Q: Your business was born from your own health journey. What were you going through, and what did you discover about food that changed everything?
IF: For several years I was sick and could not figure out why. Hypothyroid, candida, gut issues, chronic fatigue. I tried everything conventional medicine had to offer, and nothing worked. It was only when I started paying attention to what I was putting into my body, removing gluten and dairy, choosing organic whole foods, clean protein, filtering my water, cooking from scratch, that I started to heal. Food did what nothing else had. That realization changed the entire direction of my life.

Then I became a mother. And even with everything I had learned in my own body, I was brought to my knees. Too depleted to cook, too exhausted to care for myself. I knew exactly what I needed and I had nothing left to make it happen. That experience humbled me completely and also clarified everything. A year later I went back to school to study nutrition and holistic culinary arts. I wanted to understand deeply what had happened in my own body and I wanted to learn how to give that to others.

Plentiful Kitchen was not born from a business plan. It was born from my own healing, and from the moment I became a mother and understood from the inside what women in that season of life truly need. I turned my own experience into my mission. 

Q: The wellness world is full of language right now, food as medicine, eating clean, anti-inflammatory. What does any of it actually mean in your kitchen on a practical, everyday level?
IF: For me eating clean is not a trend. It is a way of life. When I started eating this way I felt the change almost immediately. My energy came back. My digestion shifted. I started sleeping again. It was not a supplement or a protocol. It was food, real food, handled with intention.

I truly believe that food is medicine. When we eat wholesome food that is free of preservatives, refined ingredients, and chemicals, we give our bodies the tools to heal, to thrive, and to function the way they were designed to.

In my kitchen that means cooking from scratch every single time. It means choosing organic ingredients because sprayed vegetables contain inflammatory compounds that affect how we feel and how our bodies function. It means replacing inflammatory seed oils like canola, sunflower, and vegetable oil with avocado oil and olive oil, which are stable under heat and deeply nourishing. It means cooking in stainless steel because non-stick coatings can leach chemicals into our food over time. It means filtering our water because tap water contains compounds that disrupt gut health. And it means removing gluten and dairy which for so many people quietly drive inflammation, fatigue, and digestive issues.

We also deliver all of our meals in glass containers because plastic is disruptive to our hormones. Every detail matters, from the ingredient to the container it arrives in.

Eating clean can feel overwhelming. We live in a toxic world, and the amount of information out there is a lot to navigate. I built Plentiful Kitchen to help my clients navigate this world without feeling overwhelmed, and to trust that their families are well fed.

Q: You have been feeding new mothers for ten years. What does a woman’s body actually need after giving birth that nobody talks about?
IF: Pregnancy and breastfeeding are profound acts of giving. A mother’s body transfers its most essential nutrients to the baby, and by the time she gives birth and is breastfeeding she is often deeply depleted. Her stores need to be replenished and almost nobody talks about that.

She needs her refrigerator filled. Not with flowers, not with congratulations, but with real food. Clean, wholesome, high protein meals she can reach for with one hand while she is holding her baby with the other. Bone broth to restore what her body just gave. Lactation support. Nourishing snacks are always within reach.

The world shows up for the baby. Almost nobody shows up for the mother’s body. That is the gap I have been filling for ten years.

Q: After ten years of cooking for families every week, what have you witnessed food do for people that you could not have imagined when you first started?
IF: Ten years of cooking for families has taught me that the difference between feeling depleted and feeling well is often what is on your plate. What I have witnessed over and over again is that when we go back to the essentials, wholesome food, and remove the inflammatory things from our diet, people heal. It is not complicated. It is not a protocol. It is a return to what our bodies have always known.

People often come to me for one thing and leave having healed something they did not even know needed healing. A client might reach out because she wants more energy, and three months later she tells me her digestion has completely changed, her sleep has improved, her mood has lifted. I have seen weight release, inflammation calm, mothers come back to themselves.

None of this happened because of a supplement or a program. It happened because someone started eating clean, wholesome food consistently, week after week. The body wants to heal. It just needs to be fed properly.

Q: What would you say to a woman who is running on empty, doing everything for everyone else, and has put her own nourishment last?
IF: In order to take care of everybody else, a mother needs to take care of herself first. That is not selfish. It is necessary.

And it starts with what she eats. When you nourish your body with clean wholesome food you have more energy, more patience, and more clarity. You show up differently for the people you love. You show up differently for yourself.

Self-care does not have to be a spa day or an hour of meditation. Sometimes it is as simple as making sure there is real food in your refrigerator. Taking ten minutes to sit down and eat without distraction. Choosing yourself, even in the smallest ways, every single day.

When you choose yourself, you choose others.

