
my meals also are made with Greek yogurt.
But every single meal is at least 28,
grams of protein. Holy cow. Oh, that's amazing.
That's awesome.
(17:35):
I love that. I I know one of
the biggest things I like joke with my
nanny because she'll, you know, just my kitchen
will be just distracted sometimes when she so
she'll dispatch cook tons of meals for my
son. And I'm like, this kid eats healthier
than everybody else in the family. Yeah. The
thing you know, she'll, like she uses sweet
potato, and she uses Yes. All these really
nice bright, you know, vibrant vegetables that she
purees. And, yeah, this is awesome. I I
(17:57):
love this so much, Kelly. I I hope
that this podcast episode really gets some some
legs for you and and gets into the
right hands and ears for some people. But,
yeah, I I just especially if it's direct
to consumer and there's a lot of families
that could benefit from this and just, you
know, your your passion and your why
for doing this is is very, very evident.
So thank you so much for sharing.
(18:18):
Is there anything else you wanna share with
the people? I know we already talked about
where you can purchase directly online.
Oh, I think we did most of it.
So, yeah, I just I also just wanna
put myself out there that I am a
a partner in this. So if someone
is like, I I like what you're doing,
but this is what I need. I wanna
have that conversation with them because if I
can help, I will.
(18:38):
You know, I know sometimes you go out
there and
you order something offline or people get me,
and that's what they love. So they're getting
me, they're getting a partner in this. I'm
there to help them.
I do ship
via, you know, third party shipping companies. Sometimes
the food, you know, one out of every
30 will get damaged in shipping. I cover
that. I I just resend it. I I
(18:59):
this is something I'm very passionate about, and
my clients shouldn't have to worry about those
one offs that no one can control.
So I'm just I'm here to help those
families in need and especially
I I just even know, like, with the
head and neck cancers are coming out and
the people doing the radiation. I mean, there's
so much that we can do
and we can fuel,
you know, their good their bodies with real
(19:21):
food to help them heal faster.
Agreed. Awesome. Well, thank you again, Kelly. Share
the website again for people. And if are
you on social media or anything? Is there
any else? Okay. Yeah. Sure. Absolutely. So, yeah,
I'm mama gourmet. So mommagourmat.com.
And then I'm also on Instagram and Facebook,
and you could find me there. Awesome. Thank
(19:43):
you so much for sharing, Kelly.
Thank you.
And that's a wrap for this episode.
As always, thank you so much for listening.
And if you'd like to download the show
notes from this episode, please visit swallowyourpridepodcast.com.
There you can also sign up for our
email list so that you'll never miss another
episode.
If you do like what you hear, then
(20:03):
please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes
or share it on social media with your
friends and colleagues because that is what keeps
these episodes coming.
If you'd like to be a guest, share
feedback or request a topic to be discussed
on the show, please email podcast@TeresaRichard.com.
Thank you so much for listening and we'll
catch you next week.
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