Cooking School

Download Winter/Spring 2012 Class Catalog and information.

THE HEALTHY LIVING KITCHEN….your resource for healthy, whole foods eating

In the Healthy Living Kitchen, we teach you how to transform your eating experience into nutritious, nurturing, health building meals.  This is not your ordinary cooking class.  Not only do we learn how to cook fabulous, wholesome recipes that taste great for the whole family and are easy to prepare, but we also learn about something called Primary & Secondary Foods. Our health issues are directly related to what we are feeding our body.   Secondary Foods are the foods we eat that nourish our body with vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbs. and fats.  Primary Foods are the other things that feed us like, exercise, relationships, our daily work life and our spiritual life.  How these foods work together can determine the quality of our lives and control the dis-ease we encounter.  This is whole foods cooking that will change the way you live, and the way you think.  What you eat changes everything!

THE BASICS- Cooking Series

The key to living well begins with THE BASICS. There are five classes which cover how to cook with grains, greens, beans, root vegetables, and fats.   Start here on your road to healthy living.  Offered throughout the year, the recipes vary with the seasons.  We use produce from our organic garden and local Farmer’s Markets.  What could be more wholesome!

WONDERFUL GRAINS

Whole grains are a great source of nutritional support.  They are one of the best sources of dietary fiber, an excellent source of the B-vitamin complex necessary for healthy nerves, and they help balance your body & your life.  When whole grains are complemented with a good variety of other unrefined plant foods, all the elements of good nutrition necessary for human development are available.  Focus is on;  Grains for mental focus, chewing for proper digestion, balancing constitutional types,  foods that affects stress levels, great recipe ideas for economical, tasty grain meals.

BEANS & BALANCE

Beans: an excellent way to add high-quality plant based protein to your diet.  High in iron, B-vitamins & fiber,  and versatile enough that you never tire of the many ways to use them.  Focus on;  Protein in your diet, Magnesium deficiencies and the calcium connection,  balance in your life,  anti-inflammatory properties,  great recipes for soups, stews, salads, dips and burgers.

ROOT VEGETABLES AND SUGAR CRAVINGS

How do you control sugar cravings with root vegetables?  How do you control weight by adding food to your diet?  These sweet , grounding foods are amazing.  Focus on;  reducing cravings, mood food, natural sweeteners, grilling & roasting ideas.

GLORIOUS GREENS

Leafy greens are associated with spring:  a time of renewal, and refreshing, vital energy.  Green foods are the food most missing in our modern diets.  They help to strengthen blood and respiratory systems, fight cancer, improve the liver, strengthen the immune system and clear congestion.  Focus on;  easy ways to add greens to your diet,  condiments to add life and variety to dishes,  Seasonal recipes,  intuitive cooking,  the energy/exercise connection,  digestion, liver and cleansing the body.

FATS THAT HEAL

Good fats & bad fats, trans-fats & hydrogenated fats, saturated fats & unsaturated fats.  When did eating fat get so confusing?  Eating unrefined oil can damage your health but how do you know the difference?  Focus on;  Breaking down the fat puzzle, making delicious treats without all that sugar,  alternative sweeteners that don’t spike your blood sugar.

FUN CLASSES TO ENHANCE YOUR LIFE AND YOUR HEALTH

GARDEN TO TABLE SERIES

Come and join us in the garden as the season opens and our beautiful vegetables begin to burst through the soil to bring us the healthy goodness of flavor and nutrients.  What a great combination!!  We begin the evening with a refreshing seasonal beverage, stroll to the garden to see just what is growing.  Meander through and pick the vegetables that are ready to grow as you learn a little about how they are grown.  The sights and smells of the garden make us very hungry so we head back to the kitchen to begin our cooking experience.  Each class is different based on what we can pick.  Spring starts us off with bitter leafy greens and the fall harvest ends with sweet squashes and root vegetables.  In between is all that summer goodness.  We always end our garden meal with a luscious seasonal dessert.  This year we will have market tours as well.  Check the website for dates.

FARMER’S MARKET SERIES

This series is to celebrate all the wonderful farmers who grow the delicious food that helps to sustain us.   We begin our class right at the local Farmer’s Market and mingle and talk to the vendors as we purchase our ingredients for the upcoming class.  You’ll have a chance to do some shopping and tasting before we head back to Apple Tree Farm and settle into our cooking class.  You’ll be served a refreshing seasonal beverage to cool down.  Then, we will chop and stir, and cook and taste as we create a wonderful meal together with recipes that are seasonal and that taste delicious.  You will then be served your delicious meal out on the veranda, under the wisteria and  overlooking the beautiful fields of Central Pennsylvania.  What better way to celebrate wholesome, healthy, whole foods.

SEAWEED: THE WONDER FOOD

This amazing food has been used for years to prolong life and prevent disease.  A great blood purifier, lowers cholesterol, great for weight loss and liver stagnancy and that’s only the beginning.  Focus on;  what they are,  how to cook,  tasting,  easy recipes.

SALADS & DRESSINGS FOR HEALING MIND, BODY & SOUL

What easier way to eat a meal than with a salad!  Get out of the traditional salad rut and look at delicious combinations of grains, greens, beans and fruit.  Healthful dressings, rich in “good” oils finish off our salad eating experience.  Focus on;  how to combine healthy foods for a salad, adding Omega-3 fatty acids to your diet to help with weight loss and brain function,  super salads for specific health issues,  salad dressings to spice up your life.

NUTRITIOUS  AND EASY SOUPS & STEWS

Are you tired of fast food and pre-packaged foods?  No time to cook?  Soups and stews are the easiest way to pack lots of nutrients into one pot.  Many of us have very busy schedules, but that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice feeding nutritious whole foods to ourselves and our families.  Focus on;  Cooking with nutrient dense  whole foods,  meal planning made easy, cook once and eat twice – time saving techniques,  anti-viral foods and building your immune system,  easy seasonal recipes.

CHOCOLATE SCHOOL FOR THE HEALTH CONSCIOUS

This is a wellness class for chocolate lovers.  Did you know that cacao beans are very high in magnesium and that the average diet is highly lacking in this mineral?  In this class we talk about all the reasons why we should keep this amazing food in our diet and, learn the difference between real chocolate and candy chocolate.  Between the chocolate tasting and the amazing recipes that we make together, you will be going home on a chocolate high.

FOOD THERAPY CLASSES

Adding food to your diet that regenerates the internal organs and allows the body to return to a balanced state is an important step toward healing disease and inflammation.  These classes address specifics for each disease and teach you the what and how of doing it.   So many health issues can be aided and even alleviated by addressing the diet.  At the very least, cleaning up the diet  will help to identify where the real problems lie.

Diet for Strong Bone Health (anti arthritis)

The Gluten-Free 4-Season Diet for gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease

Cooking for Cancer - menus to support cancer recovery

Cooking for Heart Health – High Cholesterol,  High Blood Pressure,

Cooking for Digestive Disorders – IBS, GERD, CANDIDA

Overcoming Sugar Addiction

SPRING  & FALL METABOLISM RE-SETTING WORKSHOP

Seasonal changes are the perfect time for renewal and rejuvenation.  A gentle shift in diet helps to stimulate your mind and body and get rid of  excess weight, congestion, and clutter.  As we detox and clean our bodies of toxins we also look at doing some de-cluttering of spaces and mind-sets.  Learn how to re-set your metabolism on a seasonal basis.  It is a great method for testing for food allergies, and experimenting with how dairy and gluten affect our bodies.

Private Group Bookings are also available for all classes.