This past Saturday I did something I have always wanted to do, yet always stopped from myself from attempting ….
Veggies and Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus
I hosted a Plant-Based 101 workshop out of my kitchen. For a while now I have had people tell me that I should do this. A few times I attempted to try and pull something together but for some reason or another, it just never happened.
One of the biggest road blocks I guess is that I am not a huge fan of having to talk in front of other people, even if it is something I am passionate about. The other reasons were time, lack of interest or more or less, just never the gusto to get.it.done.
A few months ago I decided that I had to make this happen. I told Stonegate who was immediately supportive and encouraged me 100% to just do it.
Over the past year or so, I have helped Vans’s Debbie the Great Aunt and Uncle transition into an almost meatless diet with great success. My boss at work has been mostly meat free for almost a month now and recently has taken up running after a 30 year hiatus! Stonegate herself transitioned about a year ago and has had stellar running results that she attributes to her plant-based diet. I like to think that in a small way, I helped encouraged their improvement (they did all the hard work though).
So sucking up my fear and seeing if there was an interest for people to learn more about a plant-based diet was something I had to find out for myself.
Low and behold, there was!
So I posted something on Facebook asking who would be interested in attending a class. The initial reaction was pretty dismal to be honest. I almost gave up then and there but I stuck with it. A few emails later and I had a date on the calendar and about 9 or 10 people who were planning to show up at my house! EEEK! Game on!
In my head I had already drawn out a rough run down of what I wanted to cover. It involved (gulp) a lot of talking.
And showing off my messy cabinets, I mean spices
So many times I hear that people cannot eat this way because it is too hard to maintain. So I basically tried to teach everyone how someone who is as busy as I am with my full-time job, long commute, two kids, ultra-running hobby and overall life-gets-in-the-way-in-a moment’s- notice lifestyle tackles, conquers and lives a plant-based diet.
First I talked about my background, my certifications and my reason for doing this. Then, I introduced the logical side of things like our body and its inability to digest meat. I brought up science and the fact that meat has been proven to cause Cancer, Heart Disease and Type 2 Diabetes.
Tools
Next I showed them tips and tricks to make meals happen and to not leave anything to the last minute. And if they do, it’s okay. I showed them a way around those hurdles. That old saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” could not ring truer in the plant-based meal prep world.
Demos
In the end, I showed them one of the easiest plant-based meals to prepare that would surprise their taste buds (and I think it did!).
Cooking plant-based doesn’t have to involve 100 steps. I don’t have time for that. I want 30 minutes or less, as few dirty pots and pans as possible and a 100% nutritious whole food meal on the table for my family.
Dinner is served!
The whole thing lasted just over two hours. I had people ask questions before, during and after. I welcomed the questions especially during the demo because it put me at ease and got my mind off of my set timeline and agenda.
Everyone seemed interested and it seemed like they appreciated the info I had to share. For some, it was not entirely new information as they may already be eating this way so I hoped that some of the cooking tricks I showed them or talked about made the night worth it in their eyes. Others, I think were just curious and are not entirely sure how to even get started. For them, I hoped I gave them motivation.
I told them, much like the Standard American Diet, you’ll repeat some meals and find the ones you like and that’s OK … eventually you will get brave and you will branch out and try new things but if the difference is between the same meal and good health versus starting a downward spiral of bad food and illness, go with the repeat meals every time! Your body will thank you. Grab your version today and look through the online pharmacy. best price tadalafil Not many people are aware find now purchase levitra of it and realize only when it’s too late. Or, it can be said that intercourse is incomplete generico levitra on line greyandgrey.com without an erection. Look for exercises that build your endurance, strength discount viagra and muscles.
Since hosting this, I have heard from a few people on Facebook and on Instagram that they too would love to attend my next one. I have people at work who have said the same. I guess the interest is there after all. Maybe people needed it to happen and materialize as much as I did to get the ball rolling.
I will be forever grateful to my test participants. They were super kind in letting me do this for them and for myself.
