If groove had a flavor, it would be the ambrosial concoctions Mara Latorre cooks up for her healthy, predominately plant-based food blog, “The Funky Spork.”
Latorre has been transitioning to a plant-based diet for approximately a year. Though she said she is vegetarian the majority of the meals on her blog are also vegan. She knows the general public has a sort of aversion to a vegan lifestyle and she hopes sharing her quirky and affordable recipes will help break down many of the stereotypes surrounding the diet.
Mara Latorre with a meal featured on The Funky Spork.
“There’s this misconception that you have to go to a gourmet market to be plant-based,” Latorre said. “Here in Plant City that’s not an option. We go to local produce stands, we go to the same supermarkets as everyone else. And we’re saving money. We don’t eat out as often as we used to and that really can be so expensive. You just have to take the time to look at your recipe and do some research. There are really affordable ways to eat healthy.”
She recommends eating seasonally and not being afraid to experiment. Why buy an expensive vegan cheese sauce when you can make your own for a fraction of the cost? She also committed to making cooking a priority. That means she goes multiple times a week to the grocery store and buys much fewer quantities. Everything is fresher, she’s heavily reduced her food waste and she knows exactly what she’s aiming for when she walks through the aisles.
Once she began seeking out plant-based recipes she posted some of her culinary creations on her social media platforms. Every single time someone — if not several people — reached out asking for the recipe. Over and over again the questions came pouring in and she realized there was an interest she hadn’t originally seen in the nearby community.
“I feel like the U.S. in general cannot consider a meal a meal without meat,” Latorre said. “Vegetables are a side item, not the main course. I’m hoping to show that’s not the case.”
Soon The Funky Spork was born. Latorre has a Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest and an in-depth website — thefunkyspork.com — that chronicles her extensive experiments in the kitchen.
One of the hardest parts was getting into the habit of being conscious of everything and exactly how much she was putting into her dishes. It’s a habit she developed watching her mother cook in the kitchen when she was a small child and even now she finds herself going back after finishing a dish and writing down all the things she changed or added to the original recipe along the way.
“I remember when I was in elementary school I was always fascinated with cooking,” Latorre said. “I pulled a chair up to the kitchen and would watch my mom as she cooked. She noticed and created this cooking show for me. As I got older she began to slowly incorporate me into her cooking. By the time I was in middle school I was starting to cook full meals and by high school cooking dinner was my household chore.”
While other youth would go home from school to watch Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel, Latorre flipped right to the cooking channel to watch chefs like Rachael Ray create their masterpieces.
One of the savory, yet all natural meals she whipped up last week was comprised of grilled asparagus, a vegan, nut-free mac and cheese and Sriracha and citrus marinated jackfruit. The asparagus was grilled with a salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil marinade. The mac and cheese had gluten-free chickpea pasta with a homemade cheese sauce made from sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, soy milk and garlic. The jackfruit had a marinade of fresh oranges, maple syrup, Sriracha, soy sauce, sesame seeds, liquid smoke, smoked paprika and garlic.
Her blog also highlights local businesses that offer plant-based meals. Supporting local establishments is a big passion of Latorre’s and while she goes all over Tampa Bay with some of her posts she has a special Plant City Youtube series for restaurants in her home turf that offer plant-based cuisine.
Her fiancee, Jeremy Rivera, said while he still occasionally eats meat he’s been along for the ride as she transitions their meals into plant-based masterpieces. They’re not all wins, but he said he gladly acts as a taste-testing guinea pig for all of her experiments.
Both Latorre and Rivera are artists and their creative personalities are on display not only in the artwork hanging on their walls, but also in the mind boggling, but succulent meals they are able to cook up. If you explore her website one thing becomes abundantly clear: Latorre is creating the food she likes to her unique taste in a creative way. Luckily, her visions are always scrumptious.
Latorre decided to make the switch after her doctor told her she was pre-diabetic. She said she was shocked and it forever changed the way she looked at food. She dove into research and for her the answer was in the ground. Finding unprocessed, natural meals that tasted as good as all the meals she loves became her new priority.
“It is frustrating because so often I have to go to Tampa to find a restaurant that has things I would enjoy eating,” Latorre said. “Because of the fact that you have to drive out and because a lot of the time I don’t want to do that to just fill a craving, I’ve learned how to make so much of what I want myself. And to be entirely honest there have been many places recently I’ve gone to that I’ve had to drive far to and the quality was down. I sat there thinking, ‘I can do this cheaper and better.’”
She said often people think vegans or vegetarians are elitist, that only those with money can afford to live a healthy lifestyle. She’s proving that wrong and is gaining a loyal following because of it.
The trick is to not be afraid of failure. Follow your curiosity, try out something that may seem scary or intimidating and discovery what you love.
“I have more energy now and I’ve noticed the pounds are going down, though I’m a body-positive person so that wasn’t the point of this, and I’ve noticed I’m more motivated in general to cook my own food,” Latorre said. “I’ve got better digestion, clearer skin, it’s really making a difference. I just want people to know you don’t have to overcomplicate this. If my meals can inspire someone to come up with their next meatless Monday meal than that makes me happy.”
For more information
The Funky Spork
Social: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube @TheFunkySpork
Webiste: thefunkyspork.com
Email: thefunkyspork@gmail