SPECIAL DIETS
For me, cooking is about taking care of people. I believe that food should not only look great and taste great, it should also make you feel great. I look at meal times as a place to heal from or prevent illness. I strive to create delicious tasting plant-based meals that also support overall well-being. From carefully sourced ingredients to innovative cooking techniques, each dish is thoughtfully prepared to maximize flavor, nourishment and fun! Infused with the healing power of plants. My emphasis is on creating dishes that are not only delicious but also mindful of the body's needs, promoting a balanced and thriving lifestyle. I like to observe my clients moods, learn about their daily activities, pick up on their likes and dislikes, and apply those factors to my cooking, adjusting ingredients and methods as needed. I also draw on my experience as an artist of 20 years to look at food always with an open mind. I use my creative abilities to create surprising dishes from familiar ingredients. Below are samples of how I have successfully created menus under strict dietary guidelines with limited ingredients.
OIL FREE People with heart conditions, atherosclerosis need to lower their cholesterol levels, in other words they need to unblock their arteries so that blood can move freely through the body and they wont die.
AUTISM I have had so much fun learning about their likes and dislikes and creating fun, “tempting” menus for them to eat. I used my empathetic abilities and background as an artist to look at food in a slightly different way in order to create menus that will be appealing to people with a lot of sensitivities. Also, salty, crunchy foods are preferred and always keep food items separate.
WEIGHT LOSS One of the best things you can do for your health. A lot easier than people think. A healthy vegan diet, combined with exercise should bring most peoples weight to a normal, healthy level. There are no healthy shortcuts to adjusting your body”s weight, it has to be done gradually. That way the weight stays off, as long as you continue eating healthy. Most important thing in a weight loss diet is create menus that are delicious, with a combination of textures, colors and flavors in your plate. he idea is to feel fully satisfied after every meal.
WEIGHT GAIN Athletes in training, people who are sick and people with bad appetites all have to eat enough calories to maintain or gain weight. For people who like to eat a lot this is not a problem but for people that are not big eaters, maintaining their weight can be a problem. I have developed a series of foods that are high in calories and easy to eat. Sauces made with nuts, smoothies full of good fats, healthy and delicious deserts like chocolate mousse made from avocados. The reason I can create these special food is because of my unique combination of being an artist and nutritional training from Cornell. The possibilities are endless.
DIABETICS Diets with low glycemic content don’t have to boring. Fat turns into sugar in our bodies so these diets need to be low on fat. One good thing is that diabetics can closely and accurately monitor their sugar levels. This makes it easy to understand how their bodies work and the direct relationship between the foods they eat and their blood sugar levels. Once these foods have been established then a delicious diet can be set up.I have had a lot of success in using prickly pear concentrate to treat diabetics. This plants naturally balances out the spikes in sugar levels.
ATHLETES These humans need very clean fuel sources that are full of energy. Their bodies are like race cars and they are usually aware of the direct connection between their bodies performance, and the foods they eat. Depending on the desired activity, different foods need to be eaten. Some foods release energy withing 15 minutes of eating and some have a slower, longer release of energy . What needs to be kept in mind is that the body needs to use energy to extract the energy from food. A diet designed for an athletle should include a range of foods that do not require a lot of energy from the body to get the energy from the food and the energy release should be in accordance with their desired activity and energy needs . Diets can be designed for specific activities.
KIDS Might be the most difficult to please but also, open to new things. Introducing kids to healthy eating habits can set them up for a healthy lifestyle. If I can get them involved in the cooking process then they usually become very interested themselves in learning more about cooking and food in general. When I cook for kids I try to turn everything into chicken nuggets, pizza, hamburgers or some kind of chocolate desert, then I have no problems at all. All of the foods I mentioned can be made in a healthy, fun and delicious way.
ROTATIONAL DIETS These diets are designed for people that have allergies to foods and cant figure out what foods they are allergic to. They are very strict and are normally set up by numbered days (A diet might include 4 or 5 days after which the rotation begins again). They are vegetable and grain specific, giving the chef a very specific number of ingredients, including oil and seasonings that can be used for that specific day. By having a closed loop of ingredients you can begin to eliminate ones you think you are allergic to. After a while you can achieve a diet without any allergens. At this point, you can begin to re introduce foods. The closed food loop makes it easy to determine if there is a food allergy to any new item that is introduced. The challenge here is to create interesting menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with very limited ingredients. Also a comprehensive back up stock of food needs to be accumulated since people on rotational diets cant get food from restaurants.I developed a vaccum seal frozen system to eliminate any anxiety about not having enough food
LIMITED INGREDIENTS DIETS When people have a lot of dietary restrictions or are trying to heal themselves, a limited ingredients diet might be a good starting option. This diet requires careful consideration of the food items to get enough caloric intake. They pair the vegetable and grain selection for the day with specific oils and spices. Since these diets have small amounts of ingredients to work with and they repeat every few days, the difficulties lie on creating variety from these limited ingredients. The meals below were all created using only these ingredients: Rice, sesame seeds, broccoli, avocado, kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and avocado oil.
FRUIT SMOOTHIES You can get energy from fruit very quickly. You have to consider that the body needs to use energy to get the energy from the food that you eat. Its a simple equation the longer your body needs to break down the food you eat the longer it takes to get energy from that food. It is easy for your body to break down fruit so your body can access the energy very quickly. Blending as many types of fruit with mineral water is one of the best things you can do for your body.
