“And the Reserve Champion trophy goes to … Shelly Marie.” My awkward, Kool-Aid dyed, 12-year-old self approached the stage to receive my trophy with applause. (OK, so maybe 6 people were clapping.) I was beaming and walked off the stage clutching my trophy and told my teacher, Ms. Yates, “I want to cook for the rest of my life.”
Little did I know that trophy launched my career.
My name is Shelly Marie Redmond, and long before I launched Skinny Louisiana, I was a regular ol’ Cajun girl living in Bayou Blue, Louisiana. You won’t find Bayou Blue on a map; it’s a small town right outside of Houma, Louisiana. While most girls played with dolls and cheered, I was the girl who was playing with pots, pans, and the rabbits my family raised (yes, for meat). I ran the garden and cleaned the rabbit poop, and my favorite pastime was walking up and down the aisles of Rouses Supermarket. I always thought, “It would be so cool to work here.”
My love for the “pots and pans” came from my grandmother, Maw Maw Edna. She taught me everything about shucking peas and peeling shrimp. Edna, my idol, was full-blooded Cajun, the most loving woman I have ever met, but most importantly she taught me the meaning of hard work. (Side note, she could also switch from English to Cajun French in 2.5 seconds.) Edna was up and out at 2 a.m. on the shrimp boats, raised 6 kids, and I promise you would make Bobby Flay cry if she picked him as an Iron Chef competitor.
I watched Edna in the kitchen and garden, and wanted to imitate her cooking. Edna never had a set recipe, it was “this” and “that,” and together, “this” and “that” tasted amazing. As I continued to watch Edna, this was around the time I heard about 4-H. I went to the first meeting and was hooked. I entered every cooking contest. Blue ribbon mostly, and I finally won that championship.
While many would think the first person I would run to would be Maw Maw Edna with my trophy, I would have to run to a gravesite to tell her about that win. All her hard work took a huge toll on her body, and her heart was suffering. After a long, long battle with heart disease and countless surgeries, she passed way too young, and I took it as my job to carry on her cooking legacy.
In the middle of practicing her legacy, many of my older family members were diagnosed with heart disease, and doctors at the time started discussing the relationship between healthy eating and disease management. 4-H started pushing the health benefits of cooking and there I learned my first recipe substitutions of applesauce replacing both sugar and oil. (I know, not the perfect substitute, but this was a long time ago!)
Continuing my goals of “cooking as a job,” I went to Nicholls State University and majored in food. Something unique was happening at our university: The John Folse Culinary Institute was being built, and while I never wanted to work in a restaurant, our nutrition and culinary classes overlapped. In particular, our “community” classes overlapped where we had to perform “healthy demos” for each other and for the staff of the university. I wasn’t the greatest student in clinical subjects, but I could rock the socks out of a food demo, so much that one of the local hospital dietitians took me on cable access TV for a food demo taping. Maybe 5 people saw the segment, and the host forgot my name, but I was hooked on cooking, demos, and TV, as well as another pastime, dying my hair. You now see me as a fiery red head (my natural hair color is orange brown), but I rocked all different colors in school, and folks loved the hair with the cooking.
My first big dilemma came after graduating, I didn’t want to work in the restaurant field, and having to complete an internship, I took all of the $47 in my checking account and drove sight unseen in my beat-up Chevy Caviler (with no AC in the August heat) to the new world of Ruston, Louisiana. I struggled in the clinical-based program, but I graduated.
My first job was at the VA in an outpatient clinic, and while I talked about eating better, I really wanted to talk about food. I would ask the patients about their favorite recipes, and many were floored to learn I was a Cajun from South Louisiana. Once we got past my 4-H days, discussion typically revolved around some type of dish prepared by a grandparent.
On a normal day in 2003, a cute blonde entered my office with a tray of brownies. “Looks like you need one of these.” I took the brownie, and little by little, this cute blonde continued to stop by my office where we shared enough stories for me to take this blonde home to meet my family. After discussing with family that he was not from Houma, I had to break down and admit my husband was from north of I-10. Ohio to be exact. After answering numerous questions including, “Where are you going to go to church?”, my family embraced my Yankee husband Greg.
