Making the transition to cooking and eating REAL food can be daunting. Many of us thrive on the challenge. Others of us despair. How are we supposed to tackle cooking all these nourishing foods from scratch when we either don’t know how to cook or have always, like the recipes in so many cooking magazines, been dependent on boxed or pre-packaged ingredients? It’s like saying we baked a “homemade” cake when really it was just a cake mix that we added eggs and oil to. Or saying we cooked a casserole when really we just emptied canned veggies into bakeware and mixed in canned cream of mushroom soup and jar of Cheese Whiz. People may compliment us on the food, but we know better.
Our standards have changed, but we’re out of our depths. What do you do when recipes make things sound so easy, but when you follow the directions (exactly!) you get a semi-regular stream of costly kitchen disasters? You are learning from your mistakes, but you would LOVE to just skip right over them and be a better cook already. That way you can get these fabulously healthy foods into your families without them putting up such a huge fight.
Thank goodness for teachers like Jenny from Nourished Kitchen, who have made online cooking school classes available to us! Today, I’m giving away a scholarship to her newly updated How To Cook Real Food online cooking class.
If you know someone who desperately needs this class, all you have to do is nominate them in the comments below. In 200 words or less, share their story. If you win the scholarship, you’ll earn a free enrollment for yourself AND the person you nominated!
What You and Your Nominee Will Win
Free enrollment in Jenny’s How To Cook Real Food online cooking class comes complete with:
- 12 Comprehensive, Multimedia Online Classes
- Exclusive Recorded Conference Calls to chat with other real food lovers and get your questions answered
- 45 Instructional Videos Teaching You How to Cook Real Food
- Over 100 Tried-and-true Real Food Recipes
- Digital Workbook for each lesson to Take Notes & Develop Your Own Recipes
- Charts Outlining Seasonally Available Foods
- Charts outlining methods for soaking beans, legumes, nuts and seeds
- Spreadsheets that’ll help you take a kitchen inventory, develop a grocery budget and plan meals
- Fact Sheets and Handy Tips Analyzing the Value of Real Food
- Whole-grain and Grain-free baking tips.
- Simple Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
- Menu Planning Bonus Pack
How To Apply
Simply write a comment below, in 200 words or less, and explain why the person you’re nominating should take this class. It’s that simple. The application process closes on Tuesday, September 13th at midnight, CST. I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday, September 14th.
Save $50 By Enrolling BEFORE September 16th!
Not to be a worry wart, but on September 16th enrollment for the course goes back to it’s regular price of $199. If you enroll on or before September 15th, you can save a whopping $50! Since time is running out, I figured I’d remind you.
I took the class last year, and I couldn’t be happier that I did. If you think it might be a good fit for you or someone you know, go check out the course details and don’t let the opportunity to save money pass you by!
Oh, and don’t worry about enrolling now AND applying for the scholarship. If you happen to win the scholarship, Jenny will simply refund your money. No biggie.
Standard disclosures apply.
(Photo by Jenny at Nourished Kitchen)
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I am nominating me! After a year of waiting for surgery(I had a ruptured disc last year, and no insurance) I have been greatly handicapped, and am finding the kitchen has been the hardest place to reclaim. I watched food Inc, and am motivated to make changes. That motivation caused me to research, and I was blessed enough to stumble across foodrenegade, for which I am soo grateful. But I need more help, and financially.. well, the surgery has pretty much bankrupted us. This would be a kick start to getting my family healthy again. And at least 100 points in your karma jar 🙂
I nominated me… then read this again… grr. Do not take pain medication, then write about oneself >.<
Hiya,
I would love to nominate my cousin Marlies for the real food class scholarship. I have been trying to introduce her to ‘real food’ for quite a while now and feel she is on the ‘cusp of been ready to learn’.
Marlies has four children under 6 years old, all boys. She has never breast fed any of them, offering microwaved bottles in place of nutritious and nurturing breast milk. She feeds her boys on packaged food and they are starting to show health problems. Her children always seem to get sick. Coughs and colds etc.
I have been following the WAPF principles for a while now and doing GAPS with my two youngest children but I would dearly love to learn MORE.
