I’m Dev Amadeo. I’m from San Juan, PR and I’m Mariana’s mom. After she was born, I took care of Mariana’s nutrition 100%. My daughter was born with a rare genetic disorder called Aicardi-Goutierres that mainly affected her neurological system. With the start of her life, she opened our eyes to a world full of love and happiness even when life goes completely the opposite of what you always thought it would be. We chose to believe in her. She always has been our little angel. Don’t be fooled though, she would rolled her eyes at me any time she’d want to do so!
This life experience made me particularly interested in learning more about how nutrients in food could impact her development and well being. Not only hers, but all of us in the family as well. Suddenly I found myself smitten with the power of real foods. Among all the things I had to learn through years of courses and self-education, from physical and nutritional development programs to creating educational materials, I found myself enjoying cooking her meals the most.
I started to feel I was having a real crush on the kitchen because I never got bothered with cooking. I wanted to learn everything! And having to be my little girl’s personal chef was the best cooking school I could ever have. What began as a chore eventually evolved as a deep passion in my heart.
Yellow Butterflies
In March 2020, one month shy from turning 17, Mariana spread her wings and went into Heaven. Her journey has evolved and once again, she has opened our eyes to a world that is new to us. And she has been letting us know about that world through yellow butterflies. Out of the blue, they would started to appear in unexpected and inconvenient places. They could started to twirl around us like in a fairytale story. She has sent us many yellow butterflies to save us from extreme pain and darkness, to let us know that she’s by our side, just in a different form. And that life, energy and love never die. They are unbreakable. She has been confirming us what we always knew; that we evolve, that life continues above and that we should believe with our heart. In a sense, I think now she’s not giving up on us. This is a deep and long story and I hope I can tell it to you one day…
Now more than ever I keep coming back to the kitchen. To be mindful. To celebrate Mariana. To decompress. To keep falling in love.
Mariana & Me
Mariana and I made everything together. Not because she depended on me but because we truly loved being around each other. She was my doll! My partner in everything! I squeezed her and kissed her like hundreds of times a day (literally). She always laughed with anything silly I would say or do to her. And I know she still does. I know she still thinks I’m funny. She's got my sense of humor, so we still understand each other very well! We could do it with our eyes then and we can do it with our hearts now, even if we are living in different planes.
I started channeling the fashionista inside me through her and she loved that. She eventually would make most of her fashion choices, some unexpected for me, but when I dressed her I would realized she was so right picking up what she did. Sweet plantains and spicy flavors such as ginger and cinnamon were her favorites and carrot cupcakes were her fist love with sweets. That’s why I’ll always have a new version of carrot cake every year. My days are brighter and happier just because of her love and any person that knew her will say the same. To this day Mariana keeps irradiating an infectious energy and love anywhere she is. She simply makes everything better! That’s why she flew up high and became the yellow butterfly!
(If you want read a bit more about my first days of this new chapter as a mother, you can check this Double Chocolate Olive Oil muffins post, my first one after this life event and the first time I started talking about The Yellow Butterfly without knowing what that will be.)
About this Blog
I’m pretty sure you have been there. That moment when you bite something you made and it’s so delicious, you can’t help yourself but smile! It’s a happy moment! And that’s the reason behind this blog. My purpose since the beginning of my cooking journey has been to share with you how to celebrate even the everyday moments in life. The ones that leave a mark in your heart and in your mind. For me, most of those are just eating something delicious while watching a wonderful movie in my couch or the excitement of baking something sweet to share with your favorite people. And I’m pretty sure it is like that for you too!
The kitchen is not a mysterious place, let me tell you that! On the contrary, it’s where many adventures, happiness and our own well being begins.
I created this blog for you, for me, for us! It has been created with a lot of love and good energy. To share recipes made with wholesome, fresh and clean ingredients that are still scrumptious in every bite. To share how we can heal our hearts and our bodies through food. And to share with you how, no matter the knowledge, schedule or the amount of ingredients you have on hand, you can create a delicious and enticing meal by tonight!
So grab a recipe and lets get cooking! I’ve been aiming to turn everyday foods into delicious and exciting fresh meals. If I’m doing it, ANYBODY can do it too! And never hesitate to ask me anything about your cooking journey. It only takes a few clever kitchen tricks under our sleeves to recreate a cozy mood, a warm feeling or just to invent another story. I want you to feel that empowerment with food. All the time!
With love,