My attempted craftiness – Thank You gifts
I want to say thank you to Vans for all his support, patience and criticisms 🙂 . Thank you to Stonegate and Burning Girl for all their motivation and encouragement – most of the photos in this post are from Burning Girl by the way. Thanks to TiggerT who gave me many pep talks on our runs together over the years and thank you to those who are actually still reading this! 🙂
For you, I leave you with a recipe actually created by me – which is rare. I am great at adapting recipes but not so much at creating them from scratch. 🙂
Enjoy & Happy Trails!
~ Trailmomma
Kitchen Sink Soup with Rosemary & Thyme Biscuits
Kitchen Sink Soup
This soup is a great way to use up all the “almost done / never going to survive the week” vegetables in your fridge.
I sautéed (in homemade veggie broth) onions, celery, carrots, bell pepper, garlic and a jalapeño (yup didn’t want to waste it). I added 2 Bay Leaves, Italian Seasonings and a pinch of Cumin while sautéing.
Then I added a frozen precooked bag of homemade chickpeas (about 2 cups) and all the homemade veggie broth I had on hand until it looked soupy enough.
I tested the veggies and beans to make sure they were cooked or on their way and then added some left over pre-cooked rice that I had in the fridge, some Braggs liquid aminos and some nutritional yeast followed by heaping handfuls of spinach (NOTE I would advise removing bay leaves BEFORE adding spinach otherwise you will be searching for them 🙂 trust me).
That’s it.
The Rosemary and Thyme Oat Biscuits
Pre-heat oven to 450
Take 1 cup of #glutenfree oat flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Some dried Rosemary, Thyme and Nutritional Yeast – whisk together.
Then add:
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup almond milk
Mix together until a dough ball forms
Drop by spoonfuls onto a pan covered in parchment paper (I was able to get about 6 biscuits) and bake for 10-13 minutes. Voila.
I have been waiting for some time to sit down and write this post. I left you all hanging with my last post and I apologize about that. I also apologize for the length of this one. 🙂
So about a week ago today, I flew back east to attend Engine 2 Diet’s Plant-Stock in upstate New York. My dream come true if you will. Plant-Stock is basically a conference of sorts, for those interested in living, learning and loving a plant-based (including no-oil) lifestyle. That is me 100%.
As some of you may know, I have been plant-based for over 20 years. Early on I avoided oils and the like as I knew in my heart they were not good for you. Over the course of time, I added them back in because of all the coconut oil/hemp oil/namewhateveroil hype going in the news and on the blogosphere.
It took my dad having a heart attack, followed by another blockage and consequently 3 stents for me to really get serious. My mother suddenly passed away when she was 47 of a massive heart attack. My dad was in his 60s when he had his. I have zero grand-parents left. My future was not looking very bright if continued living the same life-style as every other American on the planet (despite my activity level).
Anyway, back to Plant-Stock. I decided that I was going. I had to go. Vans agreed knowing how much this movement and way of life means to me.
During the course of my planning, Engine 2 and Dr. Esselstyn’s group reached out to me and asked me if I would be interested volunteering at their merchandise booth. Would I?! Of course I was stoked.
So, I flew out Thursday evening after work on a red-eye. I flew to Newark, NJ by way of Boston where my dad picked me up. I rented a car, spent a few hours with Jersey Dad and then drove the 2.5 hours to upstate New York.
My awesome rental – haha
I booked myself a room at the St. Charles Hotel in Hudson New York. If you recall from my last post, Plant-Stock was being held at the Esselstyn Family Farm in Claverack New York. There isn’t much around Claverack and most of the hotels were 30 minutes away.
I found Hudson and then found The St. Charles. The rates were “ok” the reviews were not but hey, I figured that I was only sleeping there for two nights and I was by myself, I could handle it.
Hudson NY
The town was quaint albeit a bit on the older side. The hotel seemed to sit on the side of town that was borderline near the sketchier areas but nothing terrible.
