Kristen Ippolito makes time for a home-cooked dinner with son Evan. "I do a lot of juggling, but I do stuff I like," she says. "So it doesn't feel so much like work."
Kristen Ippolito makes time for a home-cooked dinner with son Evan. "I do a lot of juggling, but I do stuff I like," she says. "So it doesn't feel so much like work."
Kristen Ippolito has felt much better since becoming a vegetarian. But it wasn't always easy. "The culture I grew up in, it's not what you did," she says. "You ate steak and potatoes."
No matter how chaotic her life gets — and it's plenty crazy — single working mom Kristen Ippolito makes time to relax.
She has to.
The bathroom in Ippolito's older Lancaster City home is equipped with an old-fashioned claw-foot tub, instead of a shower.
So the necessary business of keeping clean essentially forces her to relax — and take some mandatory "me time" in the form of a guilt-free soak.
Ippolito, an office assistant at Sheehan Chiropractic, learned some hard lessons on nurturing herself since becoming a mom to 8-year-old Evan.
Now she hopes to teach others that healthy eating can be easier, less expensive and more interesting than they expect.
"People put their health on the back burner because of work, because of kids," she says. " ... They don't realize all the options out there."
Ippolito, who grew up on meat and potatoes, is now a vegetarian who starts her day with early-morning meditation.
In April, she launched her own business, Spice of Life, which offers healthy cooking workshops, catering and personal-chef services.
Ippolito's other side ventures include giving massages in her home studio, selling home-baked gluten-free bread and brand-new certification as a yoga instructor.
"I do a lot of juggling, but I do stuff I like," she says. "So it doesn't feel so much like work."
Really strapped for time?
She'll even do your Central Market shopping for you.
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Ippolito, 27, grew up in Pine Grove, an only child raised on country-style cooking.
"My mom was old school (and a great cook)," says Ippolito, whose grandmother was a chef.
"I grew up with a hot meal on the table every night."
During her days at Lebanon Valley College, Ippolito gradually expanded her culinary horizons.
She started adapting her mom's recipes to make them healthier.
Ippolito joined a community-supported agriculture co-op and regularly drove a half-hour to shop at Central Market.
"I like the community aspect of it," she says of Market. "... You get to know people.
"It's nice to have a personal connection with the food you're buying."
But Ippolito's lifestyle change really took root soon after Evan's birth, when she made baby food from scratch.
She took great care of her son, but she neglected herself. She fell into the typical new mom trap of compensating for too little sleep with too much coffee.
Ippolito, now divorced, noticed she felt a lot better after officially becoming a vegetarian.
But it wasn't always easy.
"The culture I grew up in, it's not what you did," she says. "You ate steak and potatoes."
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Ippolito got the idea for her shopping service, called "To Market, To Market," from a similar business in California.
She figures a lot of people would love to shop at Central Market but don't have time. (Ippolito shops during her lunch hour and on Saturdays.)
People can e-mail or call in their shopping lists, even requesting specific stands.
Ippolito hopes her cooking classes and other services will change some people's perceptions of healthy eating as difficult and time-consuming.
She focuses especially on ayurveda, an ancient Indian approach to cooking that aims to "balance" the body through food and spices.
"What you put in your body is so important," she says.
Ippolito can get a meal of lentils, fresh vegetables, rice and bread on the table in 30 minutes. She makes up a lot of recipes on the spot.
(As you might expect, her son can be a tough critic.)
Ippolito keeps costs down — and life simpler — with a pared-down pantry. She buys only what she needs and cooks mostly with fresh ingredients.
A healthy diet, Ippolito says, goes way beyond tofu and sprouts. It doesn't have to be bland or boring.
"There's a whole array of food out there that's healthy and easy to make," she says.
But occasionally Ippolito has a craving that lentils and rice can't satisfy.
Then she indulges in a cream-cheese cupcake or a candy bar — without an ounce of guilt.
"It's just about finding balance in life," she says. "That's the key."
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