I can think of nothing better than been able to do a real food cooking class together with Marlies. If she could do that I truly feel it would make a huge difference in her and her family’s life.
With eager anticipation and hope!
Frances Giles
I would like to nominate my sister. She is really learning to be such a great cook, but I think she would really love the opportunity to learn how to cook with all the natural foods her family enjoys. She has to make everything gluten free and peanut free (and sometimes dairy free–our family has a lot of allergies)and I am so proud on how she took up these challenges to make great healthy food for her family. She deserves the chance to take online courses and really hone her techniques!
I would like to nominate my husband Tim and myself Cheri for this cooking class. We have been married for 39 years and I have been primary chief with the exception of outdoor grilling. Over the last two years Tim has had 6 heart stents placed. We are changing EVERYTHING about our cooking and eating habits. I could use more knowledge on fresh, living, healthy food and Tim should also learn how to prepare foods to promote health as we reach into our 60’s.
Regards,
Cheri Shaffstall
I am nominating my friend Karen. She has been such an inspiration to me over the past few years. She has been there for me whenever I need someone to talk to. She’s never hesitated to give me down to earth advice, and she’s never sugar coated the truth. She is truly a gift from God. She is now going through some rough stuff herself with repeated pneumonia and surgeries and a variety of other health problems. Over lunch the other day she made a verbal commitment to start eating healthy again and to make it a priority in her life, not just a fleeting thought. I know that she has what it takes to get herself back to a good place in life, and I want to see that she gets all the support she needs. Thanks. Kirsten George
I nominated me… Simply because the only thing I can cook good is beans and toast lol. I aspire to stay healthy but I don’t know how to make my healthy food flavourable (is that even a word? :D) Eating so bland and basic makes my diet unappealing to my friends and family, I want to be able to cook to impress them and WOW them into being more healthy.
I’m nominating my mother. My dad – although athletic and thin – has been struggling with high cholesterol, and my mom has been dealing with fibromyalgia and the host of symptoms that come with that.
My mom is a great cook, but she certainly learned to cook SAD-style, and she has been valiantly trying to learn things like sourdough baking, dehydrating and fermenting. She’s newly retired and finally has time to devote to learning these things. Mom is very visual and hands on, so reading about how to do something is frustrating for her – video courses and lots of reminder sheets would be perfect for her!
I’d love to see my parents live long, full, healthy lives – and my mom having a chance to have all these video tutorials would be just the thing for her!
I would like to nominate my mom, Tina, for a scholarship for this class. Earlier this year, my mother traveled from the States to Germany to take care of me when I had major surgery. While here, I shared with her the book that changed my life, Nourishing Traditions. She was a vegetarian, but has turned a new leaf to real food since reading the book. She is excited about learning and reaping the rewards real food has to offer.
Those who know my mother know her for her generosity. Her and my father both work, but they help support my grandparents after my grandfather had a stroke, provide assistance to my brother’s family, who is a disabled vet, and purchase vet services for abandoned animals. When I needed surgery, she dropped everything, including pay from her job, to fly to assist my family and me. She and my father have sacrificed luxuries in their own lives so many others can survive. I know this is a course she would love, but could not afford take as that money could help feed her grandchildren. I hope and pray that you will choose her for a scholarship.
I would love to be able to offer this to my big sister who has a child with autism and all the accompanying food issues that go with it. They have a second child with a compromise immune system as well and both her and her husband work full time and live in FL where their insurance does not cover much or consider the treatments or assistance they need. They have given up and lost so much to make sure their children are first and little things like this would be amazing gifts to help learn about clean and real foods.
I’m nominating my wife. Last year she stopped buying processed foods and she has been cooking “real” food for 1 year. However, some things don’t come out very good or she struggles with menu planning and getting things together on the table in time. Some things I’ve eaten have been out of sheer love – they just don’t taste good – kind of bland. I like to help – I make breakfast sometimes, but she comes in and says “do it this way” or “use this ingredient instead.” Plus I just miss hot dogs or good sausage. The grass-fed stuff just doesn’t have enough flavor. Any help you can give would be AWESOME. She needs lessons!
could not find the place to enroll…..
Hi Patty — What’s your question? How to apply for the scholarship or how to enroll in the course?
