Leigh Dluhos has a recipe for just about everything. Her magic is in the quality of her ingredients, her passion for the execution, and her faith in the result. She has a breadth of knowledge in the culinary arts and a wealth of experience in creating something beautiful from the ingredients of life. She injects the same passion and drive into her personal goals as her culinary creations.

At 43, Leigh has experienced much of what life can cook up. After working a few restaurant jobs in college, she discovered a passion for cooking and completed a culinary arts degree from Johnson and Wales University. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from Middle Tennessee State University and a master’s in health promotion and nutrition from the University of Memphis. Although she had a slow start early in her career, she was involved in many fulfilling activities, including raising a young family.

She and her family endured a tough year in 2020 with the passing of her mother-in-law, which left her craving something good and life-giving. “That’s when I had my ‘ah-ha’ moment. I wanted to return to my dream.”

“I am an active member of the diversiFIT community and began talking to my friends about my desires. They encouraged me,
‘Why don’t you start cooking for us?’”

In October 2023, Leigh began cooking for a small group of her close friends. She made a few meals for them each week, and eventually, by word-of-mouth, requests started coming in from others. “I increased to 150-200 meals per week and have since climbed to 300 meals per week.” She had received so many requests for her service that she had to begin focusing on her project full-time.

In January 2024, she created her LLC after following a lead on an available cooking space off Sanderlin. Now, she operates out of her kitchen full-time as a meal prep service, preparing macro-friendly meals for her clients. She cooks and prepares a new weekly menu with quality ingredients, high-protein healthy meals, and made-from-scratch dressings and marinades.
Leigh takes pride in her service, “Spork & Knife.”

“I give out my cell phone number. I want to stay in touch with my customers. I like to deliver my meals to my customers and see their faces.”

“My life motto: if it were easy, everybody would do it.” In living out her motto, Leigh ran her first marathon three years ago after spontaneously signing up for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon® Weekend. This month, she will be running the TCS New York City Marathon. She also enjoys adventure outings with her family and diversiFIT community, including the rim-to-rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon.

She credits her husband, children, sister, diversiFIT community, and other friendships for inspiring her to pursue her dream. “I don’t know if I would’ve started without the encouragement of my family and friends — especially my husband. I am inspired to do big things when I am around strong people.”

IG handle: @spork.knife.food

By Amanda Tompkins
Photo by Tindall Stephens