Cute
I walked around town a little bit after arriving trying to find a place to eat. I finally ended up at BaBa Louie’s where I ordered a gluten free vegan pizza. When I walked in the door wearing my Engine 2 Kale shirt someone shouted “Engine 2!” and gave me a thumbs up. I knew then that I was in the right place. 🙂
Park across the street from my hotel
With my pizza in hand, I went back to my room to relax and eat. I was excited to get to sleep and have the next day begin! Plus the time change and flying had really tired me out.
Kinda like the Shining no?
Saturday morning bright and early I woke up and left to find Plant-Stock and the Esselstyn Family Farm. When I spoke to the volunteer co-ordinator the previous week, she told me to arrive about 30 minutes early so that I could also help work the registration table.
Love the signage!
I pulled onto the property and was immediately in awe of its beauty. The place was gorgeous. Coming from draught stricken California, the east coast is just so green and lush!
But this farm, this farm was beyond words.
I made my way to the registration table and was introduced to a few really nice volunteers.
Working the registration booth was great because I was able to meet almost everyone that was arriving and get them squared away.
While I was working the booth I saw Dr. Esselstyn driving around on his Kawasaki cart picking up attendees who were struggling to walk or who didn’t want to get their feet wet (the grass was very wet)! It was SO cool and super cute. He would zip back and forth just picking up people and loading up the cart.
How amazing is that?! I mean he is a “celebrity” in the realm of plant-based living and for anyone who has had to suffer with heart disease … and here he is giving you a ride. Class act.
I also was introduced to Rip Esselstyn (author, fire-fighter and pro-triathlete) briefly while working the registration booth.
The only down side of working the booth was that I missed breakfast and I also missed out on getting a super close seat for all the lectures. Still, it was no big deal because it would pay off in many other ways later.
Plant-Stock consisted of full two days, Saturday and Sunday with a dinner on Saturday evening (that cost extra).
Esselstyn Family Home
The first talk of the day was by Rip Esselstyn. He talked about Strong Food vs Weak Food. He then would introduce T. Colin Campbell who talked about Rethinking the Science of Nutrition.
In between all the talks they would have a break and I would go to the merchandise tent to work. After Dr. Campbell’s talk, they had him come to the booth to sign books.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell
I have to say, this was an unexpected bonus for me. Working the booth meant that I was able to be near all the speakers and listen to to their discussions and how they answer the questions asked by all the patrons getting their books autographed. It was GREAT!
After Dr. Campbell it was time for Part 1 of Dr. Esselstyn’s talk on Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease.
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His talk was great, as was Dr. Campbell’s. Even though I was supposed to work the merchandise booth on the next break, I made sure to grab my book and race to get in line because I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have Dr. Esselstyn sign my book.
Poor guy wore a suit and tie for his talk and it was sweltering outside so when it came time to autograph books and take photos, he was all sweaty. But he was still so present and interested in everyone that came up to him.
Watching Dr. Esselstyn sign books was truly a treat because he really engaged every single person that came up to him. Not only did he answer their questions, he ASKED questions. He truly listened, eyes focused, soaking it all in. This man is truly a gem in this world. He honestly cares 100% about those he affects and the lives of others. It blew me away. I knew he was a great guy from the stories I have heard, but to witness this, just made my heart melt in appreciation.
After Dr. Esselstyn’s talk it was time for Doug Lisle’s The Pleasure Trap. I have read The Pleasure Trap but I have never heard Dr. Lisle talk. He is one heck of a presenter. He is funny, engaging and he really can drive home a point and make you think! His second talk on Sunday truly was my favorite, it was called Getting Along Without Going Along.
Doug Lisle
Following Dr. Lisle was Neal Barnard, another person who I follow on social media but whose books I have not read nor have I heard him speak. He gave an amazing talk about Power Food for the Brain and also signed books. Now I would like to read one of his many books.
After Dr. Barnard was Dr. Tom Campbell, one of T. Colin Campbell’s sons and co-author of The China Study book. His talk was about The Simple Way to Lose Weight and Reduce Illness. Dr. Tom Campbell is a new father to an adorable little girl and a beautiful wife, both were present at the event.