I married Greg in 2007, and fast forward to 2013 when our second child, Christian was 2 weeks old. I left the VA back in 2011 while pregnant with my daughter Mireille and took odd jobs in nutrition from PR work to writing. But on that cold December day, Greg approached me with the idea of purchasing a clinic. While the thought never crossed my mind, I knew I could go back to working with clients on the ability of menu planning, cooking education, and weight loss. Without either of us taking one business class, we said yes to purchasing Eberhardt Physical Therapy.
With excitement, I went into pro/con list, and I wish I could tell you all I had some type of epiphany in the concept of Skinny Louisiana, but I literally woke up and said, “I will name my firm Skinny Louisiana.” With a TON of cons from folks (yes, many folks HATE the name Skinny Louisiana), I knew I had to get back in the kitchen and cook! I had to prove the nay-sayers wrong. Greg came into the kitchen and cooked, and I had everyone taste the food. Word was spreading on “Wow, this red head can cook healthy and she is from south Louisiana.” Once positive word spread, I landed a reoccurring TV segment on KTAL NBC 6 News showcasing my Skinny Louisiana dishes, and I started receiving consistent referrals from wonderful doctors in the community, in particular the Family Doctors Clinic.
Sitting in my office checking my email, I noticed the subject on an in particular email stating “Culinary Competition at Harrah’s New Orleans.” Christian was a little over a year old at the time, and I was pumped about the idea of spending a night in New Orleans. I quickly entered and months later I arrived, and quickly realized the mistake I might have made. I walked in with my Igloo Ice chest, while my 12 professional chef competitors arrived dressed to the chef nines with professional stainless-steel equipment. I lost miserably, but while serving my dish, I met the marketing director of Pelican Publishing. She encouraged me to phone them to discuss a book proposal. My lost quickly turned to a win, and the proposal turned into what today is “Skinny Louisiana…in the Kitchen.”
“Skinny Louisiana…in the Kitchen” was released on Mardi Gras Day 2017, and within 1 month, it was ranked #4 on Amazon Cajun/Creole Cookbooks. After our grand release party, I was shopping at the local Drug Emporium snapping pictures of my favorite low-net carb, high-fiber finds (the base of the Skinny Louisiana weight-loss program) and Jeanette Yerger, Vitamin Plus Manager, contacted me for a meeting to discuss a partnership. Could my dreams of working at a supermarket happen? Yes! We developed Skinny Louisiana approved signs and these are placed all throughout the store identifying products with the meeting the Skinny Louisiana approved standard, 5 grams of fiber or higher, 5 grams of sugar or less, and less than 15 grams of net carbs. In 2018, we plan to bring to the store more demos and or course, more foods meeting the Skinny Louisiana gold standard.
While working with my clients, I was still missing something. Many of my clients enjoyed eating out. With the help of Emerie Gentry, we developed my latest program, the Skinny Louisiana Dines program. The goal, select menu items reflecting the Skinny Louisiana gold standard. We approached restaurants with the concept of not revamping their menu, but to select 1 to 3 choices that met the Skinny Louisiana approved standard. I was thrilled when our first restaurant, Twisted Root, joined. Quickly followed by Bistro Byronz, Abby Singer’s Bistro, Salt Restaurant, Tom + Chee Bossier, Glenwood Tea Room, La Louisiane Catering, The Levee, and Cloud 9. Restaurants are given menu cards to pass to patrons to show off the Skinny Louisiana selections. (And yes, we are working on more!) Folks are welcome to pick up their restaurant cards at Drug Emporium and Eberhardt Physical Therapy.
What’s in store for 2018? My January will be spent developing recipes for my second cookbook (the title is still a secret!) and in March 2018, I will be a part of 318 Restaurant Week working with the amazing El Cabo Verde. 2018 will be the year I release my You Tube Channel and develop the Skinny Louisiana podcast.
Of all the greatest “skinny” achievements, I am always taken back to my Maw Maw Edna’s kitchen, where she would endlessly prepare an amazing roux. I have one dish I will never skinny. And it is with that, I always say, “Never skinny a roux!”
Want more information? Give me a call at 318.426.0987 and like us on Facebook at Skinny Louisiana.
Shelly Marie Redmond, MS, RD, LDN is a culinary dietitian and founder of Skinny Louisiana. Her book, “Skinny Louisiana…in the Kitchen,” is available at Drug Emporium, Eberhardt Physical Therapy and on Amazon. Skinny Louisiana Dines cards are available for pick up at Drug Emporium and Eberhardt Physical Therapy.
