Learning and teaching enthusiastically

When I started eating a dairy and yeast free diet 7 years ago, it was really tough! For a start, trying to get my family and friends to stop fretting about my food choices was hard, and cooking food that kept everyone happy was a challenge. I was starting from scratch with many recipes, trying to work out how to adapt them successfully (there were more than a few failures, that's for sure!). And as for eating out, well that was like being in an episode of Fawlty Towers at time, without the canned laughter and funny bits.
Then just to make it even more complicated, we moved to India, where many of the 'free from' items

we relied on were not available, and finally going mainly plant based, which really freaked some people out. Never knowingly normal!
I've learnt a lot on my food journey, and continue to learn all the time, and indeed still making changes - you may have noticed more gluten free recipes appearing recently. There's been a few mistakes, some frustration and the odd tantrum (whose, I'm not saying!). But I don't regret it, and I don't even miss my old favourite foods any more, as I have loads of new favourites instead, that don't leave me unwell or in pain. Plus there's so many 'side-benefits' to eating a whole food plant based diet, like glowing skin and hair, and effortless weight loss. There's continual discovery and experimentation going on in my kitchen, less cookery rules to follow and a budding array of new restaurants and cafes to visit, as suddenly eating plant based is 'in'.

One of the things I love about my journey, is sharing the benefits with other people so they can start their own healthy food adventure, only with less hiccups - that is why I created my Eat Well, Live Well course. Packed full of the valuable information, short cuts and tips I have learnt over the last few years, I just love seeing others become enthused and enjoying the changes in their own lives, or someone close to them. And because it's not just about learning information, but enjoyment too, I always include a full lunch (or supper) as part of each session, and provide a full recipe folder of over 60 dishes to follow. In fact, one recent participant only cooks from my folder, which is quite a compliment.
Covering diverse subjects like nutrition 101, social norms, how to bake amazing cakes and gut bacteria, the Eat Well, Live Well course is a 5 week spring board into never looking at food the same way again. The next cohort starts this week in Hove on Thursday 9th June, so time is short to get on board before the summer break - email me if you want to join us karen@thesensitivefoodietichen.com. If you can't come along and join the fun this time, there'll be other opportunities, including an on-line version that should be available from September. Exciting times!