Setting correct expectations!
Sample REAL food and herbal medicine classes
Nourishing Stocks and Soups
Simple Lacto-Fermentation
Nourished Mama - Nourished Babe
The Nourishing Power of Nuts, Grains and Seeds
Live, Health-Promoting Drinks and Tonics
Traditional Herbal Medicine Chest
Custom Classes can be arranged by contacting me here
Click HERE if interested in a class!
Nourishing Stocks and Soups
Learn how to prepare savory, nutritionally dense, delicious stocks and how you can use them in soups, stews, grain dishes, and tonics. This class will open a door to new possibilities for those who already enjoy soups and broths on a regular basis, and it will unveil a whole new world to those who have never had the experience of tasting a home-made broth! Learn why home-made stocks and soups are superior in their nutritional value, safety and taste to those that are available to us commercially. Explore simple and unique combinations of ingredients you never knew you would enjoy in your daily meals. Taste the goodness of the broths, stews and soups as you learn about them. You will receive a set of three delicious recipes that have been nourishing generations upon generations of healthy, vibrant people from around the world! One of these recipes is very close to my heart because it is deeply rooted into the rich history of Russia and Ukraine... It is an authentic recipe of a marvelous soup that was prepared for the last of the great Russian czars, Nicholas Romanov, and his family. Discover the simplicity, magic and sheer joy of nourishing yourself and your loved ones with REAL food! I will also review safe cookware choices during this class, depending on what time allows.
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Simple Lacto-Fermentation
Learn how to prepare simple lacto-fermented vegetables and dairy products and why they are so valuable to our health and wellbeing. Did you know that aside from the delicious taste and low cost, many lacto-fermented vegetables and dairy products are easier to digest and contain higher levels of vitamins and beneficial enzymes than when consumed fresh or cooked? Our wise ancestors understood the value of lacto-fermentation and passed this knowledge to their young, generation after generation. Only in the past century has this wisdom been forgotten as the food processing industry gained popularity on the grounds of "convenience" and "affordability" and at the expense of our health. My goal is to restore this wisdom within your heart and in your kitchen, to empower the culinary artist within you and to encourage putting REAL food on your family's table!
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Nourished Mama - Nourished Babe
This class is designed for parents and parents-to-be. Whether you are trying to get pregnant or may be already blessed with a beautiful life unfolding within you, this class will provide you nutritional guidance and simple meal solutions you, your partner and your unborn child will enjoy in the form of bliss and wellness! Well nourished, healthy mamas give birth to well nourished, healthy babies... it is as simple as that! Perhaps you have already given a birth to your bundle of blessings and are now paying greater attention to the nutritional choices you make... if so, Congratulations on your perfect child and on starting your healing path back to the wisdom of our strong, healthy ancestors! Breastfeeding? This class is designed with you, sweet mama, in mind! My goal is to empower you to prepare nutritionally dense, REAL meals as well as to dispel many myths surrounding certain popular "health" foods. If you are not pregnant yet, you need to understand that preparing your body for a pregnancy is a very important first step in becoming pregnant! This class is open to couples and I strongly encourage both parents to attend.
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The Nourishing Power of Nuts, Grains and Seeds
Learn the nuts'n'bolts that are ingrained in planting the seeds of change! The REAL change! If you already enjoy whole grains, nuts and seeds in your diet, there is much to be learned about what you are REALLY consuming. This class will introduce traditional methods of preparing nuts, seeds and grains in ways that improve your digestion, spare your body the toxic burden of low quality products and maximize the nutritional value of the foods you and your loved ones consume on a regular basis. Aside from the nourishing benefits of these foods, you will also save time and money preparing them yourself! Yes, you can save time and money while eating wholesome, home-prepared meals and snacks! Is there a nut milk or a nut butter you really enjoy? Learn how to make it yourself and explore a whole new world of making delicious drinks, snacks and desserts with easily digestible seeds, nuts and grains! Whatever your tastes and preferences may be, unleash the exquisite culinary artist and healer within you and let your loved ones enjoy your new discoveries! This class will fill your bellies and your hearts with pure love and inspiration. Get to know your grains, seeds and nuts... Create a change!
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Live, Health-Promoting Drinks and Tonics
Let's raise a glass (or several glasses) to your health! Glasses of live, delicious, nourishing, nutritionally-dense goodness, that is! Would you like to learn now to prepare nut milks, fresh and rich? Do you like coconut milk? Ever tasted the freshly made coconut milk and compared it to its canned parody? If so, then you understand the value of freshly prepared, health-giving drinks. If no, than you are about to discover a whole new world for yourself. When my family tasted fresh coconut milk for the first time there was a pause after the first sip and then an explosion of "WOW"... The rest of the words were too dull to describe the experience, so the silence with undertones of excitement, discovery, and wild disbelief filled the room as more enthusiastic and, almost impatient, sips followed until the glasses were sucked dry! This class is designed to teach you and your loved ones to prepare delicious, nourishing drinks and tonics for any day, any season and any occasion. Learn about ancient kombucha, cooling and nurturing kefir, traditional Ukrainian kvas, fizzy coconut water and milk, super tonics, the secrets of REAL chocolate and the smooth silky goodness of REAL chocolate milk! Replenish your vigor, tonify your organs, pleasure your taste-buds, awaken your spirit and nurture your entire being with these amazing drinks, while learning about their benefits and how to prepare them in your own kitchen!
