Meet the Cook in the Kitchen
Hi there! I’m Julie Layton: founder, owner and head coach of Generous Helping.
I’m also partner to Michael, fur mama to my rescue babies, Scout and Gretchen, daughter, sister, friend, actor, recycling nerd, mid-century design lover, executive assistant, native St. Louisan, gym member, humanist, baseball fan and goofball. I love to laugh, give and receive smiles, and cook and eat almost all food.
My love of food began as far back as I can remember. Some of my first and dearest memories of childhood are the dinners my mom cooked for us every night, which we ate together as a family. She was a devoted home cook with a heavy rotation of about seven go-to recipes. Her meals were always delicious and healthful, which instilled in my sister and me an early appreciation of whole foods (and just food in general—there was nothing I wouldn’t eat), and were always prepared with love.
My mom taught me that it doesn’t take training in culinary school to be a great cook, you just have to commit to it, buy the best ingredients you can afford, and get creative. I always tell my mom how grateful I am that she gave me such an early healthy relationship with food. Those good habits stuck.
Over the years, I’ve taken Mom’s lead and ran with it--becoming an ever-curious home cook, always experimenting with new ingredients, techniques and recipes in my own kitchen for myself and loved ones. However, more recently I realized it’s not just a fun hobby, but my purpose on this earth to share what Mom taught me—to help others appreciate the awesome power of whole foods and find inspiration and joy in making it for themselves.
After this a-ha moment, I decided to strengthen my skills and nutrition knowledge with a Health Coach certification from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which I received in July 2018.
Mom cooked most meals in our family, but the Thanksgiving turkey has always been Dad’s specialty. Circa 1979. (And yes, that’s me with her eyes closed.)
Learning how to make pasta (and having an amazing time) at MaMa Florence in Florence, Italy.
Another great lesson I learned from Mom, through her own food allergy diagnoses, was the realization that not all whole foods work for every body. I know from past personal experience that there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all when it comes to nutrition. I struggled for many years with painful bloating and gas because, as I later realized, I couldn’t digest lactose and was sensitive to wheat, something I was eating on a near-daily basis. When I eliminated these foods from my diet, I felt so much more comfortable and free. And get this, I was able to add some of these very foods back into my diet years later without the same effect. I’ve learned how to listen to the messages my body gives me about the food I’m eating and the beverages I’m drinking, and I do my best to honor that so that I can feel my best.
So I fully respect your bio-individuality and will listen to you and support you in finding foods that you love and love you back.
