Instead of a frying pan full of butter, chicken in Michelle O'Mara's kitchen browned with the help of fresh olive oil. Kecia Brumfield, a nutritionist, drizzled it into the frying pan.
"And then you don't realize how healthy you're eating,” she said.
Before she found Kecia, the healthy dietary habits Michelle O'Mara would try to cook up for her family often gave way to convenience — and the family budget.
"I would throw butter in things because I needed them to be moister. She taught me to use spices and steam and healthy oils can do the same thing,” she said.
And with a hockey player, a dancer, and two newly adopted children filling she and her husband Mark's Charlotte home, having lots of food for her family on the go often led to easy solutions. Easy, and less healthy.
Enter Kecia, and her mission to reduce bad eating and increase healthy living, known by those on social media as "Fit For Fun."
"I am very passionate about health and healthy living and being conscious about what you're putting in your body," Brumfield said.
Brumfield teaches clients how to find food you feel good about. She'll shop with them at a discount grocery store to show them how to find produce and get the healthiest food for their dollar.
"I do it so that I can show families that it is very flavorful, you won't get bored, and you can lose weight." she said.
That works for the O'Maras. They learned from 16 foster children — and their own — that kids need exposure to positive food choices.
"I've raised them to be healthy eaters, but I wasn't doing it myself," Michelle said. "And they do love their potato chips and chocolate milk. But they're also trying new things."
Her son, Terrance, made, and then tried, a spinach smoothie with pineapple that he and Kecia mixed.
"Mmmm. It's good," he said.
And, in an hour and a half, Kecia and Michelle made a week's worth of meals the O'Maras had never tried before.
"Healthy can actually taste good and it's not just eating salads all the time," Brumfield said. "You can meal prep, at home for your family. For yourself at home with a variety of different foods.
In a community full of food deserts, and for people who preach better than they practice healthy eating, Brumfield believes she can cook up change, one meal at a time.
"I help you do it,” she said. “You get the kids involved. That way you take it with you."