Hello and Welcome to iFoodReal!
My name is Olena Osipov. I’m a mom to 2 boys, a wife to Alex and Cornell University Healthy Living program graduate. Welcome to our easy healthy recipes website.
I grew up in Ukraine on real food. As an adult, I tried many diets without results. Now for over 12 years, I cook quick and easy healthy meals for my family. Many healthy dinner ideas are inspired by my Ukrainian heritage. I can help you with “What’s for dinner?” too.
As for the present, we now live on magical Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
How I Learned to Cook
In 2012, I ended up at home with 2 small kids, unemployed and a wee bit chubby. I started this website thanks to Alex’s web design skills and in hopes to be able to work from home. Fast forward to 2023, I could have never imagined iFoodReal would grow into a business it is today!
My food philosophy in short is – eat real food, move daily and enjoy all good things in life in moderation. I don’t believe in diets. Diets ruin healthy relationship with food because they are unsustainable in a long-term and short-term is not the solution.
Nor do I think we were born to eat. This website reflects my healthy relationship with food to which took a while to arrive via diets.
Education
I just have successfully completed Nutrition and Healthy Living Program with Cornell University and got my certificate! Yay!
It was interesting to learn about human body, what nourishes and damages it. To understand what is a myth and what is true in today’s world when we are bombarded with so much information.
I also hold a Business degree in Accounting from University of Calgary and used to have a real estate license. Obviously, I was making my mom’s dreams come true and then some of my own wild ones.
What You Will Find Here
- Easy healthy recipes with simple ingredients.
- We love our Instant Pot a lot!
- Nutritional information with every recipe as a guideline – I don’t count calories.
A Little More About Me
I was raised by a single mom and grandma in Kyiv, Ukraine until I came to Canada at the age of 19. We had little (very little) but we ate way healthier than majority of North America eats now with access to real food.
That’s why I believe anyone can eat healthy. I believe anyone can find money for a bag of potatoes, a head of cabbage and some soup bones (and make borscht 🙂 ).
I believe anyone can learn to cook, even the ones who don’t like it. Cooking is a life skill, not a choice. Eating healthy is all about choices. Anyone makes that decision every day with every $ they spent.
Our Home and Business
In 2018, we took a leap of faith, sold our Vancouver suburban home and purchased an oceanfront fixer-upper on Vancouver Island.
We spent 2 years completely gutting and rebuilding the house. Above the garage we have iFoodReal studio. It is my office and that’s where I test and cook recipes for this website.
Podcast
You can listen to my full interview on Dreaming Big with Bjork Ostrom of Food Blogger Pro.
Life on Vancouver Island
We are asked all the time “How is it to live on the island?”. Magical!
I had my reservations when moving but now 5 years later I am absolutely in awe of this nature’s paradise. Of course, island consists of 800,000 residents and has a few major cities. However, we live in a small oceanside community.
Sky is loaded with stars and you can see a Milky Way. Ocean is breathtaking and swimmable May through September. Eagles, orcas, owls, sea lions, seals, humpback whales and a lot-a lot of deer, like a lot! 🙂 Mountains, lakes, beaches, woods, more islands, storm watching… it never ends!
But more importantly life is simple! It feels like a time machine – living in the 80s. Outdoor lifestyle prevails among majority of residents year round – mountain biking, hiking, skiing, fishing, water sports etc.
Unlike in Vancouver where we lived, majority of people are not in a rush and cook their own food at home. We now completely understand the term “island time”.
So, there is that about me. Hope you stop by and let me know which recipe you tried. Cheers.
xxx
Olena
Featured In
It is always exciting to see my recipes featured by other publications.
- MSN featuring my Korean Ground Beef Rice Bowls.
- Fox News featuring my Boneless Turkey Breast Roast.
- BuzzFeed featuring my Thai salmon.
- The Guardian featuring my Avocado Salad.
- The EveryGirl featuring my Zucchini Noodles with Cilantro Lime Chicken.
- Huffington Post featuring my Quinoa Bake.
- Glamour featuring my Crustless Zucchini Quiche.
- Forbes featuring my Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash.
- Delish featuring my Balsamic Grilled Vegetables.
- Insider featuring my Healthy Blueberry Muffins.
- Daily Burn featuring my Coconut Protein Balls.
- BuzzFeed featuring my Chicken Wild Rice Soup.
- Women’s Health featuring my Protein Pancakes.
