The Thoughtful Chef is a culmination of eclectic recipes from over the last 20 of her 44 years of Lisa's professional cooking. It is also mostly gluten-free but can also be easily replaced with regular flour wherever it's used. As a child, Lisa always had an interest in cooking but never thought it would become her lifetime career. Her mother began involving her in the daily kitchen tasks at the age of 10, earning money by helping her prepare dinner, and by the time Lisa was 16 years old, she was shopping, meal planning, cooking, and all on a budget of 60 dollars a week for 4 people. Lisa's professional career began when she took a job as a waitress when she was 20 years old at The Good Earth in Westwood, California. She loved the high energy of the restaurant business and was immediately drawn to the professional kitchen. The head cook, Kevin McKenzie gave her a chance and Lisa never looked back. Lisa's need to be creative and physical at what she wanted to do in life was a priority and this satisfied these needs more than she ever dreamed it would.