TEXARKANA, Texas -- Becoming a mom is an exciting and joyful time but also an exhausting journey once the baby is born. Chef Keeli Trumble, owner of Virgin Foods and founder of the Virgin Mothers program, shows support by giving moms healthy meals.
"I've been a single mom twice. This is something that is very close to me. I've had five kids, and it has not always been easy, so that's where I came up with that," Trumble said.
Trumble created the Virgin Mothers in January. She gives 11 free healthy meals to moms of newborns and infants to make postpartum life a little easier. Anyone can nominate a mom and send the meals as a gift or anonymously.
For Tumble, this program comes from a personal experience that makes the journey worthwhile.
"I never thought when I started meal prepping for people that it would turn into Virgin Foods, then that would turn into Virgin Mothers," Tumble said with a laugh. "I don't know what we will do next. I can't even articulate the feeling."
Virgin Foods started in October 2022 to offer clean, healthy meals made from scratch. The foods are cleanly sourced with zero added preservatives, MSG or corn syrup, with nothing ever deep fried. Virgin Foods serves a variety of healthy and tasty foods.
"We offer craft foods from different cultures, like street tacos, craft ramen and bao bao buns," Trumble said.
Other Virgin Foods dishes include a keto pizza bowl, baja chicken, wood-fired garlic cauliflower rice with organic diced and shredded orange chicken and chili lime crema, curry egg rolls, and more.
"We take time to talk to our clients about why we make the food that way, what inflammatory oils and preservatives do to your body, and how they're bad for you. We offer them a solution, like an alternative to having food they like that tastes good," Trumble said.
Tumble originally went to school to get her degree in the arts. She took a cooking class and brought the food back to her roommates at the time. When she saw the look on their faces, she knew cooking was her purpose.
Tumble's business started out as a meal preparation service, although she had been a chef for a couple of local restaurants and owned a food truck for a few years.
Once Tumble was no longer working in restaurants, people continued to ask her to privately prep their meals and cook for them, and she agreed. From there she posted pictures on Facebook, and her phone would not stop ringing.
"I always wanted to do it. When I was the chef, sous chef or kitchen manager, a lot of my customers would say you should get out there and do your own thing. I didn't have the confidence, and didn't think I could make it work," Trumble said. "I was a single mom at the time so I couldn't take that big of a risk."
Virgin Foods offers both pickup and delivery services 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Contact Trumble at 903-809-8026 for more information or stop by at 3211 Texas Blvd.