T. Colin Campbell smiles at his granddaughter
After Dr. Tom Campbell came Dr. Ron Weiss, MD – a physician in New Jersey and the first physician ever to work with organic farmers and open his medical practice ON a farm prescribing vegetables instead of pharmaceuticals.
Following Dr. Weiss came the surprise of the evening (for me), Howard Lyman. I have never heard him talk nor did I know much about him. He has authored a book called, The Mad Cowboy and his talk was called The Cattle Rancher Who Gave Up Eating the Ranch. His story was amazing and his talk SO motivating. He truly was the perfect way to end the evening because he is so passionate about what cattle ranching is doing to our environment. He is also hilarious in his delivery.
Dinner was next. To have dinner at this event it cost extra but it is 100% worth it because there are no “VIP tables” or sectioned off areas where all the speakers would typically eat. Nope, they ate dinner right along side you.
Dr. Esselstyn sitting with everyoneThe dinner tent
During dinner it started to rain, hard. It also thundered and we had lightning. It was pretty intense for a while but no one got up and left. We all just sat and ate and talked.
Raining hard
Dinner was lasagna with a side of steamed kale, a salad and bruschetta all plant-based and gluten free if required.
My lasagna and kale
I sat with some very nice people all of whom had different reasons for being there this weekend.
After dinner we watched The Plant-Pure Nation under the big tent (it had stopped raining). Here is where I was so happy that I picked The St. Charles Hotel … because we didn’t leave until almost 9 pm that night.
Sunday morning I was dead set on getting there bright and early so that I could get a spot super close to the stage. However I did re-think this because of the previous day’s events.
Even though first I was bummed I had to sit in the way back on Saturday, it had its bonuses! Like when I turned to my left at one point during Neal Barnard’s talk and realized I was sitting right next to T. Colin Campbell and family as well as Dr. Esselstyn! What!?
Dr. Esselstyn taking a cat nap
Yes he had dozed off. It was hot. He’d probably been up and running around for hours and had given a great talk AND conversed with every single person who came up to him.
But here is what I love most ….
HOKAS!
Dr. Esselstyn wears HOKAS! 🙂 As a trail runner, I just love this. They are a pretty cushiony shoe so I don’t blame him one bit. This man works HARD and may I remind you, he is over 80!
Dr. Esselstyn talking to people after his lecture
No matter where he was, he would give everyone the time that he had to answer questions, hear stories and give his pieces of advice.
Sunday was filled with breakfast and more talks. We heard lectures by Dr. Esselstyn again (part 2 of his Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease).
Dr. E’s wife Ann Esselstyn also gave a talk on What to Eat, Where to Buy It and How to Cook It. I need to stop and talk about Ann Esselstyn for a minute here.
Ann Crile Esselstyn
Okay, Ann just turned 80 years old. Not only did I see her running around, she also helped set up all the place setting and center pieces at the dinner tables!
Ann just pushing the wheel barrel all around the property
Ann also runs for an hour around the farm property and does yoga. She is in amazing shape and has the energy of my 7 year old! Seriously. She is incredible and she runs on veggies, not caffeine!
After Ann was Dr. Robert Ostfeld who talked about why he prescribes food as medicine. I have heard Dr. Ostfeld on Rich Roll before.
Dr. Ostfeld
His talk was very good as well. You can tell his life has been impacted by this lifestyle and how much he looks up to Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn.
After him was Dr. Lisle’s second talk (my favorite one mentioned above) and followed by him was a Plant-Strong Cooking Demonstration by Jane Esselstyn (Rip’s sister and Ann and Dr. Esselstyn’s daughter).
The cooking demo was all recipes from their cookbook which is one of my favorites. It was nice to see how they just throw stuff together. It was also really nice to see the interaction between Ann and Jane. They are actually neighbors back in Ohio and they said as they were writing their cook book they’d run across the path that connects their homes and share recipes. They truly are too cute.
