High Vibe Cookery Class: transitioning to a plant-based diet

Dear Ann,

congratulation first of all, for your great endeavour at establishing yourself as a cooking coach. This is really needed for so many people right now. I am on the verge of becoming fully vegan for some years now, yet still slipping back to cheese from time to time. Reading your story motivates me again to look closer within myself and seeing how I feel about eating animal products. And the expansion of my consciousness is quite a motivator too.

I was wondering if you are envisioning more conscious online cooking classes or whether there is a new direction you are exploring? Do you see a way to share that with the Openhand community?

What would then be your business offering as per the Spiritual Ecosystem Growth Model from the Facilitator School?

Much love and appreciation,
Thomas 🙏🏼

This was the 2nd Zoom class Ann did today and it was spectacular!

We learned how to make Vegan Cheese Sauce, fermented cabbage (kraut) and Fire Cider (cold and flu remedy)

She shows photos, the recipes, and gives alternatives or add-ins.  There's never a dull moment because she makes it so interesting, and I'm always fasting in the mornings so it makes me just ravenously hungry to see all that good stuff she's made!

I write down the recipes but she sends out an email with the recipes and photos in a link or format that's easy for my computer to open and see.

I really encourage y'all to try one of her zoom cooking classes and I bet you'll be hooked on them.  They're by donation. 

Thank you Ann, I'm eternally grateful for you doing these classes and can't wait to see the one for Sourdough starter to make bread.  I love sourdough bread!

Sherri 

I went vegan as an experiment back in 2016.  I was interested in exploring the effect of being vegan on my consciousness.  I transitioned over time and don’t remember exactly how long it took to become fully vegan.  Meat, except for seafood, I gave up fairly easily.  The hardest things to give up were cheese and ice cream.  Even after I considered myself fully vegan, It did take extra time and plenty of self forgiveness to eliminate the occasional slip up with those items. Once I became solidly vegan I was still cooking non-vegan for others because they did not choose to participate in my experiment.

As with most of my spiritual growth, changes took place slowly over time.  I’d say for about the first year I didn’t notice much of anything.  Yet, being vegan felt right enough that I stayed with it.  Then I started noticing when I went to the grocery store I didn’t see packages of meat, I “saw” the animal.  This was completely unexpected.  It became harder to buy and cook meat for others.  I still used meat in the food I made for others but would buy it pre-cooked.  More time went by.  Then I started feeling the pain of the animal that had been killed.  Woah, I didn’t see that one coming and could no longer use even pre-cooked meat.  I still didn’t require anyone else to give up meat but they were on their own as far as buying and cooking it. 

After a while the next totally unexpected changes started happening.  I noticed that instead of being farmed or fished, it started feeling like living creatures had been murdered just so we could eat them.  And the smell of their flesh cooking made me feel sick to my stomach.  It became harder to look at photographs or watch someone preparing food involving (what to me now was) the thoughtless and unnecessary killing of a living creature.  It even started feeling wrong to use products taken from an animal even though they weren’t killed in the process such as eggs and milk.

I’ve now been vegan for over 6 years and never could have anticipated how much it would soften my energy and open up my feeling senses.   I’ve undertaken other practices as well but realize what a necessary component this has been for me.  Some say that there are certain nutrients we can only get from animals.  Maybe so. But for me, expanding my consciousness is so much more important.  And my experiment has shown me how much being vegan has been integral in that process.

 Although it long ago stopped being an experiment, I don’t expect or require those around me to be vegan.  But even when cooking for others I now prepare gluten free vegan food, I just don’t make a big deal about it ;)  I do make my own vegan meat and cheese rather than using the processed versions you can buy in the store.   For me, the key is focusing on the deliciousness factor.  Because no one cares how healthy it is if it doesn’t taste good.

At this point I don’t anticipate going back to my old way of eating yet there are times when I’ve knowingly strayed.  For example, I went to a gathering where there was cake.  The host knew I was gluten free vegan and specifically got a gluten free cake (non-vegan) so I could have some.  I have noticed many people don’t really know the difference between vegetarian and vegan. I could feel the genuine love and consideration behind the offering.  So there may come a time as my path continues to unfold when I’ll decline, but for now, it was very much in flow for me to accept it and to do so with appreciation in my heart.  Even if going vegan is not appealing to you, I encourage you to move towards a more plant based whole foods diet.  Start as an experiment just to see what you’ll notice.  

