About Mary Lawrence
Mary Lawrence is a holistic health counselor specializing in vegan nutrition. She is the owner of Well on Wheels, LLC, Connecticut's premier vegan personal chef service which provides vegan meals prepared in clients’ homes, nutrition counseling services, private cooking and raw foods lessons. She has taught at the Connecticut Culinary Institute in Hartford, Wild Oats Market in West Hartford and Four Seasons Market in Branford. She also teaches for numerous Adult Education programs in Hartford and New Haven counties.
She is an affiliated member of the Shoreline Center for Wholistic Health where she maintains a nutrition counseling practice in Guilford, CT. In 2007 she published her first cookbook, Quick and Easy Vegan Cuisine. Chef Lawrence has been a featured guest on WTNH TV’s Noon News, WVIT TV’s morning show with Janet Peckinpaugh, Prudence Sloane's "Simply Food" radio program on WDRC 1360 AM and WGBY's "On the Menu" television program. She has a BA in English from the University of Connecticut and MA in Communication from the University of Hartford, and has been an adjunct professor at both the University of Hartford and Manchester Community College. She has studied culinary arts at Manchester Community College and the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, and has trained in the kitchen of It's Only Natural restaurant in Middletown, CT with owner, Mark Shadle, and with executive chef and author of Professional Vegetarian Cooking, Ken Bergeron. She is a student at the Global College of Natural Medicine.
Clients include: The Interior Edge, Our Companions Domestic Animal Sanctuary, St. Francis Hospital’s Preventive Medicine Center and Yale University
Mary's Story
I have been a vegetarian in spirit ever since I was a child (I didn't like the idea of eating cute little piggies). And being a vegetarian adult, I thought I was healthy. Until… in 1995 numerous conditions I normally shrugged off - allergies, headaches, fatigue, sinus infections and recurrent cough – suddenly were threatening my well-being. Over the counter medicine didn’t help, and I refused to heed the advice of traditional allergists who recommended I “get rid of” my dog.
Fortunately, I was stubborn enough to seek alternative therapy and consulted with a naturopathic allergist who ultimately changed my life (though I didn’t realize it at the time). To begin, she said I could keep my dog. But, in order to do so, I had to eliminate certain foods from my diet, namely, all my favorites: coffee, sugar, dairy products, and all processed food. But with her guidance and constant support, I soon found this to be an exciting adventure. I had always enjoyed cooking, but now I had the challenge of making food delicious yet also nutritious.
While I’ve recovered my health, I've also drastically changed the way I look at food. I think about where it comes from, take the time to understand it, and appreciate the simple pleasure of using the five senses to experience the whole food in its natural state. This has been one of my greatest lessons.