I adore Jane because she is feisty. She’s a nurse and she also taught sex-ed to kids in schools for years. Her humor and energy is infectious.
Finally, they closed out the day with a Q&A session with all the speakers who were left. They Q&A lasted almost an HOUR!
The Q&A panel
It was really neat because a lot of people stood up and shared some of their stories and asked really good questions and the doctors all responded.
After the Q&A was Rip’s final speech on Hope. He also shared some information about an up and coming documentary that will rival the popularity and importance of Forks Over Knives. The audience was even given a sneak peak. It was really good and really exciting. I cannot wait for it to come out.
When they let us go, I had a wave of sadness sort of come over me. I missed my family but I didn’t want to leave. There is just something about this place that warms my heart. Besides being peaceful and gorgeous, just watching this family interact before all to see, was so touching. They are, special.
Rip and his family – his wife Jill, and kids Cole, Sofie and Hope – all plant-basedThe other grandkids. All plant-based and stellar athletes.
They just truly opened up their home to 250 random strangers. I mean really opened up their entire property to us, their time, their energy and their dreams and aspirations for what they would love to see in people’s health.
I gathered my things and went in search of Char Nolan, the woman who was the reason behind my volunteering and who is the voice behind a lot of the social media posts for both Engine 2 and Dr. Esselstyn.
Char Nolan
I found Char and gave her a quick hug. I missed saying goodbye to some of the other people I had met, some of whom were originally Instagram “friends” which is crazy if you think about it.
I made the long 2.5 hour drive back to New Jersey all by myself with a lot on my mind. I rehashed the weekend over in my head. Tried to remember the pieces that stood out most. Overall, it was a wonderful dream come true kind of weekend for me.
I wish that in some capacity, I could do what they are doing or support them in some way because I love to share the plant-based way of living. A lot of times I wish that maybe I had gone into medicine but I don’t think that is the answer. My passion is definitely health, plant-based health and if I could find a way, I would devote myself 100% to working towards making this my life’s work.
In the meantime, I am content to work on my family’s health. Vans is 90% of the way there (some days) and the girls, well the girls are my struggle. The Peanut knows what is healthy but she is more or less afraid. I keep trying to find ways to make them try things that may be foreign to them or may look weird … I am working on those smaller battles before I try and win the war.
Until then, I hope you stick with me. I will try to be a bit more regular with my posts. I need to start developing some topics to write about. I do have some races ahead so that will be nice.
I am gearing up to start some road running again, something I haven’t done in quite a while. It will be good for me because road running definitely is a mental game that will make you tougher all around.
If you have any questions about Plant-Stock feel free to comment. I know I wrote a lengthy post but it truly was two days of amazing.
My shining moment – Rip and I on Sunday morning before all the talks began
Ya, you could say I look a little bit excited in that photo! 🙂
Like I have said numerous times, Rouxbe’s program is pretty unique with their online approach and use of technology and even though I have been plant-based for over 20 years now, I am learning even more. Not only am I discovering tips on how to cook certain vegetables or grains, I am learning proper cutting techniques as well as storage and handling for certain foods to prevent spoilage and prolong the length of my produce, legumes and grains.
Currently I am only a quarter of the way through the program myself and my oldest (age 6), now declares that she likes brussel sprouts because of the method I learned through Rouxbe.
Also, if your name is not listed below as a winner and you are really interested in this course, Rouxbe has decided to knock 20% off their tuition prices for their October session! How cool is that!? Just use the code BACKTOSCHOOL upon registration (offer good until Sunday, September 7, 2014).
Congratulations Sarah! Please email me at trailmomma@trailmomma.com and I will tell you what you need to do to register and claim your amazingly awesome plant-based prize! You are now on your way to improving your plant-based knowledge and I really hope this helps you educate those 8th graders and show them how eating a plant-based diet doesn’t have to be a big deal. Please stay in touch and keep me posted on your progress throughout the course!
