Hi and welcome to Green Healthy Cooking! Here you can find out more about Lorena.
My name is Lorena Grater and I am…well….many things.
I am a German Peruvian, a certified translator, a globetrotter, a mother, a wife, a YouTuber (uuuuh), a real food lover and a self-proclaimed chef creating healthy recipes that fit into my definition of clean eating. I am an Instant Pot Pro and a Meal Prep addict, too, to be more precise ;)
I live with my Mexican husband and two kids in snowy Montreal, Canada, which officially makes my kids polyglots because they are growing up with 4 languages. How amazing is that?
Green Healthy Cooking is my online baby and where I share healthy recipes, detailed cooking tutorials, and other clean-eating how-tos.
My Story
I was born and raised in a small town in Southern Germany by a German father and a Peruvian mother. My grandfather was a butcher and my dad’s best friends were all hunters. Meaning, I grew up on wild meat, bucket loads of fresh fruits and vegetables, sweet potato, avocado, and quinoa because that’s what my mom knew how to cook from her culture. Basically everything was always cooked from scratch and I was taught to cook as early as 3 years old.
When I moved out of my parents’ home to go study at university I learned for the first time that there were other people that did not know how to cook, nor did they know what eating healthy actually looked like. Even after graduating and meeting “older” people (lol) that had had their independent kitchens for a while, I still kept meeting a lot that were struggling with cooking and meeting their nutritional needs and always asking me for advice and help.
I found out quickly that for most of my friends eating healthy sounded super complicated, not very appealing, and super expensive.
I’m not a nutritionist (though I wish I were) but I grew up being kept updated on the latest research and development in nutrition studies and never stopped reading about nutrition up until today. My mother was always very interested in this topic and definitely passed on the hunger for nutrition knowledge to me.
Needless to say, I felt like there was a huge need for easy but delicious healthy recipes made with clean ingredients. Recipes that could easily be accessed by everybody at any time from anywhere in the world. Recipes for all those that had a really hard time wrapping their head around eating healthy to feel healthy.
Green Healthy Cooking was born out of a passion to help others find joy in the kitchen and enjoy the wonderful natural flavors of clean ingredients. Healthy eating and clean eating doesn’t have to be complicated at all, can be incredibly delicious, and also fit into everybody’s budget.
Start here
If you are new to Green Healthy Cooking, these are great topics to start browsing through the website:
- Read more about my Philosophy.
- Browse through all Recipes easily sortable by category and find your new go-to favorites.
- Are you as much of an Instant Pot junkie as I am? Let’s be besties! Learn how to make Instant Pot Rice and you’ll never cook it any other way.
- Meal Prep is a million times more effective than will-power alone when it comes to eating a healthy diet. Start with something easy like overnight oats.
- If you’re unsure which diet to follow, give each a try for a day and figure out what your body thrives on and what makes you feel good: 1-Day Clean Eating Meal Plan, 1-Day Keto Diet Plan, 1-Day Paleo Meal Plan, 1-Day Vegan Meal Plan.
Next, join the community!
Wow, you read all the way here. Thank you so much! I’d love to hear YOUR story as well and get to know YOU.
So please join my community on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest and say hello.
You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel to find all of Green Healthy Cooking’s video tutorials.
If you’d like to contact me privately the fastest way is through Facebook messenger or via e-mail to lorena@greenhealthycooking.com. I absolutely love hearing from you!
Features
Green Healthy Cooking has grown quite a bit over the years and it’s thus been featured in various media including Forbes, CBC Radio, Food Bloggers of Canada, Buzzfeed, msn, Elle, Popsugar, and Greatist, amongst others.
Lots of love from my kitchen to yours,
Desiree Lara says
Hi Lorena, just found your blog. My name is Desiree and I was recently put on a Paleo diet. I am at lost and found your page it looks easy but not sure how to make my son eat healthy. We are both diabetic type 2 and I was diagnosed with cancer on 2016, I had a hysterectomy and currently diagnose with a tumor. I wish you could explain it a lil bit more or if my any chance you have paleo Mexican dishes.
Thanks your recipes look yummy
Lorena says
I’ll e-mail you.
Denise says
Hi Lorena, how many languages are you fluent in? You are living in Germany now? Too bad you don’t have a small plot of land for a little garden – herbs like chives are really easy to grow (even for people like me with brown thumbs!). Love your blog. Los fotos son muy hermosos!
Lorena says
Gracias Denise!! No, I’m not living in Germany right now. I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada right now. I was born and raised in Germany though by a German father and Peruvian mother so I’m fluent in German, Spanish and English. In Montreal I’m living the city life, so not even a balcony. One day, I’ll have a garden. I know it! :)
Pooja Joshi says
Hi! I found this website and everything looks so delicious!
