Hi! I’m Marjorie Finley and I want to welcome you to my kitchen. I’m a wife, mother, musician and have always loved to cook, but having a son who is a real live chef caused me to take my cooking more seriously. I always say I taught him everything I knew and sent him to culinary school so he could come back and teach me everything HE knows. I work in his restaurant, cooking on the line and helping develop new items for the ever-changing menu.

Although a good cook, I haven’t always been a healthy cook. In 2008, after finally looking at an ever-increasing weight on the scale, I vowed to make a true commitment to healthy weight loss. After looking into several “plans” I had seen on TV that promised meals sent to my doorstep, pills to reduce belly fat and ways to lose weight while I slept, I opted for a tried and true weight loss program in a classroom setting that would teach me to go to the store, make healthy food and lifestyle choices and continue the new skills for a LIFETIME! After all, I was a great cook, and refused to rely on some company’s freeze-dried, cardboard food to get me where I wanted to go.

70 pounds and 6 years later, I can honestly say I made the right decision. Two years ago my husband, who always ate what I fed him but didn’t make the best food and drink choices in public, decided to join me at weekly meetings. He’s now 80 pounds thinner and happily making his own healthy food and exercise choices. Together, we have lost a WHOLE PERSON!

After sitting in many weight-loss group settings and hearing people say “I’ve learned that if it looks good and tastes good, I can’t have it,” I have come to the realization that many people are simply afraid to cook. Perhaps they have burned one too many casseroles, or have seen too many recipes calling for smoked squab and truffle oil, or they have just bought into the idea that cooking good food is complicated and takes too much time. Well, Finleys’ Kitchen is here to prove that YOU CAN DO THIS. You can cook tasty, nutritious food that doesn’t take sweat and  toil AND looks great on the plate! Let’s get cookin’.