Thank you again to all who entered. I truly feel honored to be able to offer such an amazing experience and I cannot thank Joe Girard and the whole Rouxbe team for allowing me to do this give-away.
If any of you have any questions regarding my progress or experience with the program, please do not hesitate to contact me or just follow me here as I will continue to share my experiences with Rouxbe on my blog – just as long as you don’t mind some trail running posts thrown in every so often. 🙂 OR better yet, … follow me on Facebook! I am finally going to launch my Trailmomma page on Facebook because I know there is a large group of people in my inner circle who could care less about the amazing plant-based meals I had for dinner or the 20 mile trail adventure that I had on some random weekend. I will be posting my meals, Rouxbe experiences and trail running adventures on my Trailmomma Facebook page and leave the family random personal stuff for my regular one. The Trailmomma Facebook page should be live within a day or so.
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In the meantime, congrats to Sarah and I encourage all of you who entered to look into Rouxbe. If the time and money situation is not quite right at the moment, keep it in your back pocket for future reference. If you are truly stuck on how to succeed at a plant-based diet, this course could help you. Of course you are always welcome to email me with any questions you might have as well: trailmomma@trailmomma.com or use my Contact page above.
Okay, I kind of have to control myself here. When I started this little blog in 2009, it was mostly to chronicle my running adventures and to showcase my girls and how fast they are growing. Most of my readership in the early days (on my blogspot account) consisted of my ultra-training group as we trained together for our first 50K and 50 mile races. It quickly grew however as people from all over the nation followed our training and were commenting on my posts. That blog was a labor of love but sadly, when my running slowed down, so did the blog posts.
When I purchased the Trailmomma domain name, I wasn’t sure what to do with this blog. The name alone lends itself to being a “running” blog which it is and of course it still encompasses my family and our adventures, but I have always felt that something was “missing” from www.trailmomma.com. It wasn’t a true reflection of me. If a stranger were to ask my friends or family what three things define me as Trailmomma, I would think they would say 1. my girls & family, 2. running and 3. living a plant-based lifestyle.
Deep down, I have always wanted to HELP people with my blog and I guess in the early days I did by way of motivation to train for ultra races. Once that stopped though, my following dissipated.
My current readership is primarily my awesome family and some really close friends which is expected when all I write about are my running adventures with a dash of Peanut and Squeaker on the side. Sadly, I don’t garner the comments I used to when I was posting about a 20 mile trail run through a massive rain storm while battling some injury. I miss all the comments that I used to get. I like comments (hint hint). 🙂
You see, Joe wants to help ME… help YOU! I think he can tell how passionate I am about living a plant-based lifestyle while battling the realities of 2 kids, work and life. For those that follow me on Instagram, Twitter (@trailmomma) and Facebook (no official Trailmomma page, yet), you know that I sometimes post photos of meals that I have prepared with some comment about how “easy” it really is to enjoy wholesome plant-based food even with a hectic day-to-day lifestyle.
The girls helping me with one of my Rouxbe assignments.
Let’s get one thing straight, I do not want to be a food blogger. Don’t get me wrong, I love food bloggers (a lot) but that isn’t who I am. I am just your average Jane trying to help people realize that eating healthy is not that hard. I want people to think about what they are putting into their bodies and how they feel or perform after they eat it. One of my favorite quotes of all time is by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr., “Genetics loads the gun lifestyle pulls the trigger.” You have the ability to change your health, you just have to know where to start.
As I mentioned in my last post, Rouxbe is an online cooking school. While they offer many different courses, I am currently taking their Professional Plant-Based Certification course. It is 100% online and you have six months to complete the course working at your own pace (a mother’s dream). The next session will start in October and I won’t lie, the tuition is not cheap but I am here to help you with that.
For the very first time on trailmomma.com, I am offering a give-away!!! Joe and the people at Rouxbe have offered me the chance to give-away ONE free enrollment to one of my readers. FREE! Let me say it again, FREE!! Excuse me?! That is a $1,500 GIFT …. FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!
People, this is no joke and truly the chance of a life-time. Please do not pass up this opportunity to improve your health and the health of your family!