Sorry–how to apply for the scholarship.
I nominate my husband, Wes because I asked him if he would pay for me to take this class and he said no. 😛
Click on the link to the post, that’ll take you to a post which includes instructions for how to apply! 🙂
I’d like to nominate my cousin-in-law. She’s just finished college and starting law school, and is living on her own for the first time (that is, not in a dorm with a cafeteria). I’ve seen her cook, and it’s not a pretty sight. God only knows what she’s eating on her own over there.
I want to make sure she knows how to cook the foods that will keep her brain functioning at its best, and keep her on-track to being a top-notch lawyer.
I nominate my dad. He has always been a great cook but over the years, especially since my brothers & I have grown up and moved out, he and my mom have come to rely a lot on packaged & convenient foods. My dad has diabetes and has been struggling to keep his sugar under control as well as issues he has with circulation in his legs. I believe that a boost from the How to Cook Real Food video lessons would help get my parents back on track and go a long way in healing many of the health issues my dad and mom have been facing. Thanks!
I would very much like to nominate my good friend’s mom, Teresa. She serves as care-taker of both her elderly parents. Her mother is a cancer survivor who is currently battling a recurrence and her father has Parkinson’s Disease. She strives to feed them wholesome, nutritious foods for the sake of their health and I know she would benefit immensely from these classes. Thank you for making this opportunity available!
I would like to nominate Alethea West. She is my daughter-in-love and she works very hard providing for her family. She is a small person and is always trying to lose weight. She has tried a lot of things, but she is very wise and would respond to a great teaching on how to cook and eat REAL food! Thank you for offering this!
Patty Collins
Success! It was not there the first time I looked. Thank you for helping!
I would like to nominate my son Anthony who has a form of Autism called Aspergers Syndrome. We are on a gluten free diet, me being Celiac, and him for his Autism. He will be going off to college in a few years and will HAVE to cook his own foods. I think if he gets great basic “how to’s” now, when he gets to college I will know that he can handle living,creating a menu,making good healthy meals for himself from scratch, and be confident in cooking. For me…I am always open to new ways of doing things. I love to cook from scratch but really haven’t had any training. I just sort of wing it. I love reading everything on Food Renegade and want to learn to ferment foods and eat really clean.
Pick me! Pick ME!
I’d like to nominate my sister. She is pregnant with her second child and has been making some food adaptations for the better, but I believe this would be extraordinarily educational to understand the necessity of proper nutrition, how to make good meals, and its overall benefits, especially for a new life.
I would like to nominate my friend Cindy. She is a wonderful lady who is constantly raising Money and awareness for our autistic children. She not only raises money for treatments for families who can’t afford all of these out of pocket expenses, she also has a child on the spectrum. Diet is such a big part of autism that we could both use the classes to help our children eat better. And of course we always pass on what we learn! Thank you for your consideration.
I am nominating my wife Amanda. She loves to bake sweets, but she is not a good cook when it comes to making meals. I usually do the cooking, which I do not mind, but she always makes comments like “I wish I could cook” and “I’m sorry babe that I’m not a good cook”. I love her no matter what, whether she can cook or not. She always talks about wanting to learn how to cook and how fun it would be to take classes, but I do not think she will ever do it on her own. If she were to win this nomination, it would not only give her a very good reason to learn, but it would be something fun for her to do outside of her work.
I’d like to nominate my homeschooling daughter, Bekah. She is very interested in becoming a better cook. We are a real food family, so this would be my nutrition/home ec. class of choice for her, and something we could enjoy and bond over as we work in the kitchen together. I want to impart the joy of cooking real food that I have to her, but sometimes that happens better when there is a third party involved. This eCourse would help my daughter realize the importance food has on health so that she can take control of her well-being more instead of wondering why I always serve the family what she sees on the table. It would also be nice for her to see that her mother isn’t the only one who soaks, ferments, and cooks in-season. 🙂
Whoops! Can I change my nomination? I totally spaced on somebody that could use the scholarship far more than my cousin-in-law.
In the hopes that I can, I’d like to nominate my co-worker, Stephanie. She’s on maternity leave right now, getting ready to have her second child (after years of trying, giving up, and trying again). Her husband injured his back in a work accident a few years back, and has just finished nursing school, so he’ll soon be working full-time as a nurse, leaving Stephanie to do all of the cooking for the family (and childcare).