Q: At the start of your career, what do you wish you had known?
IF: I wish I had known that wearing all the hats is part of the journey when you are just starting out, and that is okay. But I also wish I had given myself permission to ask for help sooner. When you build something from scratch, especially something as personal as this, it is hard to trust anyone else with it. 

You are the chef, the delivery driver, the customer service, the accountant, the marketer. All of it. What I know now is that growth requires letting go. You cannot expand what you cannot delegate. The sooner you build a team you trust, the sooner your vision can grow beyond you.

Q: Which woman inspires you and why?
IF: The women who inspire me most are mothers. A mother is a powerhouse. She gives endlessly, she shows up when she is running on empty, she carries the weight of her family with so much love and so little recognition. Watching mothers navigate the demands of life fills me with deep admiration. They are the reason I built Plentiful Kitchen and they are the reason I keep going.

Q: What advice would you give to young women who want to pursue their dream and start a business?
IF: Dream big. You are creating your reality whether you are aware of it or not, so you might as well be intentional about it. Do not be scared of the size of your dream. Be clear about it. Write it down. Make a vision board. Visualize it every single day. Talk about it out loud. There is something powerful that happens when you give your dream a voice and a form. Energy grows where energy flows. The clearer you are about where you are going, the more everything around you begins to move in that direction. Trust that.

Q: After high school, where did you feel your career path would take you?
IF: Honestly, when I finished high school, I had no idea what my purpose was. I had many ideas, many directions pulling at me, but nothing felt clear. So instead of going straight to college, I made a decision that changed my life. I decided to travel the world. To collect experiences, visit new places, meet new people, and give myself the space to just be.

That was the best thing I ever allowed myself to do. Travel taught me more about myself than any classroom could have at that age. It gave me perspective, it opened my eyes to different ways of living, and slowly, through all of that exploration, I began to understand who I was and what I truly wanted to do with my life.

Q: Can you tell us how you manage your work life balance?
IF: As a business owner there is no time limit to the work and the list of things to do is endless. You essentially work around the clock. After the first few years of building Plentiful Kitchen, I felt it. Empty, stressed, and depleted. I had poured everything into the business and left very little for myself.

That was a turning point. I realized that you cannot nourish others if you are running on empty. I had to consciously and intentionally create a healthy balance between work and life. Nobody was going to do that for me. I had to choose it. When I take care of myself, I show up better for everything else.

What helps me get back into balance is simple but non-negotiable. Meditation, working out, time in nature, dancing, spending time with friends. These are not indulgences. They are what keep me grounded, creative, and able to show up fully for my clients, my family, and myself.

Eight Things About How Inbal Fershtat

1. What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?Dance. Without a doubt. It is where I go to reconnect with myself, release everything I am carrying, and just be free. It is my meditation in motion.

2. What is the most amazing adventure you have ever been on?
Backpacking through India at 21. It was one of those experiences that lives in your body forever. The food, the smells, the colors. Everything is magical and intense at the same time. India does not let you stay comfortable or passive. It pulls you in completely and asks you to be fully present. It was one of the most transformative experiences of my life and it planted something in me about the power of food, spice, and the way a culture expresses itself through what it cooks and eats.

3. What is your favorite international food?
Japanese food. It is simple, nourishing, and so delicious. There is a philosophy behind Japanese cooking that resonates with everything I believe about food. The ingredients are respected, nothing is overcomplicated, and every dish feels intentional. Simple food done beautifully is the highest form of cooking to me.

4. Who is your favorite author?
Eckhart Tolle. The Power of Now changed my life forever. It shifted the way I see everything, how I move through my day, how I handle stress, how I show up for myself and for others.

5. What is your favorite app on your phone?
Mindvalley. It is my go-to for personal growth, and learning. There is always something on there that challenges me to think differently or go deeper. It has also been incredibly valuable for growing and scaling my business.

6. What is your favorite quote or saying?
Good things are happening. That is my reminder whenever I feel low, whenever a negative thought creeps in, whenever life feels heavy. I stop and I say it to myself. Good things are happening to me and to everyone around me. At the end of the day everything is working out for us, even when it does not feel that way in the moment. It helps me stay positive and that simple phrase has carried me through a lot.

7. What would your perfect Saturday look like?
Sleeping in without an alarm. A long meditation. Breakfast outside in the sun. Laying on the hammock with nothing to do and nowhere to be. A walk in nature and ending the night dancing. 

8. What was your favorite subject in school?
Chemistry. I was fascinated by how elements interact, and how things transform when combined. Looking back, it makes complete sense. Cooking is chemistry. Every time I am in the kitchen I am working with the same principles, how heat transforms ingredients, how flavors bond, how the body responds to what we put into it.