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I am going to give you FIVE opportunities to enter. The winner will be chosen via www.random.org but of course the more times you enter, the greater your chances of winning and jumping on the train to better health.
Here is what you need to do. Each of these will constitute one entry into the contest so be sure to comment for each one:
1. Facebook a link about this contest and leave me a comment on this post that you did (provide the FB link);
2. Instagram about this contest and leave me a comment on this post that you did and use the hashtag #plantbasedtrailmomma;
3. Tweet a link about this contest and leave me a comment on this post that you did (tag me in the post);
4. Comment on this post and tell me WHY you want to win this and what it will mean for you (*a bonus entry will be awarded to more thorough responses – so put some thought into it!);
5. Instagram (yes, another) a photo of your favorite plant-based meal and use the hashtag #plantbasedtrailmomma
That’s it! All you need to do is comment here five separate times with a with the above requests and you will be entered in the chance to win FREE tuition into Rouxbe’s next Professional Plant-Based Certification Course that is starting in October (valued at $1,500).
The contest will close Sunday, August 31st at mid-night (PST) and I will announce the winner on Tuesday, September 2nd.
So what are you waiting for?! Do you want to feel better, live better and have a healthy family? Have you always been curious about a plant-based diet but did not know where to start? Do you want to be better and more efficient in the kitchen? Then let the comments begin!
Happy Trails!
~Trailmomma
*The tuition entry prize is given by Rouxbe. I did not pay for any of it nor am I employed by Rouxbe in anyway.
*Open to anyone regardless of residence (that is the awesome part about it being online!).
*Contest ends mid-night (PST) on Sunday, August 31st The winner will be picked via www.random.org and announced on Tuesday, September 2nd.
So for the last few posts, I have alluded to the fact that life has been extra busy and that I had a “big announcement.” Maybe I exaggerated a little bit or put too much emphasis on the “announcement” part. The simple fact of the matter is, I am enrolled in a cooking school. An ONLINE cooking school.
Let’s go back in time shall we? It may make a little more sense if I do.
Quite a few months ago, I was surfing the internet reading about Holistic Nutritionists, Life Coaches, Personal Trainers … all the things that interest me. Unfortunately, I have thought long and hard about my goals and dreams as well as the more realistic side of life (kids, house, mortgage, retirement etc).
Vans has been fairly patient with me. I would go up and down contemplating “what SHOULD I be doing in life?” The job that pays the bills, while not a horrible job, isn’t my “dream” job and definitely not one that fulfills my inner happiness.
But what DID make me happy? That was a question I repeatedly asked myself over and over. I had people ask me that question and follow it up with “What are you good at doing?” Honestly, nothing. There is not one thing that I excel at whole heartedly that would earn me a living. Not without some kind of degree or professional education behind me. Although I guess one could say that I excel at multi-tasking and having a lot of things on my plate all at once. 🙂
Sure if you ask me about plant-based eating or fueling for races using a plant-based diet, I will (and have) talk your ear off with a million suggestions, ideas or plans.
When someone questions my dietary choices and asks me “where do you get your protein?” or “how can you run ultras on a  plant-based diet and still feel okay?” I go into hyper explanation mode. I do not get defensive about it, I want to explain it, share it and hope they are inspired.
When I see those around me suffering from ailments that could easily be cleared up by improving their diet, I secretly pray they ask me for help. But why would they? I am not a Nutritionist. I am not a Dietician. Â I have looked into going back to school to get those types of degrees but the cost and time alone is more than I can imagine right now, not to mention the experience that goes with having a job like that. I would be 80 years old before I had a few years under my belt not to mention the fact that I have two kids to put through college and two weddings to finance some day.
Quite a while ago, I took the eCornell Plant Based Nutrition course online. Most of what I learned in that three-month course was nothing entirely new to me. Sure it showed me the “science” behind what a plant-based diet can do and has done for many civilizations. It was interesting and I am glad that I took it as now I can say that I have a Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition from (e)Cornell. 🙂 Sounds so fancy.
