Lydia Earhart

There is possibly no other woman quite like Jennifer Gieseke.

When she first moved to Shreveport, she started meal prepping for her family and would cook about 30 meals a day to have a meal ready for each day out of a month. you might think she had a big family, but she didn’t – she had a big idea that gave Shreveport an early start to meal prep options.

About five years ago, Gieseke started her “vegan adventure” after her daughter tried to become a vegetarian. Gieseke researched what substitutes she could make in place of meat.

It was the health benefits that caused her to go full vegan and soon she opened Healthy Chef Meals on olive Street.

One of the most interesting things Gieseke said during our photo shoot was that most of her clients aren’t vegan, and she is oK with that.

She said her clients often want a healthy meal already prepared or they want a healthy base to start with and sometimes just add chicken or a meat to her meal.

Last month, I called Gieseke to ask her what she was creating for Thanksgiving. She was in the middle of deciding what to make, but this issue of CityLife pushed her to create something she had been wanting to try for a while. (Read more on Page 26).

Just in time for CityLife’s November issue, she created a vegan loaf surrounded by her take on a puff pastry that she will offer to her clients. Cranberries and pecans gave the recipe the holiday ingredients commonly found on most tables this season.

I wondered what Thanksgiving looked like for Gieseke and her family since she is big on healthy food. Gieseke said her family isn’t much for turkey, and she still preps her meal for Thanksgiving. To Gieseke, the most important thing is spending more time with her family and less time in the kitchen.

It made me think more about my CityLife family and our extended family of freelancers.

The holidays provided the best time to get some of our freelancers together in a creative setting.

A cookie swap/Stylewatch feature idea was planned to include some of our freelancers as the models and bakers. Lana Pate’s The South, located at 6509 Line Ave. Suite 61 in Shreveport, was the ideal location to shoot. Pate’s store provides unique and creative ideas with inspiration for us who aren’t interior design savvy.

It was a mix of magic. The outfits with Pate’s decor flowed seamlessly. And better yet, there were cookies. All the cookie recipes are shared on Page 29 especially for our readers.

With all the recipes, this is CityLife’s best issue to feast on for a whole month of prep.