Eating for Healing & Health

Sun, Nov 13, 2:30p – 5:30p

Galesville Memorial Hall

Register Now

$45 by Nov 1;
$50 by Nov 6; $55 after Nov 6

Join us for our 4th Eating Healthy seminar led by Bethanne & Kenny Kashkett. This great-tasting, foodie event focuses on the natural healing power of foods.

Hippocrates (460 – 370 B.C.), the great physician of ancient Greece often referred to as the ‘father of modern medicine’, once declared, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” Nearly 2500 years later, there is a growing movement rallying around this battle-cry.

Using whole foods, raw & cooked recipes, and heart-felt goodness, this all-vegetarian affair demonstrates the power of a healthy diet. Learn (and taste) which foods reverse heart-disease, diabetes, obesity, and more. And discover dietary habits that will keep you fit for life.

Try wonderful breakfast selections, soups, salads, entrees & of course desserts. The focus will be simplicity (easy-to-make), joy (tasty recipes), and community building (sharing with others). Discover practical ways to transform your kitchen and dining table into a dynamic force for keeping you healthy, day-in & day-out, for years and years to come. Many of the ideas and techniques shared echo the message of the film, Forks Over Knives.

This really is a great opportunity to re-create yourself and your loved ones from the inside out.

Note: (a) Do bring empty food containers; (b) do inform us of any special dietary needs; (c) sorry, no refunds 72hrs before this seminar.

Bethanne Kashkett is a vegetarian / vegan cook who specializes in creating simple, healthy dishes and raw foods. She does culinary demonstrations at MOM’s Organic Market (Jessup) and works part-time as a personal chef, teaches culinary courses, and caters small retreats and gatherings. She is also the founder of the Quaker project: “Cooking for Peace”, which raises money and awareness for social causes through cooking classes. Her husband Kenny too is an excellent vegetarian cook. Along his many great-tasting recipes, he is famous for his kindness and easy-going manner. Together they form a terrific team and lead fabulous seminars.

Yes, I would like to register now

Read about past Eating Healthy seminars:

Eating Healthy Seminar: Dec ‘10

Eating Healthy Seminar: June ‘10

Eating Healthy Seminar: Dec ‘09

Have you ever sworn yourself off of donuts, successfully driven by a donut shop, only to find yourself with a sticky, jelly donut in your hand 5 minutes later.

Here the term donut refers to any life habit you had consciously decided to avoid but couldn’t.

The Sanskrit word abhnivesha is the tendency to revert back to old habits & poor living patterns. As a human being you know this is not good, yet you pursue it anyway.

Actually this phenomenon of abhinivesha affects us all – to some or more degree. But there is a clear-cut way to race ahead of these bad habits, and be rid from them forever.

I was going to call this post, “Abhinivesha: Hard to Leave Old Habits” but thought why should I emphasize the difficulty when it is very attainable by all – if you know the secret.

The yogis are highly intrigued with the functioning and development of mind. Overcoming old living patterns is all about the transformation of mind. So this topic is an integral aspect of yoga.

Mostly people revert back to old habits like smoking, drinking, unhealthy snacking etc, because that is something they are familiar with and the environment they are in supports that poor practice.

For instance, let’s say you have the habit to stop at Dave’s Greasy Drive Thru every afternoon at 4pm. You know the food is not good and adversely affects your cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, and overall health. You do not want to go, yet you stop anyway. It becomes a cycle that you seem not to be able to break.

The solution lies here: channelization & preparation. From the moment one decides that going to Dave’s Greasy Drive Thru is not good, one must make proper plans to support a better life habit. That means packing a healthy lunch that day and having plenty of available good snacks (dried fruit and nuts; fresh fruit; carrots, celery and bean dip; or any other unprocessed food) with you – within arm’s reach – at 4pm. And think that, “The moment I get hungry then this is what I will eat.” That mental idea can be supported by taking a different route that does not go past Dave’s.

At first this may seem difficult; but in truth it is quite easy. The human mind is incredibly flexible and dynamic. It will naturally adjust to your new habit. It just needs preparation and a tad bit of determination. Then you will certainly get success.

