EP 469: Maryanne Morris And Her Ministry: HealTHY Cooking

What makes Mary Anne Morris with HealThy Cooking of Texas a good neighbor?

If you’ve ever tried to “eat healthy” and still felt tired, inflamed, or stuck, you’re not alone and you’re not doing it wrong, you might just be missing a key piece. We sit down with Mary Anne Morris of HealThy Cooking of Texas, a certified nutrition instructor and healthy cooking coach who believes real healing doesn’t just start with what you eat, but how you prepare it.

Mary Anne shares her personal turning point after years of digestive issues, autoimmune challenges, and feeling drained by symptoms that never fully resolved. She explains how learning nutrition was only the beginning—and how changing her cooking methods made the biggest difference, even winning over a lifelong veggie skeptic in her own home. Her approach focuses on prevention, sustainability, and building generational health in a way that actually fits real life.

We also talk about who she serves most: people who feel afraid to eat because of how their body reacts, those dealing with inflammation, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, and anyone chasing weight goals without results. Mary Anne walks through her practical solutions—from group nutrition classes and hands-on cooking sessions to quick five-minute recipe nights and virtual options for those outside North Texas.

And yes, she proves healthy food doesn’t have to feel restrictive. From a “ridiculously healthy” dessert to a plant-based enchilada that still hits like comfort food, you’ll walk away with ideas you can actually use.

If you’re ready to feel better, cook smarter, and rethink what healthy really looks like, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who loves food, and leave a review so more neighbors can find simple habits that truly make a difference.

To learn more about HealThy Cooking of Texas go to:
 http://www.healthycookingoftexas.com

 HealThy Cooking of Texas

  +1 (214) 592-9972

Transcript

Welcome To Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yuvel.

Healing Through Cooking Mission

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a healthy cooking coach? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today, I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Marianne Morris, with Healthy Cooking of Texas. Marianne, it is so lovely to have you on today. Now we are excited to learn all about you and your business. So please start off by telling our listeners just a little bit more about your company.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

All right. Well, thank you for having me here. It's an honor. I love doing that. So our business is called Healthy Cooking, but when you look at our logo, it's actually Healed by Cooking in Disguise. The T is the cross. So we talk about healing from the inside out. And our real focus is creating generational health with prevention instead of health crises management. And we have two focuses. I'm a certified nutrition instructor and I provide group nutrition classes to the community at our office and wherever locations would like to have that to teach food is the solution. And then I'm also a healthy cooking coach that provides complementary healthy cooking experiences to teach that how you cook and what you use is just as important as the food itself. And another thing we do that is really fun is five-minute recipe nights. We're going to do one tomorrow night. And that helps with busy schedules, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Yes, that is always important. Now I can definitely tell you have a heart for doing this. So where did that start for you?

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Well, um, when I hit my mid-40s, I realized I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, and I had actually had a lot of health problems myself. I could remember back at age three having problems. Um, a lot of it was digestive, um, and it spilled into a lot of autoimmune disorders, lots of antibiotics and such, and my endocrine system got really badly impacted by it. I had horrible skin, I was just a real mess. And so when I was about 45, I started learning how food plays a big role. And within months of that, I learned how cooking also changes the food for better or worse from a person I met at a health store. And uh so my health problems really came because kids have no choice. And my mom loves to please my dad, and my dad isn't easy to please when it comes to food, or he used to not be, and he hated vegetables, but he loved his fried foods and his salty, sweet foods, and and I learned how to eat that way, and that's how I learned how to cook. And so when I invited someone I met at a health store to come cook and teach us better ways of cooking, because I was on this new journey. My dad came over and he went for seconds on the vegetables, didn't put salt on anything, and it had such a big impact. He kept insisting for five months, Marianne, you've got to start doing this. Um, I was a teacher, a homeschool teacher, um, altogether for 22 years. But what happened is after five months, it made such a difference in so many people's lives that I had shared that chef with. Um, and I just started to see it more as a ministry disguise as a business, and that really got my heart. And so I decided to put on the apron actually 20 years ago this month, and I've been teaching that for 20 years now.

Who She Helps Most

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Wow, congratulations on that. Now we are gonna go ahead and switch gears for a second, diving deeper into your business today. Marketing is the heart of every business. So ideally, who are some of these individuals that you are looking to help heal? And how are you staying in front of them?

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Oh, that's good. Um, the P I love anyone who cooks and cares about their health. We'll start with that. Um, the people I get most excited about getting an opportunity to teach are people with severe digestive problems because that's 70% of your immune system and it's your second brain. But there I've had people start to cry because they're finally able to eat without pain and suffering. Um, some had over 20 years of that, because there's nothing worse than knowing you need to eat but you're afraid to eat because of how you're going to suffer afterwards. So I love people like that because they can usually tell right away and it's mind-blowing. Um, and then I love cooking for people with autoimmune disorders because they the two are related, believe it or not. And um, goodness, inflammation, uh, diabetics, people who have weight goals and they're so frustrated because you need a breakthrough. So a fun group has nothing to do with health, really, but picky eaters, because it's so fun when you see people of all ages kiss, see your citizens go from hating foods to oh my gosh, this is good. I could eat this because then you can be healthy if you enjoy it, right?

Reaching More People Through Media

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yes, most definitely. And I for one love cooking too, so I'm right there with you. Now, um, have you ever thought about having your own podcast for your business before?

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Well, yeah, I it's it's a little intimidating to me because I'm not a techie. Um, but yeah, both my husband and I have um not just for the cooking, but for other things that we're passionate about. Um just don't know how, but it would be nice to reach more people for sure. I've even had someone ask if they could do a TV show with me doing this to, you know, kind of get in the community for McKinney. And um, I just guess I need to step it up a little bit, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

All right, Marianne, would you like to share with our audience today your favorite recipe?

SPEAKER_02 5:56

My favorite recipe, hmm, that's healthy, right? Yes, definitely. Um, I think one that's so fun to do, and I do it for people when I do a cooking experience. I make this dessert that is so ridiculously healthy. I actually get people scared to try it because I make them think it's gonna be terrible. And then they eat it and they completely forgot how healthy it was. And um, so that's really fun. It's an actual dessert. But as far as I'm more of a savory person, I would have to say my plant-based enchilada is delicious. It's not my own recipe, but when I make that, I love it. It's so full of flavor and it's it's good for you, so there's no guilt.

Classes Cooking Experiences And Virtual Options

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Love that. Now I'm sure you're making all of our listeners hungry here. So where can they go to learn more about Healthy Cooking of Texas?

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Well, I guess the easiest way to find us is go to our website, healthycookingoftexas.com. Um, and if they want to know some group nutrition classes we're hosting, um, there's a schedule on the what's happening to have. If they want to know what kind of nutrition class topics are available that they want to host, either at our place or theirs, they can click on classes. And if they just want to enjoy the complimentary healthy cooking experience where they actually get to see how how they are losing out on most of the benefits of their food when they could be keeping nearly all of it, then they can just contact us there and say, Hey, I'd like to have a dinner or lunch just for my family or a date night. And um, they love to come to a place that's beautiful. And some people they like it when we come out to them and we're in the intimacy of their own kitchen.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Well, Mary.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

Oh, and I do virtuals too, by the way, which is nice for people outside of the area.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Love that. Well, Marianne, it was really a pleasure having you on the show today. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gmpfrisco.com. That's gmpfrisco.com or call four six nine two two one nine three four five.