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Traditional Herbal Medicine Chest
Learn how to make your own medicinal tinctures and salves, safe for people of all ages and for the planet! This class is designed to educate you about a handful of local medicinal herbs, growing in ditches, backyards, along park trails and in our own garden! You will learn about recognition, responsible wild harvesting of these medicinal herbs, their preservation, as well as lovingly growing these green friends in your garden. Putting together a traditional medicine chest is simple, safe and fun! You will learn how to make two kinds of pure herbal tinctures (safe for adults and children), sample already made medicinal tinctures, learn how to make your own soothing salves (for example "Away with Bugs and Boo-Boo's" or "Heal Me, Soothe Me") and how to properly use medicinal herbal compresses. I will also talk about some very simple sickness prevention methods you can apply to your daily life to stay strong and healthy. All materials (organically grown and wild-harvested herbs, organic menstruums, organic quality oils, etc.) for the class are provided. For those of you who are not able to grow your own herbs for some reason, I will share credible sources for quality herbs.
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Setting Correct Expectations!
Please note that all except one ("Traditional Herbal Medicine Chest") classes I teach emphasize on the nutritional component of preparing tasty, nourishing meals. Each class explores the "why" component of preparation just as deeply, and in many cases deeper, than the "how" component of food preparation. These are not cooking classes that you may have seen on TV by Martha Stewart, Emeril or Rachel Ray. What I am teaching is nutrition as our strong, vibrant ancestors knew it. I believe that nutritionally-dense foods naturally taste heavenly and that we all have an impressive gourmet chef within us! There are millions of books full of recipes on the market today and almost none of them explore the nutritional component of the foods within them. I have found that most recipe books in circulation today contain recipes with ingredients that rob us of our health rather than nourish us. Most of my classes are taught by demonstration due to safety precautions and time considerations. Hands-on experiences are offered when and where appropriate. For example, the class about nourishing drinks and tonics offers many hands-on experiences as well as sampling while the class about nourishing stocks and soups is taught by demonstration and sampling. Each class is designed with various learning needs in mind and my goal is to empower you as a healthy human being, a fearless chef and a nourishing, loving member of our society!
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Interested in a class? BRAVO! Here is how it works.
I teach classes at different location around Austin, TX as long as the location/kitchen is suitable for the class requested. Someone needs to be the host of the class. The host takes care of the location, which can be a private home's kitchen, a public kitchen, a facility's kitchen, etc. Of course the location of the class must be clean and safe. I inspect the location prior to committing to the class. It is also the host's task to make sure there are at least six and at most ten people to attend the class. The class fee and class duration will be determined based on the class details - the topic at hand, time allowance at the location, number of attendees, and availability of resources (sink space, counter space, electric outlets, etc.) needed to teach a certain class. I bring my own equipment (whenever needed) and class materials. In order to keep my environmental impact low I do not print handouts. Every student will have an electronic PDF version of the handout with all relevant information, recipes, resources, helpful hints and "pearls of wisdom" a few days prior to the class. As a host or student you have an option of printing your handout and bringing it to the class. My handouts are very detailed and I put them together for the sake of saving you time on lots of notetaking during the class because most of the class time if focused on demonstrations and practical learning. As a host you are responsible for providing me with a list of people commited to attend the class, so that I can send reminders, updates about the class and the PDF handout to all commited to learn from me. If you have a group of fewer than six people, a custom class style consultation can be arranged. Please contact me with details of your request and we will coordinate appropriately. Please note that all people who committed to attend the class must attend it! I will not teach a class unless I have at least six people in the room. I realize that life throws us a curveball once in a while and everyone's personal circumstances can change dramatically in a moment. I respect that. However, such circumstances are rare with proper planning. We all have families, places to be, things to do... These classes are life changing for many people and deserve proper attention and effort to attend. I also invest much of my resources into preparing for each class and wish that my efforts be honored and respected by attending the class at the planned time and on time. A class can be cancelled no later than one full week prior to the planned class time.
I look forward to sharing what I know with you! Teaching about nutrition and nourishment is my passion and you have my commitment that I will do it well! I am so excited at the opportunity to work with you and I look forward to connecting with you!