Remember: The time to quit going to Dave’s Greasy Drive Thru is not at 3:59pm when you have no food with you. That’s like being on a sinking ship.

Rather one must be armed and ready – psychically and physically – to instill that new habit ahead of time. Then when the moment arrives, victory will be yours. Practicing this for a few days will build your new habit and in due course – with consistency – that habit will become your nature. That means, the thought of Dave’s Greasy Drive Thru will be long gone from your mental plate, and you will be totally focused and happy on your new path.

Victory to you and let us know how it goes!!

Well, once again, Bethanne and Kenny Kashkett came down and put on a wonderful and artful cooking demonstration filled with facts on nutrition, personal stories, and, of courts, tasty and savory dishes. This was our third Eating Healthy seminar and each one is a little different.

After starting out with two dynamic smoothies: Kenny’s sweet purple one (banana, berries, greens & more) & Bethanne’s sour green one (kale, Granny Smith Apples, lemon and water), we got right into making some milk – thanks to our brave young lad, Jacob, shown here. After he washed his hands, Bethanne asked him if he had ever milked a cow, he replied “No.” Then Bethanne said, “Well you are going to learn how to milk an almond.” And that is exactly what he did.

Thereafter it was on to the next round of preparation. For this, everyone came up to roll their own spring rolls:

First Bethanne showed up how it is done. We took rice paper, soaked it for a bit to make it soft, and then placed our favorite items on top: A choice of shredded carrots &  cucumbers, other veggies, cellophane noodles, & more.

And then – then it got rolled into a – well a roll, with the ends folded in and it came out very beautifully. You might think that we then ate it right away. And we did. But not before applying our favorite sauce. One was a teriyaki  dressing and the other was a sweet and sour duck sauce dressing.

Here is our spring roll train in full view. All in all we had 23 people for the program and all got the opportunity to make a spring roll.

Thereafter it was on to a wonderful miso soup done just right. The perfect amount of miso with fresh organic vegetables that were slightly steamed to perfection to still have that crunch. Side by side Bethanne told us all about the various types of fermented soy products, of which miso is one.

The hummus that Bethanne put together was incredibly good. So good that everyone was eating it all alone – and when taken with Bethanne & Kenny’s homemade chips, the combination was soo good!!

Other great dishes prepared on site were a rainbow salad (green cabbage, purple cabbage, carrots, yellow squash, red pepper, kale, parsley & more) with an other worldly salad dressing. Plus we had a Maple-glazed root vegetable casserole. While most of the dishes we ate were raw (though you would never have guessed it) this one was a baked dish (sweet potatoes, carrots, and other wonderful root veggies) laid over a brown rice that was cooked in jasmine tea. Very yummy indeed.

Our program was not just about eating. Bethanne and Kenny bring so much more to the table: facts, tales, and ideas about how, where, when and what to buy when creating your new menu. Bethanne now takes about 85% raw food and 15% cooked, or warmed to be precise. And it was very interesting to learn about all the great things that can be made raw. And yes, this program was 100% vegan as well.

And then we came to dessert, or shall I say desserts: Banana nut brittle, no-bake soft pecan cookies, raw apple crisp, black bean brownies and other tasties made using a dehydrator, soaked dates and more.

All in all it was a scrumptious, educational, and very social affair. Thanks so much to all who attended and of course thanks for Bethanne and Kenny for coming down and treating us to another great gathering!!

Here are a few things of what people had to say about it. My favorite aspect was:

- “Learning that there are so many possibilities with raw food – I’d always thought it meant mostly salads!”

- “How informative and interesting the presentation was. (Tasty too!)”

- “The food of course. Also Bethanne’s beautiful energy

- “The miso soup, the hummus & chips, brownies, cookies, veggies – ALL of it!”

- “Recipe booklet with these foods liked – smoothies, miso soup, the sweets”

- “Black bean brownies + so much nutritional info + references – pass arounds + books.”

Those who attended, please feel share more of your comments….

Thanks again everyone for a wonderful, wonderful occasion!!! See you next time, June 2011!!

Well, we had a wonderful Eating Healthy seminar yesterday.

Our guide, Bethanne Kashkett, supported by her husband Kenny (shown here), led us through a tantalizing array of tasty recipes and healthy eating treats.

