Molly McGrath is a culinary innovation leader with over a decade of experience in strategy, menu execution, and operational efficiency. She’s worked at The Chopping Block, CSSI Marketing, Roti Modern Mediterranean, and is now teaching how to transform everyday cooking into light work as the Founder and Chef at Light Work Kitchens.

Here’s a quick summary of some of her main points from this episode of Give an Ovation:

1. Simplify Your Recipes

Molly has reduced time and cost of goods sold by looking at each of her recipes and asking what steps and ingredients really need to be there. For example, do you really need to peel the cucumbers before you cut them? Maybe the recipe is perfectly fine with those peels on there.

2. Plan A Menu For Home

No good chef walks into their restaurant in the morning, browses the fridge and then contemplates what they might make that day. Yet that’s what people do at home all the time! For efficient home-cooked meals, Molly suggests more structure. Plan your meals, list what ingredients you need for each, what time you’re eating, and put it all somewhere you can see it.

3. The Gut And The Brain Are Connected

Most people know that they should eat healthily, but don’t know why they should beyond wanting to look a certain way. Molly gave a much more compelling reason to eat right: it affects how you think and how you feel! Recent research is showing that what you put it your stomach can completely change your mood and thought patterns.

“Once you internalize it and you’re like, ‘Oh wow my food is doing more than giving me energy’…it’s like ‘pow!’”. *Mind blown.*

4. Be Transparent About Ingredients

Consumers are looking for healthy opportunities, so draw attention to your ingredients that are sustainable and grown in the right ways.