Amazing Class Opportunity with Culinary Art Therapist, Tomato, Mac and Cheese and the beginnings of Bliss
Amazing Class Opportunity with Culinary Art Therapist, Tomato, Mac and Cheese and the beginnings of Bliss
My excitement runneth over
This week I am so excited to share with you a collaboration coming this June, and some coming rebranding (I hate this term, but must embrace it!) things I am working on. And your recipe this week is a Tomato Mac and Cheese that I have had up my sleeve for years but never shared for some reason! It’s as easy as stirring together some canned tomatoes, then dumping a bunch of cheese into it along with pasta and topping with scallions. It’s one of those meals that we all need that is simple and comforting and also at every level of preparation, brings ease. It’s just a few ingredients, most eaters (kids!) will enjoy it, you likely have all the ingredients already, the process of cooking it is simple and it doesn’t use many dishes. The bliss of ease.
I have June and July dates announced for in-person mini-retreats so come get your bliss on with me if you are in the New York area. You are the first to know so sign up while there are spots available!
Please scroll all the way to the end to submit your questions for next issue’s Open Kitchen— I love answering these! I learn so much about you all and how I can serve you better. Also please like, comment and share! It helps me understand who I am talking to and what I can do for you. And become a paying subscriber to join the weekly live/recorded cooking classes!
Therapeutic Cooking with Julie Ohana and Me! A 3-Part Cooking Class Offering
Julie Ohana, renowned and brilliant culinary art therapist and I will be co-teaching a cooking class series this June! Are you ready to feel so good while you are cooking you can’t even stand it? Are you ready to feel empowered to process your emotions through cooking so that it becomes a space of healing and self connection? Then come join us!
We are thrilled to invite you to our 3-week Culinary Therapy Class Series, where you'll embark on a journey that combines the art of cooking with the power of therapeutic healing.
Dare I say it’s also killer value at just $100 for 3 sessions.
Here's what awaits you in our 3-week Culinary Art Therapy Class Series:
Week 1: Mindfulness
In this foundational session, we'll immerse ourselves in the world of mindfulness, bringing focused awareness and intention to every step of the culinary process. You'll learn practical techniques to cultivate a mindful kitchen environment. We'll craft exquisite dishes while fostering a deep connection with the ingredients, igniting your creativity and cultivating a sense of calm and presence.
Featured Recipe: Creamy Hands off Scrambled Eggs and Pickle-y Sausage Cauliflower
Week 2: Building Confidence
Prepare to ignite your confidence as we learn to give ourselves what we really need to be successful. We take the “I can’t” out of the equation by creating a recipe and a process that works for our needs. We stop comparing and we notice all we are capable of, FEEL IT and then eat it up!
Featured Recipe: Fast White Bean, Chorizo, and Hearty Greens Stew
Week 3: Playing with your Food
Get ready to unleash your inner child and indulge in the magic of playful culinary exploration. During this final session, we'll celebrate the joy of experimentation and creativity with food. We'll encourage you to think outside the box, challenge conventional culinary norms, and craft whimsical and visually appealing creations that spark joy and delight.
Featured Recipe: We will be playing together to create our own Cheese and Snack Platters
When you sign up you will get a link to the classes and a flip-book of the recipes we will use for the classes.
The classes will run three Wednesdays in June, the 14th, 21st and 28th from 10:30-11:30am ET.
The series will be offered virtually over zoom so you can join from anywhere and be in your own kitchen! Each week will feature a new recipe from Good Enough which you will receive when you sign up. The investment for the entire 3-week series is $100.
Benefits of joining this class include:
Enhanced mindfulness, fostering a deeper connection with the culinary process.
Increased culinary skills and confidence in culinary artistry.
Playful exploration that unlocks your creativity and inner artist.
Practical strategies to incorporate culinary art therapy into your daily life.
For those who don’t know what a culinary art therapist is…
Julie Ohana is a pioneer! Culinary Art Therapy is a new and evolving field or practice. When we met we clicked right away and I feel like I have known her for 1 million years.
Julie is a licensed therapist who teaches cooking as a means of connecting with her clients. Through the culinary process you can learn so much about how your mind works and what you struggle with. But you also learn how to regulate your nervous system, grow your mind-body connection, and create new pathways in the brain. All of this allows you to manage stress better, build confidence, enhance your relationships and reach your goals inside and outside of the kitchen.
Does this sound familiar at all? Of course it does! This is what embodied cooking, and my last book Good Enough are all about. Julie and I have such a similar approach and I am so inspired by her model and cannot wait to teach with her. I hope you’ll join us!
Blissful Cooking!
