I’ve always loved to cook. You can ask my mother. When I was a mere tyke, mom would tiptoe quietly around the kitchen. She knew full well that if I heard so much as an egg break against the side of a mixing bowl, I would come tumbling down the stairs and into the kitchen, push a chair haphazardly up to the counter, and attempt to help. Unfortunately, mom also knew that this “zealous fervor” meant that only half of the cake batter would be left in the bowl by the time I was done with it. The rest would be spattered on the ceiling and cupboards, oozing off the counter and dripping through the stove burners.
Thankfully, mom never discouraged me from “helping,” but rather encouraged my passion. She also had me on “dish-duty” by the age of 4, hoping that if I learned to clean the things I dirtied , I would become a more careful, intentional cook. Of course, dish duty was a whole wonderland itself. I would line up all the dishes on the counter, fill them with a ridiculous amount of soap suds, and pretend to run an ice cream parlor. Mom would find me an hour later, soaking wet and covered in bubbles.
At the age of 9, cooking came with a newly added responsibility. My dad became ill, and was hospitalized and homebound for the good part of a year. During this time, mom took a second night job while my brother and I helped care for dad and I cooked the meals. In my free time, I would watch PBS cooking shows, filling yellow legal pads with notes on how to broil fish with Julia Child, make gnocchi with the ladies on The Italian Kitchen, or soups from The Frugal Gourmet. (When I was older, I especially loved Father Dominic and his fantastic bread-making techniques!)
Times were rough, but I learned to be creative with what we received from the food bank and stamps. The “necessity is the mother of all inventions” maxim proved to be very true. If we had Jello pudding on hand, I would melt down some berry preserves into a sauce and layer it in champagne flutes with the pudding, some bananas slices, and mandarin oranges, or whatever was in the pantry. I learned how to julienne vegetables, and salads took on a sculptural quality. I learned to appreciate how much better food tasted the more artful it looked and the more aromatic it smelled. The Junior League Cookbook was my companion. I’m pretty sure mom thought I was destined to be a chef. But at the time, I wanted to be a geologist.
Fast forward a couple of decades.. Alas, I am not a chef, nor a geologist. I work for a nonprofit by day, and experiment culinarily (new word) by night. But all this time spent on my evening hobby has added a few inches to the waistline! In a last-ditch effort to bring back a healthier me, I am now on a new quest of health-conscious cooking, learning more and more daily about how food impacts our body (and how the production of it can impact our health). The recipes you’ll see on this site are inspired by Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat To Live nutritarian lifestyle plan, which focuses on eating foods that have the highest nutritional benefits and protect us from cancer and disease– mostly fruits, veggies, beans, seeds and nuts. Many of these recipes will be dairy-free, gluten-free, meat-free, and free from processed flours, sugars, and little-to-no added fat. And they will be LOADED with tasty, good-for-you nutrients.
So far, I’ve lost nearly 10 pounds in 3 weeks by adopting these new eating habits, and that has given me the motivation to continue with “zealous fervor,” while continuing to create delicious dishes from life-giving foods.
My hope is that this site will inspire you to create meals that are life-giving for you and your family. So read on, cook well, live fully, and open your table to others.
Bon appetit!
Genesis 1:29 “And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.”
p.s. > Here’s a “grownup” photo of me and mom on another cake-baking escapade about 5 years back.
Tags: baking, bible, chef, cooking, eat to live, fat free, food, genesis, gluten-free, health, healthy, holistic, nutrition, recipe, sugar free, the maker's diet, vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free
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