Chef Raiyen’s meal prepping is the key to wholesome eating

POLOKWANE – Chef Raiyen Chetty (27) helps people with dietary meals, making healthy food tasty and enjoyable through his company, Green Apple Meals.

One of the services they offer is meal preparation which takes away the stress of having to prepare a healthy meal after a long day.

He explained that the idea for the business came about after a conversation with a friend who told him she was too busy to make food for herself.

“At the time, she was trying to gain weight so I had to make high carb meals for her. After cooking for her for a while and doing my research, I found that it wasn’t only my friend that is struggling to stick to their diet because of a busy schedule, but that many people need help with meal prepping,” he said.

Chetty is a private chef, and the owner of two businesses and a lecturer at Limpopo Chefs Academy.

Through his research, he also found that many people struggle to stick to diets and eating healthily because of a lack of flavour.

“People have the misconception that eating healthy means eating bland foods, and with my culinary background, I really wanted to help people tackle their diets and meal prepping challenges as well as enjoy the flavour of their meals.”

He said the idea behind the name ‘Green Apple Meals’ is that ‘Apple’ was part of his grandfather’s name, and also ties in with the expression, ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’.

“Green usually exudes a sense of good health and is used in the medical field a lot. It’s also one of my favourite colours. Putting the two together, I came up with the name,” he explained.

Chetty has been a chef since 2015 and has extensive experience working in restaurants and hotels across the country and abroad.

He said that diet plays a significant role when trying to lose or gain weight.

“You can work out as much as you want, but if you don’t eat right, you won’t see the results,” he said.