We had the good fortune of connecting with Marcela Perez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marcela, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

Set a strong foundation to my daughter, Valentina Bloom. My purpose is to show her how strong we are as women by creating opportunities to ourselves and for others. I love being my own boss and sharing my healthy eating habits through my cactus chips, cactus tortillas and using my food trailer as a vehicle to share delicious, wholesome and healthy food.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art has always been geared towards creating healthy and delicious foods. My cactus tortillas and chips emerged from growing up with my “Guely” and her trying to feed me “nopalitos” ( cacti) as a veggie. I didn’t enjoy eating cacti salads because of their texture, I call “nopales” the Mexican okra since they are slimy and hard to cook. So one day I taught, why not dehydrate nopales into a flour and combine it with corn flour and create a healthy corn tortilla..? A corn tortilla with all the amazing benefits of nopales. So I did. Eight years ago I started feeding and educating friends and customers what powerhouse of nutrients nopales are.. I always understood that Guely would want us to eat them because it has fiber, protein, and helps us fight diabetes and high blood pressure. Hence, I’m so proud to offer my cactus tortillas and cactus chips to customers who love tortillas and chips and adding the nutritional benefits of “Nopalitos”

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I love Houston and consider myself a Houstonian. Our city has so much to offer that one week is not enough. However, we would definitely visit our museum district, then go shopping to the Galería Mall and possibly the outlets by 290. Hopefully it’s baseball season and we would attend an Astros baseball game. They are thrilling and a most to go watch. For our meals, I would cook some at home and then visit a different place to eat every day. We would try Mexican food, Italian food, barbecue and Indian food. We are super spoiled with amazing eateries.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

My family. I believe my family’s support has always given me strength and clarity to make decisions. I always think, if I take “fear” out of the equation, what do I do? I grew up knowing that my family loves and supports me, “No matter what..

Website: www.chefmarcelaskitchen.com

Instagram: @marcelascactustortillas

Linkedin: Marcela Perez

Facebook: Chef Marcela’s Kitchen

Yelp: Chef Marcela’s kitchen

Youtube: Marcela’s Cactus Tortillas

Image Credits
Felipe Fenton

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