THERE IS A MISCONCEPTION THAT IF IT IS HEALTHY, IT WON’T BE TASTY…

Stevie Morgan started her company to help her father. The busy executive ate badly and had gained weight. Today, Morgan’s Cater Me Fit delivers chef-prepared meals to him several times a week and is among the trend of companies catering “clean foods” to health conscious individuals.

For the uninitiated, “eating clean” is a catch phrase for enjoying food that is as near to its natural or “whole” state as possible. For example, frozen sweet potato fries are a good choice but not as healthy as a freshly baked sweet potato.

Clean eaters scrutinize labels, look for packages with simple ingredients, and where possible, home make household staples such as salad dressings, salsas,

and dry rubs.

Many committed clean eaters consider a food’s production cycle: scratching added hormones, man-made pesticides, fertilizers and unnecessary packaging; buying locally grown, in-season produce; planning and cooking their own meals. The payoff for all this hard work is in the added energy and weight loss most people experience.

Yet pulling all that off is daunting, especially for kitchen novices like Morgan’s dad. For him and other busy families, there is a growing group of companies dedicated to healthy eating.

Cater Me Fit delivers freshly cooked, portion-controlled meals co-designed by a chef and a dietician. Meals can be customized for diet, preferences, and allergies. “There is a misconception that if it is healthy, it won’t be tasty,” says Stevie Morgan, owner and founder. Yet, by altering simple ingredients, even traditionally fatty choices like Chicken Parmesan can be both favorable and healthy. In this case, the chicken is coated in house-ground almond flour, baked, and finished with a simple homemade tomato sauce.

Fitlife Foods takes a different tact, providing 11 retail locations statewide where customers select fresh, prepared-from-scratch, portion-controlled meals created by a professional chef that stay delicious three to five days after purchase.

Founder and CEO David Osterweil’s desire to maximize time with family inspired him to create Fitlife. Each Fitlife meal uses original spice blends, offers the right balance of protein and carbohydrates, and provides individualized nutritional information.

The average customer substitutes about 10 meals a week, Osterweil says. “For me, clean eating is about balance,” he continues. By providing customers the opportunity to stock their refrigerators with awesome tasting meals, he’s making it easier for them to live a clean life, to eat healthy everyday, even when they are running out of time cook.

“You don’t have to worry about the bad choice that could sabotage the day,” he explains.