After living with multiple sclerosis for over a decade, Ashley Tresoline discovered the power of clean eating and knew that she had to share it with her community.
Through workshops, classes, and home visits, Tresoline – also known as the Bella Foodie – shares inspiring stories of wellness through food, as well as delicious recipes to help people with their own food healing journey.
She shared her story recently with Producer Dave Fraser.
Read the full transcript:
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: After living with multiple sclerosis for over a decade, Ashley Tresoline discovered the power of clean eating and knew that she had to share it with her community. Through her workshops, classes and home visits, she shares inspiring stories of wellness through food, as well as delicious recipes to help people with their own food healing journey.
She shared her story recently with producer Dave Fraser.
Ashley Tresoline, Bella Foodie: We’re just going to pour this in, over a banana.
I start from age four all the way to one hundred. Whoever wants to cook with me, whoever wants to learn, whoever needs a little help changing their diet. That’s where I start.
I have some fresh hydroponic tomatoes. I love these!
Dave Fraser, Connecting Point: Ashley Tresoline has always loved to cook, growing up in a large Italian family where food was a big part of their lives.
When she was in her early 20s, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Living with MS has made her realize how much food plays a part in our health.
Ashley Tresoline: I got diagnosed at 21 and because of that, I had to learn a different way to eat, not by the doctor’s admission, but by my own because I was sick of feeling awful. The meds helped a little, but I wanted to feel better, so I learned everything.
I’ve always grown up cooking. I love to cook. I’m good at it.
We don’t want to add any sugar. None of that brown sugar or any of that. We’re not going to do that.
People have been trying to pay me for my food before I even decided to open a food business.
Dave Fraser: She found herself taking a whole new approach to overall health and discovered the power of clean eating. With a desire to share this knowledge with her community, she formed her own company, Bella Foodie.
Ashley Tresoline: Bella came from something my great grandmother used to say. Bella in Italian means beautiful, wonderful, like, there’s a few different meanings of it, but a foodie is what I am.
I’m not a trained chef — and I fully admit that — but I’ve learned a lot of things over the years.
So this is really one of the most simple, healthiest recipes you can make.
If we teach kids at a younger age what vegetables are; that they can taste good, that is fun to get in the kitchen, that we can eat good food, and they can recognize it when they go to the store with their parents or the farmer’s market, that maybe they’re more likely to pick healthier options as they get older.
And this is a great thing to make and just leaving your fridge.
Dave Fraser: In her workshops and classes, Tresoline says she’s telling people things that they probably already know but just need a little help getting there, from less sugars to less carbs to buying local when possible.
Ashley Tresoline: I have a base point of where I start. I’m, mostly, I like local seasonal ingredients. I try to stick with that.
Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of clients are looking for money saving meals, things that go a long way because of…right now, grocery prices are really up. But I’m big on the farmers’ market, I’m big on local farms.
We talk about how if you buy local and seasonal ingredients, they’re cheaper, they’re better. They haven’t been trucked across the country. They’re more nutrient dense.
Those are all the wonderful things that people…we should have all learn this, but we don’t. So, as we get older, we’d go for the things that we shouldn’t.
And we’re going to just toss this up. See the quinoa, the veg, the green, the red, the black.
I love just being able to see a change in people, seeing them happier. I love hearing that whatever they ate, like a client texting me, telling me, “Oh my god, what you made for me was so good tonight. Can we have that again next week?” Or something like that.
I just….want to help people stay healthier from the inside out, anyway, I can.
I love to serve it over a bed of fresh spinach.
