Hunger. It’s what drives us. Passion. Determination. When you’re hungry, you’ll persevere to get what you want. It’s those that never quit even when there’s nothing left in the tank, who get the carrot. So what are you hungry for? For me it’s health, vitality & weight loss. It’s a beautiful space to call home. It’s the before & afters that are testament to my hard work. It’s growing my business doing what I love. All these things drive me & led me to create Fresh Hunger: a food & lifestyle website that marches to a slightly different beat.
Fresh Hunger showcases beautiful bounty from nature making you want to cook & eat better using simple recipes & clever meal plans that offer batch cooking recipes, weeknight meal solutions & weekend entertaining. My love of interior design, table settings & cool ideas for the home means I couldn’t create a website to just showcase fabulous recipes – I have to include posts about the home & garden too – especially as my husband & I are renovating an old house.
ABOUT ME
My name is Lovoni & I’m the creator of Fresh Hunger. My name hails from Fiji & means ‘underground oven’. If your name is your destiny, then I was born to cook. My culinary background spans over two decades in three different countries. After three years at culinary school I started writing recipes and food styling for magazines and cookbooks in Sydney, Australia where I was born & raised. Venturing into food styling for television and publications.
Over the years I’ve authored six cookbooks and co-written over 60, food styling for many of them. After a move to Canada in 2000 I became the food editor for a food magazine & their cookbook division. Eventually publishing my own cookbook, Simple, Fresh, Delicious. Then that led me to host a national cooking show in Canada named after my cookbook.
In 2010 I moved to The United States and worked as the food specialist for a fortune 500 company for a few years before starting out on my own again. It was in Montana where I first moved to that I met & married my American husband. We now live in a tiny town in Indiana where he was born & raised.
I’ve started my life over – twice. I know what it’s like to start with next to nothing & build up. Moving to another country is not for the faint hearted. Like many things in life, it takes guts & determination & I applaud anyone who has successfully done it – building a career & a life for themselves in another country.
FOOD
When it comes to food I’ve taken a fresh, new approach to eating for health, vitality & weight loss without guilt & deprivation – food to feel good about. For so many of us, the need to fuel our bodies wisely is greater than the will. There’s so much conflicting information being fed to us about what to eat, when do it and of course, how to work it off afterwards. We live in a society where eating fuels guilt. And this unhealthy relationship with food has developed into yo-yo dieting, deprivation, confusion and too often…loathing. I know because I’ve experienced it all.
When I moved to Canada almost 17 years ago from the security of my home in Australia, I started to put on weight: different eating habits, a vastly different climate and lots of stress as I adapted to my new country. All this contributed to my weight gain.
After years of dieting, I decided something had to change so I took a different approach, focusing on health & how certain foods made me feel. Changing tactics along with my attitude is working & I’m starting to feel better.
Through my recipes and journey, I hope to help and inspire others who struggle to have a better relationship with food. Being healthy & feeling good isn’t about the number on the scale but about how you fuel your body & your attitude towards life. Attitude is key my friends. Regardless of what you do in life, go into it with a good, never fail outlook & you will achieve the positive outcome you desire.
HOME
Although Fresh Hunger is a lot about food, it’s also about the home. Our home is our sanctuary – a place to relax, entertain, escape, create & build. I don’t know about you, but I’m strongly affected by my environment so I want a place to fuel creativity & inspiration.
It doesn’t take a lot of money to create a lovely space. A good imagination, a desire for a well-organized, comfortable environment & knowing what you like, all contribute to putting together a home perfect for you & your family. I want to invite you into my home to share with you how my husband & I are transforming an old home we recently purchased. We’re doing all the work ourselves. And bit by bit are taking what was once an eyesore into a beautiful environment for us to work & play in.
Whatever you hunger for, I hope I can help fuel your inspiration. If you love food, interiors & before & afters as much as I do then you’re going to want to subscribe Fresh Hunger so you don’t miss a thing. I’d love you to be part of our Fresh Hunger family & share with us what makes you hungry. Thanks for stopping by, Lovoni xo