Still, I wasn’t satisfied. I kept searching. Vans kept sighing and praying that I wouldn’t just up and quit my job all Jerry McQuire like … “Help me … Help you…” No, instead, I surfed the internet.
Randomly one day, I received an email in my inbox from an online cooking school that was offering a new course, a Plant Based Professional Cooking Certification Course. Wait, what?! So I did what most people do not do, I clicked on the email link.
It brought me to the Rouxbe Plant Based Professional Cooking Certification homepage. I surfed around on the page a bit and then did what most paralegals by day would do … I researched the living crap out of this company. Who are they? Who has taken their courses? What are they doing now? How long have they been around?
Some what happy with what I discovered, I signed up for a free trial. The free trial allowed me a day or two of access to some of the recipe videos and other teaching videos to give me a feel for how the course would be structured. I mean, come on, who can take a COOKING course…ONLINE?
After my free trial ended, I received an email from the school asking me what I thought about my free trial. Totally thinking that this was purely an automated email, I responded and basically asked them what is up with this course? It is crazy expensive and the syllabus seems very daunting. I basically said that I was a full-time working mother of two kids, with three jobs, a husband and lots of extra curricular activities … oh yea, and I have been plant-based for 20 years so IS this course worth my time and money?
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I received a reply … from the co-founder and CEO of the company! He not only answered all my questions he also said, “I don’t have kids, but I do know that many of our students DO have kids. So that all depends on how busy you are with Peanut and Squeaker (yep, stalked you :-). I would say this is a very good question and I really want Rouxbe to be able to empower busy moms and families on how to cook better. So I have a deal for you…”
Um, what? He stalked me? Sure enough, he read my blog and his “deal” was very Godfather like “an offer too good to refuse.”
Ultimately, he cut a significant amount off the tuition price for me on the agreement that I would track the time it takes to finish the course as well as document any challenges that I may face along the way. This would give them the feedback they need to modify the course in any way for more people like me.
Tuition reduction alone, this said to me that they truly care about educating mothers/fathers about how valuable a plant-based diet is and how important it is for our families to eat this way.
I agreed and the rest is history. I started my “schooling” on July 23rd and I have approximately 6 months to finish (sometime in January). Some people think I am completely nuts and I won’t lie, there are days when I am ready to pull my hair out thinking about all that I have to accomplish in a day, week, month. I may need to reconfigure some of my priorities, but for now, I am thoroughly enjoying the course.
The format is nothing short of amazing. The video quality for some of the lessons is outstanding and the manner and detail in which some things are taught, is very impressive. I am not that far into the program obviously, but so far it involves performing certain activities and taking specific photos of your work and uploading them for grading. There are tests and quizzes and practical diagrams. Very hands on.
Overall, I am quite impressed and eager to keep moving forward in the program. I do find myself stressing some days about whether or not I will be able to complete it. Some days I find myself studying while at work (you can view the program on your iPhone) during the lunch hour etc. Some days I can’t fit a single lesson in which means that on another day I will have to double up on lessons.
Ironically though, within the last few weeks I have had quite a few friends ask me about plant-based diets. Either they are just curious or they have had some sort of health scare and are looking for a change, I am happy to share my experiences with them. Hopefully, down the road, after this course, I will be able to share even more.
After all of this internal searching for what I am “supposed” to be doing in life, I realize that what does make me happy is sharing and showing people how living a plant-based diet doesn’t have to be hard. It truly doesn’t once you learn some basics and I would love to be able to take someone to a grocery store and show them the products they need to buy (or more importantly NOT buy) and then take them home and show them how to prepare an easy plant-based meal that will heal them from the inside out.
For now, I am content to continue on with my course while maintaining my every day job(s). I answer questions at work almost daily about following a plant-based diet or how to cure something holistically. Maybe I am supposed to be where I am in order to help those around me?
Either way, I am excited about this journey and I am sure Vans is excited to have a few more recipes thrown into our repertoire.