We started off with a special green smoothie with blueberries to keep us cool on this sun-baked day, and then we delved into an array of exotic salads, unique casseroles, and organic delights.

One of Bethanne’s favorites was this special mung bean pasta dish. That’s right the noodles were made from organic mung bean flour – that means they were not at all acidic like regular pasta and their consistency was wonderful, unlike some whole wheat pastas that can tend to be grainy. Then of course the dish was loaded with fresh veggies from both land and sea – and spiced just right! It was tasty beyond belief!!

After that we got into spiralizing!! See how, using a very simple hand-operated spriralizer (not expensive), we were able to make an ordinary zucchini into a beautiful, exotic shape and form. A great way to have a cool noodle experience during our hot Maryland summers.

Of course no dish would be complete without Bethanne’s great dressings and sauces! Anyone who has been to these programs before knows how quickly Bethanne’s dishes transition from the simple into the sublime.

See here how magnificently this dish turned out!!

Loaded with zesty herbs & spices, this carefully made tomato sauce (with no seeds at all) was a hot ticket on this summer afternoon!

In total we made seven different dishes for our lunch and dinner menu featuring legumes, veggies, herbs and spices and, of course, love and care.

Our main menu included these items: Not-tuna pate in collard green wraps,
Land and sea salad with mung bean noodles, Raw slaw with kale, Sprouted lentil salad, Corn and black bean salad with brown rice, & Raw zucchini pasta and sundried tomato marinara sauce. It was all quite delicious!!!

Everyone received a terrific handout / booklet that featured pages of recipes, shopping lists and key nutritional facts. Bethanne’s easy speaking style also allowed everyone to take lots of notes and ask many excellent questions during the program. And there was plenty of opportunity to help in cooking, chopping, slicing, rolling, mixing and more!

Then of course there was dessert: Sweet seed cookies (shown here), Coconut milk ice cream sweetened with agave, Sorbet sweetened with agave, Fresh luscious berries, Raw dark chocolate sauce made with raw cacao, and Chocolate chia cookies!

Everything was quite yummy – and everyone got to go up for seconds on dessert. We have secret photos of that on file!!

All in all we had a wonderful turnout and everyone left satiated, eager to try new recipes and food choices, and armed with lots of food packed up in containers for meals to come!

Healthy eating is part and parcel of our yoga practice and a great way to treat your body (& mind) right. Plus our food choices affect our environment, both locally and globally. Our diet plays such an important role in who we are and how we interact with our world. And Bethanne, as usual, proved to be a gentle, kind, knowledgeable, and sumptuous guide for this event.

Many thanks to Tessa Giannini who provided seamless support for a smooth-running program.

Hope you will all consider coming to our next Eating Health program next December!! Here is what we did last year during the holidays!!

We held our first-ever Eating Healthy seminar yesterday – and what a great success it was – all credit goes to our chef Bethanne Kashkett, her husband Kenny, and all of you who attended.

Quite amazing – on a dreary, rainy Sunday – all 27 of our registrants came out – that’s right, perfect attendance!!

After a short, staggered intro by yours truly, Bethanne neatly led us in a moment of silence to connect within and create a sentient space without. Thereafter it was not long before Bethanne got us going with all kinds of tasty edibles accompanied by great information and instruction. Everything was based on organic, vegan / vegetarian fare.

The event was structured around a mock day: Breakfast -> lunch -> dinner -> dessert. And what a day it was – quite yummy indeed.

Breakfast featured a variety of raw foods such as sliced apples with raw almond butter, soaked oat groats with fruit, frozen banana and berry smoothies, coconut milk yogurt, freshly baked blueberry tea scones, crispy rice cereal bars, mochi (traditional Japanese food of steamed, pounded brown rice) and jam. Along the way we all tried rice milk, hemp milk and almond milk.

As if that was not enough, we all got to try these delicious breakfast quesadillas: sprouted corn tortillas with soy cheese and mixed chard greens.

And that was just breakfast!! And believe me when I say there were a few items I neglected to mention.