Thank you all so much for attending and helping to create such a vibrant energy container.  Your enthusiastic feedback fills my heart in a way words can't describe.  I hope you're having fun exploring your creative side in the kitchen and I look forward to our next gathering.

Ann's first class on Sunday was brilliant, she gave us so much information and inspired us all with her enthusiasm. I've been cooking vegan food for a couple of years and had got into a bit of a rut food-wise, now I feel inspired to be a bit more experimental. Ann clearly knows her stuff both food-wise and nutrition-wise and I leaned loads. I can't wait for the next class in two weeks!

Thank you Ann - your a star🙏

Pam💗

I posted about the synchronicity of getting into the cooking class and now want to say how really great it was.  Ann showed us the basic broth recipe but also offered various add-ins we could try.  This allows for making various broths and using some creativity with it, which really appeals to me.  Then she showed a rice and lentil dish we could make with the broth, and also how to make some crispy lentils by roasting them.  There were good photos of the steps she used to in making each recipe.

 She showed us a coffee alternative.  I've never been a fan of coffee but was intrigued with the dandelion and chicory drink and ingredients that could also be added in.  I may actually try this at some point.

The way she presented the class appealed to all 7of us who were there today.  I think it was an enjoyable experience and look forward to seeing what other foods she presents in future classes.  If you're curious and want to make some vegan recipes, join in and experience it for yourself.  She even had some information about detoxing.  It was a well-rounded presentation.

Sherri

Ann,

Thank you so much for the instructive class. I loved that you began with basics and that they were easy to make. The broth will be great, as you said, alone or to prepare other dishes with. There is a Japanese farmer at our farmer's market, and she has so many different greens that I have never seen before. I'm just going to purchase them all and put them in the broth or with rice . I like to see a lot of variety in what we can do with vegetables. I would also love to know how to put some density into the meals without raising insulin too much.

Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to future classes.

Helene

I knew I'd seen something about Ann and a Bone broth class but then couldn't find it, so I asked Openhand and got the connection to Ann by email replies from Open and Tilly .

Ann's going to provide a link for us to comment on today's class, which was excellent, but I wanted to say that it all came together in a magical way.  I'd just found out about bone broth, looked into it and it's not vegan and I've not eaten meat or used meat broth in over 2 decades.  The purpose of the bone broth is to keep your bones strong. So I was thrilled how the synchronicity lined it all up for me to get a super healthy recipe to make my own broth.  That store-bought organic veggie broth is highly salted and not that good!

It was almost last minute but I was able to get the info. from Ann and get into the zoom class today, Chrome has issues with their updated zoom connection but my old unsupported zoom still works, thankfully!  It always amazes me how I'll learn about something then synchronicity brings that class at the perfect time.  

Thank you to everyone who had a hand in making that class happen.  

Sherri

This Sunday we'll be making a nutrient dense vegan "bone broth".  It's great on it's own and we'll be using it to make a simple yet delicious meal that can be made for one or a family.  We'll use the same broth to make a tasty snack.  And we'll make an alternative to coffee with variations because sometimes you want a fancy latte or superfood elixer and other times just a straight up coffee, black.  We will also cover a few tips on where to start with detoxing.  There's something for everyone whether you are transitioning to a whole food plant based diet or you've been cooking vegan for a while.   

Have you signed up for Sunday's cooking class , 7pm UK/2pm Eastern time.

Email me for the zoom link annbeck62@gmail.com

Here's a sneak peak at a few things we're cooking up.

We will hit the ground running this Sunday by making a nutrient dense vegan broth.  It's my version of a bone broth.  Then we will use this broth to make a rice dish and a healthy snack.  Both are super simple to make and loaded with nutrition.  I will also show you an alternative to coffee for those times when you crave the coffee experience but not the caffeine.  And, no guilt needed because this beverage is full of health benefits.

Are you intrigued?  Come join the fun this Sunday the 29th at 7pm UK time/ 2pm Eastern. 

Email me at annbeck62@gmail.com and I'll send you the link to attend.  Class is by donation.

Much love,

Ann