Okay now onto the changes. For a while now I have been dissatisfied with the term Embodied Cooking. It is accurate, but not evocative or clear for those who are not already in the know. And being welcoming and inclusive has always been so important to me personally and professionally. I was frustrated that something that I see as the ultimate gift, to turn a daily chore into a source of pleasure and connection, was alienating and confusing.
So I am changing the name of this newsletter and my style of teaching to Blissful Cooking! It is the feeling I want you all to have and the entire purpose of embodiment. Embodiment is the pathway to bliss. We move through self acceptance and find our power and natural ability to feel grateful and blissful as we connect with food and all it offers us.
So I will soon be rebranding this newsletter and the weekly online classes and my website and future offerings to reflect this new identity. I’ll also be developing more offerings to share with you as this all comes together.
I am excited but also if I’m honest, changing this much this quickly is making me feel Kafka-esque. If you know what I mean! I feel like every level of my life is morphing and then breaking apart again and again to make way for the new. It feels good to be moving and realigning my values to serve myself, my family and community better but also… it’s a lot! Divorce, new home, new business, new body, new friends, and new relationships forming in my family of origin. Wow.
Sometimes it’s beautiful like this gorgeous piece by Lorena Assisi
But also sometimes it’s like this piece by Antoine Stevens.
Or somewhere in between like this beauty by Hugo D. Villa.
It’s all in transition and I am also challenging myself to be open and free with you all about what these transitions look like. Rather than just announcing a big change that looks like it happens overnight I want to let you in on the messy process. I have often felt like I cannot do what others do, whether it’s driving (more on this in a future newsletter), running a business or simply going to a networking event. I have felt like a person outside and incapable. And it’s not true at all.
But when you don’t have a model of the life you want to live or someone who feels like you to model yourself after you can feel like you can’t do it. And can’t is an awful stuck feeling.
I think of how so many people feel in the kitchen. With no model for cooking at home growing up you go out into the world and all you see is the finished product—a plate of food on the table. It looks incredible and it’s mystical how it got there. And then this leads into the “I can’t “feeling. But if you could be in the kitchen watching over someone’s shoulder feeling loved and held and safe… you are then able to see how you can do it. In fact I think the “I can do it” becomes baked into your bones.
So I am committed to showing the process so we can all know this is how it’s done. Even if it is a little ugly or embarrassing while it’s happening. And the process is as important as the final product because really we are always changing and moving a little bit.
Tomato Mac and Cheese
TL;DR: While the pasta boils, make the sauce from the garlic and tomatoes, then add the pasta and cheese, mix and serve with scallions on top.
1 lb. pasta (elbows, cavatappi or conchiglie are my favorites here)
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
8 to 12 oz grated aged white cheddar cheese or monterey jack
3-4 scallions, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Additions:
chopped jalapeño
kimchi
chili oil
peas
chopped fresh basil
Bring a pot of water to boil on high heat. Salt it generously and cook the pasta according to the package instructions to one minute below al dente.
Chop the garlic, grate the cheddar and slice the scallions.
Using your hands, squish the whole tomatoes into a bowl along with the juices. You could also chop them or blend them if you want a smoother consistency, but I like the little bit of texture the hand squishing creates. Plus you can really get into the sensory experience of it (!).
In a large skillet big enough for the pasta, warm the olive oil on medium heat and sauté the garlic for one to two minutes, then add the tomatoes and juice. Cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat.
Add in the slightly undercooked pasta and stir to coat. Sprinkle in the cheddar and half the scallions and stir and let cook until it is all mixed. Taste a piece of pasta to see if it is cooked to your liking. Once it’s cooked take it off the heat and serve.
Garnish each bowl with more scallions and any additions you like.
Book your Spot in the June and July Mini-Retreats before they sell out!
You are the first to know about these next two dates for the in-person Blissful Yoga and Cooking mini-retreats! Sign up here.
Saturday June 10th andSaturday July 22nd
Agenda
9:30-10: settling in with tea 🍵
10-11:30 meditation and restorative yoga 🧘🏼
11:30-12 Leanne cooks and shares embodied cooking practice 🍳
12-12:30 Eat lunch and chat/share 🥗
12:30-1 final breath-work and meditation 💨
Float away into the rest of the dreamy weekend feeling free, loose and connected.Submit your Questions for Open Kitchen!
Open Kitchen is the feature where I answer your kitchen/yoga/meditation and anything else in my wheelhouse questions!
No column this week, but please get in here and ask me some questions. I love answering these. No question too big or small. Please submit your questions for Open Kitchen through this form. The questions will be anonymous so no need to think twice about anything embarrassing. Remember chances are if you are wondering something or having an experience there are many others who are as well and when you have the courage to ask the question you help all those other people too.
Squishing the tomatoes was more fun and satisfying than I could have imagined ^_^