Krista & Kathleen

Hi!! Our names are Krista and Kathleen and we are Two Moms in the Kitchen!  We became friends about 5 years ago when we each lost one of our parents a week a part from each other.  Through relating to and supporting each other through our grieving, to becoming moms 10 weeks apart to the day, one of us for the first time and one of us for the 3rd time,  our bond grew stronger and stronger and the similarities we share made this an awesome friendship!! We just get each other–it’s the feeling like you’ve known someone your whole life!!

About a year ago, separately, we both decided to take hold of our health for ourselves and our families by way of healthier food choices.  Once we realized we were both on a similar quest, yet another piece to our bond puzzle was added! The more and more we continued to talk about and share recipes, we decided we wanted to pay it forward to share our passion for healthy food with other fellow moms and really anyone who wants to join the quest to take your health into your own hands through eating real, clean, whole foods and learn how to make healthier choices for you and/or your family.  Neither one of us are experts by any means but we seek knowledge from nutritionists, research our own information and have a passion for a healthy lifestyle.  We hope that through this blog, we can inspire, teach and enlighten our followers with facts, fundamentals of healthy eating, meal plans, shopping lists, recipes, tips and share our favorite products!  We are honored and privileged to walk you through our journey and share how we set ourselves up for success to make these simple yet extremely important and beneficial lifestyle changes!  We look forward to connecting with all of you who share the same want and passion to take your health into your own hands through the world of food!

How I Met This Mom

It was September of 2008 and I just had my 2nd child a few weeks prior. I was on my way to Queens to set up my first jewelry party as a Lia Sophia consultant.  My best friend and college roommate, Courtney was my first hostess!  I remember calling her on the way to let her know my ETA and before we hung up, I asked her how many girls would be joining us and their names.  The only thing I remember about that conversation was that she said this girl Kathleen would be there and that I would either love her or hate her. I was a little surprised she said that but she explained that Kathleen and I had similar personalities so she figured it could go either way.  I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t on my mind the entire time.  Kathleen quickly won my vote after saying she couldn’t believe I had a baby three weeks prior 🙂  A year later, on December 7th, my mom passed away from breast cancer and I remember when I called Courtney, she said she couldn’t believe two of her close friends lost their parents one week apart.  I had no idea Kathleen had lost her Dad until that point. Knowing what I was going through, I instantly felt compassion and empathy for Kathleen and her family.  By far, the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to face in my life.  I subsequently started a breast cancer foundation and planned my first event which was a Dance-A-Thon.  Many people came together and raised money for this event. I had awards made up a few days before the event for the highest fundraiser.  The night before the Dance-A-Thon, I jumped on the computer to write the total amounts that the winner had raised and I saw the name of someone who started raising money 24 hours prior and she actually wound up raising more than anyone else.  This person was Kathleen.  She raised $1,000 in 24 hours!  Once again, she gains my vote, lol!  I was honestly blown away. The friendship started to develop thanks to social media along with more of my events and the rest is history.  She’s the kind of friend you just love to be around.  The kind of person who understands what you’re going through no matter what the emotion–happy, sad, annoyed, frustrated, excited.  Once Kathleen became a mom, 10 weeks after I had my third, again, a deeper bond formed over our children and together we have the commonality of wanting a better lifestyle for ourselves and our families through the meals that we make! Through this passion and sharing our ideas with each other and various social media, the idea of our blog came to life!

Krista

How I Met This Mom

In November of 2009, my life changed forever. On November 30th, I found out that my father had a heart attack and passed away at the age of 54. My father was my best friend. He was funny, charming and had a huge personality. Needless to say, my world was completely rocked.  My friend, Courtney, who was Krista’s college roommate, spent several days with me after my Dad’s passing and I remember her saying that Krista’s mom was very sick.  Exactly one week after my Dad passed, Krista lost her mother Mary Ellen to stage IV breast cancer.  I had only met Krista once before and I wanted to reach out but was afraid to say the wrong thing so I decided to say nothing at all.  Now looking back, I wish I would have at least sent a card.  Having gone through a tragic time, it’s nice to know that someone is thinking about you, even if you’ve only met them once.

Shortly after her mom died, Krista started the Mama Mare Breast Cancer Foundation in memory of her mother and after I attended her first event, we became fast friends!
Have you ever met someone and felt like you’ve known them forever? That’s exactly how I felt upon getting to know her. We instantly bonded.  As time went on and we both became moms, our bond grew stronger and the rest is really history.  Our focus in life are our families and being we know just how precious life is, we want to do all we can to live it to the fullest and be the best moms to our children. Being we both lost our parents to disease we realize more than ever, the importance of health not only for ourselves but also for our children. Through this common ground, the idea of our blog was born!

Kathleen