By her own admission, she can follow a recipe, but only just, and any deviation often results in disaster, because she doesn’t know why she’s doing what she’s doing.
Recently, I showed her The Pioneer Woman Cooks, and she’s loving learning from those recipes, so I’d love to see her move onto more real food options for her and her family. Plus, I think her 12 year-old daugher would be a great apprentice student for her.
I’ve already offered to go to her house and give her some cooking lessons, but I think insight from someone that *actually* knows what they’re doing would be far more beneficial. 🙂
Thanks!
At our church, many of us have hopped on the Nourishing Traditions bandwagon, but one wonderful woman, who we call Grandma Barb, believes that it is too late for her to start making such drastic changes. Barb recently had triple bypass (and valve replacement) surgery and our oldest daughter stayed with her for a month to care for her. Barb’s doctors are giving her the standard, awful nutritional advice that brought on the onslaught of heart disease in this country. My middle daughter goes and spends one day a week at Grandma Barb’s learning to sew and other Titus 2 activities. If Grandma Barb won this class, it is something she and my daughter could do together, which would build up and nourish two generations at once (and put Grandma Barb on the right track for having a long, healthy life) because it is NEVER too late!
There’s no other person I’d rather nominate than my mother. She tried the whole paleo/primal diet for awhile with great results, but being an avid baker (yes, wheat included) she couldn’t keep it up for too long. I feel if she had some instructions of proper substitutions, there’s no way she could fail.
I would like to nominate my sister in law – Allison Kalinin. As a mother of 2 children she is already overly qualified to win 😉 This summer I have watched as she has gone through an elimination diet to help determine her daughter’s food intolerances while try to satisfies her almost 2 year old’s vegetarian habits. After cutting out all the major food allergens and fruit she hasn’t yet cracked the code. Through the process she has also begun to feel lost about what to cook for a sensitive 7 year old, a veggie 2 year old, and a newly gluten free husband. I know that she has explored whole foods much more this summer but the one thing that the life of a mom is not filled with is time. Cooking classes online would provide her with the guidance and tested recipes that would make a real difference to her.
I so admire the changes she has made so far.
Thanks,
Margaret
I’d like to nominate my daughter Christina. She has shown an interest in wholesome, healthy eating but she, like me, is frustrated with trying to figure out how to make the changeover from what we already know. As a young adult, she is still at home and what she learns would benefit her whole family. Taking the class with her would be a great opportunity to spend some good time with her on a regular basis – our lives have gotten so busy that we rarely spend time together anymore despite living under the same roof.
She’s not much of a cook – even of typical American food – although she does bake. I’d love her to learn how to cook real food instead of learning to cook what she’s grown up with.
Our family has made some changes in an effort to live healthier lives. We grow our own vegetables organically and recently started raising chickens for eggs (and eventually for meat). We are talking about getting either a cow or goats for milk, too. But we need help moving beyond preparing standard fare with this healthier food.
I would nominate my mother. As a vegan for 13 years she (very, very) sternly believes it is the ‘proper’ diet. And maybe it was for her. As a West Indian woman (St. Thomas USVI) fruits & veg s what her ancestors would have eaten and when sh switched to a vegan lifestyle she lost a whooping 60lbs!!! Even I was convinced that this way of eating was right. But my father is polish/German/Hungarian & I failed on veginism. And guess who is also failing?? My mother. Her weight has exploded to almost 300lbs and she is VEGAN. I’ve been working w/ traditional foods for 6 months now & my mom is asking questions and is questioning if this is right. Because she is being tested for Lupus & thought her diet would ‘save’ her from such tragedy. So I nominate my mom. A woman who taught me to be healthy. I wouldn’t have taken the first step without her & now I want to do the same for her.
Thank you for this opportunity,
Amanda 🙂
My sister-in-law, Drena, is an inspiration. She and my brother both have Lyme Disease. They were unable to have children and so adopted three beautiful girls last fall. They got an instant family and their lives would have been hectic enough, but then she broke her foot. It took five months to heal. And now, a year later, almost to the day, she has broken it again at the same place. I just want them to be as healthy as they can be.
