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About YumUniverse
About Founder Heather Crosby
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In an effort to make your plant-based journey as helpful and inspiring as it can be, we have pulled together a talented, passionate team to help YU. Whether you are looking for nutritional advice, creative ideas for storing foods, new recipes to amp up your workouts, or how to transition and maintain momentum, we have you covered.
Meet the Team:
Fern Langham grew up on a lake in upstate New York, and has always found the water to be a place for finding energy and balance. She’s an energetic and inspiring resident of New York City, who has found a new passion for preparing highly nutritious meals to compliment her healthy fitness regimen. After 25 years of eating fast, highly processed food—the typical American diet—she has found a new love for nutrition and cooking. In the last year, after struggling with persistent health issues undiagnosed by doctors, she has made enormous efforts to educate herself about health and wellness and recently began chronicling her progress toward living a cleaner life on her blog—Surf Yoga Run Live.
Check out Fern’s: Hijiki Shiitake-Stuffed Kale Wraps with Pumpkin Seed Pesto
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Rea Frey Holguin is an ISSA certified personal trainer (with the guns and abs to prove it), author, relationship expert and nutrition specialist ready to share her tips for a truly balanced life of nutrition, exercise and love.
Read the YU interview and be sure to visit Rea at Martha Stewart’s Whole Living, ReaFrey.com, chicagonow.com/cleanconvenientcuisine, cheekychicago.com/reafrey, chicago.racked.com and check out her new book The Cheat Sheet: A Clue-by-Clue Guide to Finding Out If He’s Unfaithful.
Check out: Rea’s Quinoa, Cranberry and Walnut Muffins…
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Maya Henderson: Vital Juice Chicago Editor and wellness blogger, Maya Henderson, brings her incredible energy and experience with raw and plant-based foods to the YumUniverse. Maya is one of those people with oodles of passion for everything she gets involved in. She is also a yoga and fitness junkie and if there is a unique workout out there (or a deal for that workout) Maya will find it.
Check out: Maya’s Chocolate Covered Cherry SuperFood Smoothie…
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Mark Beier: This fitness expert, wellness trainer, chef, founder of Chicago Fit Club and founder of MARK BAR, not only brings YU tips for targeted and comprehensive workouts, and recommendations for plant-based foods that speed recovery, increase energy and endurance, he has developed the perfect pre-workout snack bar made with a handful of clean ingredients.
Check out: Mark’s Fitness Fridays Video Series for those at-home workouts at tips.
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Kathy Beymer: Our resident mom and craftstar blogger from the much-loved Merriment Design is here to help us develop innovative recipes and tips of all kinds, particularly in the realm of family and munchkins. Kathy is a super-talent that has been featured on The Knot and The Knot TV, WeTV, Chicagoist, Re-Nest, DesignSponge and TimeOut Chicago to name a few.And really, that’s only a few.
Check out: Kathy’s Homemade Apricot Baby Food with Smart Storage Jars…
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Valerie Bolon: Personal chef Valerie Bolon (MK, Spring, Hot Chocolate), former contestant of Bravo’s Top Chef and Head Chef for Chicago’s hottest new dining experience, Culinary Speakeasy is here to “open her mind”. See, Val is a big meat-eater and pretty serious raw/vegan skeptic, but she is an adventurous chef willing to branch out and explore the world of raw, plant-based foods and so far she is enjoying herself.
Check out: Val’s Thai Coconut Curry Soup with Sweet Potato Ravioli…
Seth Feldman is kinda like the “Batman of beverages”—really into the idea of being a part of a community and helping to improve it and make it stronger and better. And since he is also on his way to becoming the “beer equivalent of a sommelier,” the man has a ton of information to share.
Whether YU are looking for recipes for preparing the perfect cocktail (or non-alcoholic mocktails), tips on how to select quality wines, recommendations for gluten-free beers, or reviews of sustainable beverage companies, Seth is your guy. He’s passionate about fresh ingredients, experimentation and creativity, like we are around here, so naturally, he’s dedicated to “connect readers with sustainable beverages that are playful and supportive of their healthy lifestyle.” He says that “the world of beer, spirits and even wine has a lot of catching up to do, and there’s a lot to explore as the makers strive to become greener and cleaner.”
Check out: Seth’s Agua el Diablo
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Read about YumUniverse
Read about founder Heather Crosby
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