How many times each week do you eat a proper, balanced meal? Or make it to the grocery store and take the time to buy healthy, fresh ingredients? How about have enough energy to prep food for the work week? It’s hard to focus on food with so much else in our lives, and Vanessa Perrone gets that.

The Montreal-based nutritionist and entrepreneur (she owns her own company called Motive Nutrition) is launching a new online tool next month, the Healthful Home Cook, that aims to help you with navigate healthy eating. Incorporating everything from meal planning and recipes to grocery shopping and ingredients, the Healthful Home Cook is sure to become a key online resource for eating well. We caught up with Perrone to discuss her new venture, her key tips, and, of course, her favourite foods.

Shedoesthecity: Tell us a bit about the Healthful Home Cook. What will the course offer? How will it help us eat better?

Vanessa Perrone: It’s the modern woman’s online guide to planning and cooking healthy meals at home. With so many nutrition trends and “it” foods out there, it can be easy to get lost in the hype. But when it comes to health and wellness, there’s no better place to start than in the kitchen. The Healthful Home Cook is meant to lay the foundation for good nutrition and prove that modern life and home cooking CAN coexist.

It’s an entirely virtual course, meaning you can go at your own pace and have access to the information whenever you like. In your private portal is where you’ll find all the goods. There’s the HHC E-Guide that covers the five basic chapters: The Healthful Mindset, The Healthful Kitchen, The Healthful Shopper, The Healthful Skill Set, and The Healthful Meal. There are also 15 videos supported by various tip sheets, worksheets, and templates to help get the most out of the information. And, of course, HHC comes with recipes and a seven-day home cooking challenge to put things into practice!

HHC will help you eat more healthfully by putting you in the driver’s seat of your health and providing tools and strategies that serve a lifetime: how to menu plan like a pro, how to navigate the grocery store, how to read a food label, basic knife skills, basic cooking techniques, and how to make a week’s worth of food over the weekend.

SDTC: Where did the idea for the Healthful Home Cook come from?

VP: Working as a nutritionist, I would find myself wishing that I had a pull-out stove at my desk to better serve my clients. Before asking someone to put leafy green vegetables on their plate, it’s important for them to know which ones to buy, how to prepare them, and how to integrate them into their diet. So with HHC, I hope to accomplish that virtually.

SDTC: What do you love about food?

VP: All of it! From choosing the ingredients, to cooking and transforming them into delicious meals, to the never-ending flavor combinations, and, well, the eating of the food is pretty great, too. Most of all, my passion is the healing power of food and how it can be used to prevent and heal disease. I’m very lucky to have a job that allows me to use food as a tool every day.

SDTC: What are some of your go-to ingredients and meals?

VP: I try to keep healthy carbs, healthy fats, and quality protein around at all time. LGVs (leafy green veggies) are like my “multi-vitamin” of choice, so there is always some greenery washed and ready-to-go in the fridge. Avocado is another staple ingredient; I’ll usually throw a slice into a smoothie or have it smeared on toast with sea salt and lime juice. I also find eggs very convenient. A go-to meal when I’m in a pinch will often be a veggie frittata or quick scramble.

SDTC: What are your top tips for eating well?

VP: First, I would say create an eating environment in your home that will make you crave the good stuff: purchase real, good food, and make it easy to access in your fridge and pantry. Once the kitchen is well stocked, I would strongly recommend planning your meals for the week. It may seem time-consuming at first, but in reality, it’s a time-saving strategy that has tremendous impact on the quality of your meals and, ultimately, your health.

SDTC: Where do you think that most women stray in terms of keeping a healthy and balanced meal plan?

VP: Women struggle with making time for themselves, often putting other priorities or people’s needs before their own. But once you realize that your ability to serve others is dependent on your own well-being, finding that time gets easier. Schedule it and treat it like a meeting: whether it be a trip to the farmer’s market, an afternoon cooking session or a sweaty workout, don’t wait until you have the time—block that time for yourself.