Lorena says
Thank you so much Pooja :)
Walter Bruning says
I just joined. I watched the video preparations for chicken and rice two ways, one thighs and brown rice, the other breasts and white rice. But here’s the thing. I have suffered from blood clots in my lungs on two occasions in the past 16 months and I must take the blood thinner Coumadin(aka Warfarin). Cilantro is very high in Vitamin K and I have to be vigilant about Vitamin K intake or my blood clotting times stray wildly out of the normal range.
My question: what happens to your recipes when the greens are left out? What if the rice was cooked in chicken broth in the above two recipes? I can use cilantro as a garnish in small amounts. (Vitamin K = 12.4 mcg per gram of cilantro. One cup of cilantro ~50 mcg. Other greens that are high kale, cabbage, romaine lettuce, spinach, mustard greens, beet greens.)
Lorena says
Hi Walter, I’m sorry you’re going through health struggles. The cilantro is JUST for flavor, totally not necessary for anything else. You can use any kind of broth you like without any problems. Simply make sure to add 1 cup liquid to the pot. You could even use simply water and your favorite spices :)
Sheila says
When taking Warfarin I found, with the advise from my doctor, that I could eat as much green vegetable as I wanted as long as I was consistent with the amounts and then my warfarin would be managed accordingly.
Anna says
Hello, Lorena (from one German to a German-Peruvian) ;-),
Found your blog just the other day and love it! The information you are sharing harkens back to what I grew up with in Germany and still use while living in Canada today!
I am subscribing!
Best wishes, Anna
Lorena says
Hallo Anna!!! Tausend Dank für deine lieben Worte!!
Ana De Mello says
Lorena,
soy amiga de tu mami de la chiquititud. Como ella pone tus recetas en fb pude comunicarme con ella y al mencionarle como me gustan tus recetas me sugerir que te lo escribiera directamente. Son deliciosas y he preparado varias.
Ana
Lorena says
Hola Ana, que gusto recibir tan hermoso comentario! Me alegra la vida saber que hay gente que realmente cocina y disfruta mis recetas!! Muchísimas gracias por tomarte el tiempo de escribir un mensaje :)
Michelle says
Your food looks amazing! Do you grow your own fruits and veggies as well?
Lorena says
Thank you Michelle! Oh I so wish I had a small garden or even balcony to grow at least a little bit of produce. I have to rely on markets and grocery stores for all my food *sigh*
Jerry Shirley says
Hello Lorena, I have subscribed:)
I will be honest I have never seen you or your recipes before but I am quite intrigued. I am going to try your Peruvian Green Rice today, sounds so good.
I am looking forward to more recipes:)
Thank you
Jerry
Lorena says
Hi Jerry, thank you for subscribing! I’m glad the Peruvian Green Rice will be the first recipe of mine you will try :) I’m sure you will love it!
Amy says
I love your blog! Simple but beautiful!!
And all your recipes!!
Lorena says
Thank you Amy ?
Laura Plumb says
Hi Lorena,
Found you on FBP. Love your blog. Its layout and photos are so clear and striking, and the subject so dear to my heart. Thanks for your gifts and your dedication to healthy living.
Lorena says
Thank you for such a lovely comment Laura. It is very, very much appreciated.
Nancy Trites Botkin says
Hello Lorena,
Kathrin directed me to your amazing site and the wonderful food you are inspiring us all to cook! Just made the hot chocolate — to die for– thank you!
I can’t wait to try more!
Warmly,
Nancy
Lorena says
Thank you so much for your kind comment Nancy! It makes me so happy to hear when people find inspiration and like what they cook following my recipes :)
Amicie says
Hi Lorena! Very exciting blog! I am amazed by your many talents… I subscribed to your newsletter, hope it will give me ideas and recipes for everyday life!!! Thank you!
Lorena says
Thank you for the compliments and thank you for subscribing Amicie! Let me know how you find the recipes :)
Deborah says
So glad I found you! Your about page pretty much sums up how my family and I eat too and this is hard to find. We ought to give this way of eating a name. LOL! Keep up the great work and keep inspiring!
Lorena says
I am very glad to read that :)
Marisela says
¡Hola Lore!
Soy Marisela, de la lactancia. Por aquí andaré aprendiendo de tus deliciosas recetas. ¡Gracias por compartir!
Espero verte pronto cuando andes de visita por acá.
Abrazos
Lorena says
Cuentame como te salen las recetas y si necesitan mas explicacion detallada. Nos veremos pronto :)
Gabriela Male says
Hola Lorena
Soy Gaby, amiga de tu mami. Felicitaciones por tu nueva empresa y mucho exito en el futuro. Fabulosas recetas ! Besitos
Lorena says
Gracias!! :)