Then Bethanne segued us into a wonderful lunch and dinner combo. At that point things got a little more participatory as various people came up to help steer the ship. They cut, stirred and engaged in other elements of food preparation.

Here is Bill Whitman, husband of Elsie, giving Bethanne a hand with things. Others who came up to help included Lindsay (she was gracious to share LOTS of time), Denise, Steve, and others.

The lunch / dinner combo included a variety of tastes and samples from a wonderful immune building soup spiced with turmeric, ginger and a host of health-supportive herbs and flavorings plus a variety of greens such as a kale / tahini salad and cultured veggies.

The grand buffet bar at the end included a wide array of main dishes from around the world including, but not limited to: coconut brown rice with cauliflower/ potato curry, tortilla pie (wheat tortilla layered with refried beans, quinoa, black beans, salsa, and veggie mix), whole grain pasta with tempeh marinara, veggie fried rice, sprouts, holiday wild rice salad w/ pomegranate dressing, kale salad, and salad crunchies (sprouted buckwheat, sunflower, sesame, and hemp seeds).

There were so many tantalizing tastes, unique food combinations, interesting ingredients – all prepared with an experienced hand and a loving heart.

And then there was dessert – wow! – which was an event all its own. To say there were six different desserts would be an underestimation. Let’s see now there were: ginger snap cookies with holiday pumpkin/soy cream cheese dip, gingerbread, tea poached pears, jam bars, crispy rice balls, alternative ice cream, beat cake, as well as a candle to celebrate Elsie’s birthday!!

Amazingly, the entire event neatly fit into the 2:30p – 5:30p time frame and everyone got to take home plenty of food in their tupperware containers.

Certainly there is more to say about the program so I heartily welcome those in attendance to share their thoughts and experiences.

Of course, all readers, yogis / yoginis, foodies, and members of our universal human family are invited to share and comment.

Bethanne please do correct me on any errors, either of commission or omission, with regards to the names of the various scrumptious dishes that were presented.

Finally, thanks so much to Krista for helping serve & clear and taking photos, and to Alisha for her tireless and good-natured support in the kitchen. While I lazily strolled the hall with a dish rag over my shoulder as if I was really working(!), Alisha kept everything in order: neat and clean.

Thanks again to everyone for attending and I look forward to seeing you for the next round in the spring!!

Please watch for the gallery of photos from this event soon to be posted on our website.

Yesterday at a yoga outing, I learned of a refreshing drink. Sarah David (Mon Nite NECC) let me in on one of her tasty specials. And that is what I share with you today! Thanks Sarah!

Cucumber Water: Fill a pitcher with water. Thinly slice 1/2 or 3/4 of a large cucumber and add to your water pitcher. Cut a few lemon or lime wedges and add to the water mixture. Refrigerate and let sit overnight.

Voila! You now have a very refreshing drink that carries a very subtle taste.

We all know that best is to drink a minimum of 2 liters of water every day. Drinking 3 or 4 is even better. Sometimes we may desire something other than just plain water. Store-bought fruit juices are not good options as they are highly acidic and filled with sugar, artificial flavors, and preservatives. And soda is obviously out.

The above cucumber water drink is an excellent alternative. It is highly alkaline, easy to make, inexpensive, and offers a subtle taste sensation that is quite refreshing.

Keep in mind that using an organic cucumber is probably best. If this is not an option, then at least peel the cucumber to remove that layer of wax that invariably is applied to today’s cucumbers. The same applies to the lemon / lime wedges.

Hope you all enjoy! And do write in with your favorite drink recipes as well, or any variation along this theme!!

From the New York Times…

A Vegan Chef’s Avocado Recipes for Diabetes

By Tara Parker-Pope

This weekend, top doctors and chefs will gather at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to offer health and cooking advice for people with diabetes.

Click here to read the rest of the article…

For those interested in learning about the wonderful benefits of plant based foods check out these two great medically renowned websites on health and diet.

Dr Neal Barnard, President PCRM (Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine)

Dr John McDougall & The McDougall Plan

Plus check out this great resource about the top ten veggie blogs.

TOP TEN VEGGIE BLOGS

(Below is a link to see the below pyramid in full view.)

THE VEGAN FOOD PYRAMID