answering the question
what’s for dinner
Lara brooks
Chef, Caterer, Recipe Developer, Blogger & Mom
After completing my culinary training at George Brown College, I quickly moved into Catering and Personal Chef Services, finding a niche outside of the traditional kitchens. I cooked for young families, business professionals, special events and wrap parties for the tv & film industry. (I once cooked for the President of Food Network Canada, that was just awesome!). My clients loved that I was flexible and creative, offering traditional well loved foods, with a twist. We cooked in odd locations, made dinners for “date nights”, picnics, birthday parties, family reunions and I even cooked for a 200 person wedding in a location with no oven… that was interesting, but no one left hungry!
While business was booming, I started my family, and it went on the back burner as I raised my 3 fabulous boys.
Fast forward a few years, and we’ve got Love on a Plate, helping people get dinner on the table. Using a combination of all my years of Culinary experience in food services, combined with feeding an active family.
James brooks
Tech support, video editor, graphics fixer, maker of coffee!
My biggest fan and supporter, I’m lucky to have married my high school sweetheart and love of my life.
He’s the tech guy behind most things Love on a Plate. He films video, edits, makes graphics, and anything else I just can’t figure out how to do. He’s AMAZING.
He is also one of my Primary recipe testers, and the reason behind my Marry Me Meatloaf. It was a deal breaker, so I tested for months, and apparently was successful. (We’ve been married for 23 years now).
James runs his own Tech business, Drastic Technologies, and still finds time to be an awesome Dad & Husband. No matter how busy he is, there is always time somehow for him to step in and fix what needs fixing, so I can continue to do what I love best and share my love of food and cooking with my family, friends, and YOU!
my family
The reason why cooking is Love on a Plate
These are my people, the one’s I cook for every night. Family dinner is one of my favorite times of day, we gather around, share our day… We always ask, what was the BEST part of your Day? and the Worst. It opens up all kinds of great conversations.
While they were in school, we also did Sunday meal prep, including my famous Pick and Choose. Three baskets of food prepared each Sunday. You get to pick and choose what you prefer, but you must choose at least one item from each basket. Check out my How to Meal Plan section for more information on this system.
SAM, Finn, & Susur
The rest of our family