This has not been an easy journey but my 35 years of knowledge and experience as a professional chef, teacher, wife and mother has prepared me for my next mission in life. I wanted to create this company not only to help others heal but also to continue to heal myself. My love and passion for cooking combined with the responsibility as a chef to serve wholesome nutrient dense food has brought me down this path.
I am inspired to work with people like myself, so I am inviting you, to join me in developing a happier, healthier relationship with food. I am making the commitment to change, you like myself deserve to be nurtured, that is the key, and it isn't in a pill or a special diet someone is passing off. It is saying enough and moving on, coming to terms with food. Others can sometimes look and say "How can such and such a person let himself (or herself) go so far?" But how can anyone judge you until they walk in your shoes or experience your feelings or deal with your issues with food.
I remember as a child sitting for hours in the dark because I would not eat the lima beans, I remember putting them under the rim of my bowl and when my sister removed it from the table there was a perfect circle of lima beans. Though it was the perfect circle, it was an imperfect relationship with that gritty mealy texture I hated, and the resentment I felt that I was being forced to do something my body did not want to consume. And so the journey began... with my love hate relationship with food. This is where I needed to start, I needed to go back to confront and slay the dragon.
I became a chef, thinking on one level I had defeated it but I had not, but it is a mission in my healing to deal with this ever present issue.
Coming from a family of ten, dinner time was a battlefield, those memories needed to be confronted and dealt with and from that experience I transformed my thinking. I made the commitment to change that relationship with my own family I learned the importance of gathering for a communal meal and healing that wound. Now my child has grown and I live alone and need to develop the ritual of dining as one and creating a nurturing experience for myself. I have found this to be true for others, from conversations with my students in my classes with Cooking For Transformation, life is a constant evolution it takes willingness and vigilance to progress. We can do this, but other things get in the way.
Many diets do not offer the flavors or the integrity of our grandmother's dishes and we view their meaningless combinations to restriction and deprivation. One misses the dishes that meant something, the wholesomeness and flavor woven with the memories and soul nourishing dishes of our ancestors. This has taken away our familiarity of the nourishing of our mind, body, and spirit. By working with the dishes you love and combining my knowledge of the science of food, I can help you bring back your perception of wholeness.
Person's perception of Diet:
I can't! I can't!! I can't!!!
So..........later..........I do...........
The feeling, the deprivation, the guilt it is a vicious circle. Oh! That fat free or no carbohydrate diet... we lose satiety, we feel deprived. Learning to use the bare minimum amount of fat and complex carbohydrates, one can achieve excellent results. Each and every ingredient we consume breaks down and supplies specific functions in our body's ability to breakdown and absorb nutrients, this in turn gives the food we enjoy the ability to help us thrive. With help you can be presented with a plan to bring back the familiar connection, to achieve the nourishment and peace of mind you deserve.
With a strong culinary background combined with a significant degree of food science knowledge, I have found it has benefited my cooking and my cooking philosophy. My knowledge and your willingness to change can spur an integration with the partnership of a holistic nutritionist, doctor, nutritionist, or dietitian to assist you in fighting the battle you are having with food. Foods we consume today need to feed our bodies for energy and stamina but our food also has to be built into the enjoyment of life. We need to use the integrity of the ingredients with a solid focus on flavor and nutrient density to find the key to satiety and wellness.
I work with people with diabetes, heart disease, food allergies such as celiac disease, cancer, and many more health issues. I will also work in conjunction with your own dietitian to create a wellness in your eating life. We need to eat to live, there is no way around this but why can't we enjoy our life even though there are restrictions around what we eat?
By incorporating healthy grains, whole grains, teff, amaranth, quinoa and various kinds of rice, it fills the need to create interesting combinations of foods to draw you into the challenge to try new dishes with interesting, textures and flavors.
Eating healthy is not just for wealthy people. Good foods are available to all of us. It just takes commitment and responsibility to ourselves and the ones we love to make the change...
My work includes programs for
I also teach team building classes with companies who are willing to try a different setting to build camaraderie. Employees attain an understanding of their co-workers and learn something new, while making a healthy change in their relationship with food.
I’d love to talk to you about how I can help you. I invite you to contact me by phone 845-656-7699 or email me at lizeffieb@aol.com
Best regards,
