ALMIGHTY MEALS
Healthy, nutritional meals is an easy fix for busy lifestyles
From left: Jaci Ivey , Lily Donnell, Meg Walker, Allison Walker
Meghan Walker had no plans to start a restaurant. For almost 25 years, she worked as an RDA dental assistant; but Meg operates on faith, and because of that, she knew her belief in something greater would guide her. Meg would soon become the creator of an extraordinary business she named Almighty Meals.
When her up-close vision started to change, Meg began to feel her time in dentistry was ending. So she picked up her guitar and went on the road with her band. For two years, this former RDA, mother of two, and career Navy spouse found fulfillment touring the eastern states, writing and recording music, and playing festivals, youth camps, and conferences. When the music season slowed, she prayed to be "led" to what she should be doing next. What followed was an introduction to the restaurant business.
One of Meg's friends needed help prepping and cooking for a food truck he had just started. Bob Roberts, the founder of Redwood Smoke Shack, began tutoring Meg in all things restaurant related. Meg describes his BBQ as the best BBQ ever. Bob's mentorship and standards of excellence planted the seed for her new career in food.
Further affirming Meg's new calling was her friend Amy Harris's plea for nutritional help as she was returning to teaching after the birth of her first child. "She asked me to help her eat more consistently and to help her with her nutritional goals. She always loved my cooking, and since I prepped my own meals for the week, she asked if I would meal prep for her too."
As her friend Amy began to bring Meg's meals to school, other teachers there began to ask Meg if she would help them, too. Another of the teachers at the school who joined Meg's meal prep project was her friend Lindsay Kight, who was paramount in helping perfect some of Meg's key ingredients and plating.
"I've never been too proud to accept critiques and suggestions," Meg says. "Lindsay's feedback was the key to making dishes better. I've always said, 'You don't know what you don't know.' As silly as that might sound, I believe it's the foundation for my staying receptive and humble."
With her new identity as a chef securely unfolding, Meg began the next leg of her food journey: opening her own restaurant. Many of her friends rallied behind her-including Chef Nic Hagan, who helped her with the design and some of the heavy lifting during the early stages.
Almighty Meals is known for its gourmet, low-carb meals
...All are scratch-made from nutritious whole food....
Ninety-eight percent of the meals are gluten-free,
and all of them are sugar-free
...All are scratch-made from nutritious whole food....
Ninety-eight percent of the meals are gluten-free,
and all of them are sugar-free
During a particularly trying time when Meg was having doubts, her husband, James, encouraged her with something he had learned from the Navy. "My husband said the most inspiring thing to me when I was feeling defeated. He said, 'No plans survive first contact with the enemy.' He went on to explain that you train, run drills, and strategize, but when actually meeting the adversary, it is always a scenario that your preparations could not account for 100 percent. "His encouragement pulled me through," Meg says gratefully. And so Almighty Meals was born. This Halloween will mark their third anniversary.
When entering the Almighty Meals Kitchen, one of the first things guests notice is that the door proudly states the business is "Veteran Family Owned."
"It is such a big part of our lives," Meg says, beaming, "so I wanted people to know that we are proudly part of the military community." And she should be proud-Almighty Meals Kitchen is a truly unique place.
"Every repair our bodies make
for every single cell that comprises us,
comes directly from what we eatâ¦
'If we are what we eat,
then I only want to eat the good stuff.'"
-Meghan Walker
for every single cell that comprises us,
comes directly from what we eatâ¦
'If we are what we eat,
then I only want to eat the good stuff.'"
-Meghan Walker
The 98-percent-gluten-free, 100-percent-sugar-free, full-service restaurant is open from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays. It is also open for website order meal-prep pickup on Monday evenings from 4:00 until 6:00 p.m. Meal-prep customers can go to the restaurant's website (www.almighty-meals.com) and place their orders for the following Monday. There is no minimum order, and no subscription is required. There are more than 100 items online for order. Customers choose what they need each week as they need it. All the details are on the website.
Another terrific convenience is that anyone can simply walk into the restaurant and select ready-made meals from the Grab' N Go fridge. Guests can choose to order something from the "In House Menu" (Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 9:00 a.m until 2:00 p.m.) and enjoy a delicious, healthy breakfast or lunch.
Right now, Meg surmises they are putting around 40 to 50 ready-made meals in the Grab' N Go fridge each week for curious first-time guests, and for our customers who, for whatever reason missed the opportunity to order. "The G' N G fridge is often called 'lifesaver' by our customers who just came back from vacation, or for many reasons, missed the opportunity to order," Megan says. "It's a great asset in our mission of helping our community." Grab' N Go meal numbers will vary with the seasons.
"People can feel there is something
different about this placeâ¦
It's filled with a happy energy."
-Meghan Walker
different about this placeâ¦
It's filled with a happy energy."
-Meghan Walker
As for orders via the website, Almighty Meals is cooking and assembling, on average, 150 to 200 meals every Monday. Meg and her team take the time to handwrite positive quotes or scriptural passages on each and every pre-ordered box. In fact, Meg believes so strongly in the benefits of positive reinforcement and scripture that it is even written on the restaurant's subfloor.
"People can feel there is something different about this place," she says with a smile. "It's filled with a happy energy." And it sure seems to recharge this very busy woman.
"People embracing a low-carb,
sugar-free lifestyle
need sweetness too.
The secret to our sugarless success
is golden monk fruitâ¦It's delicious!"
-Meghan Walker
sugar-free lifestyle
need sweetness too.
The secret to our sugarless success
is golden monk fruitâ¦It's delicious!"
-Meghan Walker
In Almighty Meals' infancy, Meg was working out of her home. "I was saving a lot because I didn't have the overhead of a restaurant," she recalls. But the business grew to stand on its own, and she has never looked back. Her joyful spirit and delightful dishes have been contagious in this friendly shopping center.
"We help each other," Meg proudly says, "this plaza is a family of sorts." Her culinary creativity is undoubtedly a factor, along with her deep sense of peace, goodness, and community. Every business, from the Hair Group and Pale Horse Coffee to Nails & Tan and Kapers and the almost-open Studly Brewing, is friendly and involved with each other's success. "It's amazing here, "Meg says. "Just come and see!"
Almighty Meals is known for its gourmet, low-carb meals and other healthy lean and balanced/low-fat meal options. All are scratch-made from nutritious, whole food and, when available, organic. Ninety-eight percent of the meals are gluten-free, and all of them are sugar-free.
In fact, Meg makes a chocolate chip muffin that some customers found to be the most delicious muffin ever-and that was before finding out there is not one grain of sugar in the Almighty Meals kitchen. "People embracing a low-carb, sugar-free lifestyle need sweetness too," Meg explains. "The secret to our sugarless success is golden monk fruit. It tastes like and behaves like loose brown sugar. It's delicious!"
Ever the philosopher, Meg points out, "Every repair our bodies make, on every single cell that comprises us, comes directly from what we eat. As they say in "Ratatouille"-a movie I love: 'If we are what we eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff.'"
With that mantra, and the enlightening quotes lovingly written on each meal prep box, Meg and the Almighty Meals team are creating a new standard of food that nourishes both the body and soul.
The Shopper
1545 Crossways Blvd.
Chesapeake, VA 23320
757-317-5465
http://www.TheShopper.com