I am nominating Christie Fortado because she has really stepped up her effort over these past few months to pay more attention to what she’s eating. She has started cooking at home A LOT more and buying fresh ingredients. She has become more conscience of laboratory on foods and is more mindful of using ingredients with no preservatives and using less butter and fatty cooking methods. I am very proud of her commitment.
I am nominating my friend Jennifer Horton. Her idea of a “balanced meal” is a protein, a box of cheddar broccoli rice and a package of mashed potatoes. She desperately wants to learn a better lifestyle, her husband has been told to lose weight or else his back will not heal and he will not be able to work. Jen runs her own daycare as well, and I believe a more cultured and colorful plate will also benefit the little ones she is growing!
I am nominating me! Because I’m in wheelchair since a couple of years and we would like to conceive another baby but this time I would like to walk and stand during my pregnacy….Best opportunity to try to heal since Doctors can’t !!!
I am nominating my sister. She is a retired elementary school librarian. She is an “information junkie” and loves to share what she learns, so there would be a “ripple effect” with the knowledge. She is committed to healthy eating and if she won I know she would take full advantage of this opportunity to learn even more about nutritious and delicious food.
I would like to nominate my my mom. She always made me real meals as a kid for which I am thankful now, but wasn’t so much then. She did it out of necessity then, and she didn’t have a very broad knowledge about nutrition. Now my father is in a health crisis due to a surgeon’s mistake and he needs nourishing and healing foods at every meal. This class would help my parents get through this tough time and get them both back to eating healthy.
I am nominating my husband, Dane. Our family has encountered multiple serious health issues in the past 2 years that have necessitated a serious change in the way we think about and approach food. At the same time, our household roles have drastically changed – I have gone back to work while he has transitioned into being the stay-at-home parent, maintainer of the household and family chef. Unfortunately, at the time of that transition I had spent the past many years studying the principles of Traditional foods and a nutrient-dense diet and was unable to transfer my breadth of knowledge to him; I know that while he greatly desires to continue down that path he lacks the knowledge and skills to do so.
I’d like to nominate my mother. My father passed away about a year and a half ago after a nine year battle with ALS. my mother would like to eat better, but I know she easily gets overwhelmed. I’ve helped her some, guiding her to good sources of meat, eggs, and dairy, and sharing what I’ve learned. I’ve convinced her to join a local Csafor next year. I think if we both took this course, I could help her even mire, while learning valuable new skills myself. Neither of us has a lot of extra money at the moment, so being able to take the course for free would be amazing.
I would nominate my sister-in-law Victoria. She is already on her real food journey, but I think everyone could benefit from some extra tips! Her and her hubby have fluctuating income, so tips on meal planning and buying seasonally, etc would most definitely help her out. I would love for her to have access to this, as she is trying to feed her family nutritious food, and I know it would be a blessing to her!
What better way to learn to cook on your own than to have something as wonderful as this class to get you started and help you through learning while at a time in life when you can place all the right building blocks for a healthy lifestyle in place.
I would like to nominate my sons girlfriend Megan. She loves to cook, but has just moved out of her parents house and over 300 miles from home. I know she would benefit greatly from the classes and learn a lot about nutrition in the process, and at the same time she would appreciate the guidance in the right direction of eating in a healthy way.
I feel Megan would be just the person to win this on line cooking scholarship and use it to its fullest. She would also understand all my crazy antics in the kitchen after taking the class!
I nominate my mom. I love my mom dearly & she is a great cook. However, she questions why I’m starting to cook the way I do, I guess partly from spending the last 30 years with a “doctor recommended” diet for my dad, who suffered a heartattack in his early 30s. I think she would be a good candidate, as I am only learning so am not a good teacher & she is starting to ask a lot of questions, most of which I don’t feel capable of answering. “Why butter & not margarine” “Whats wrong with Cool-Whip” “Mayo over miracle whip, and seriously you can MAKE it?” I also think she is in desperate need of a makeover diet, as she suffers from Lupus, is on all kinds of meds she “needs”, has dry-eye, dry skin, ringing in the ears, headaches, the list goes on. So in a sense I would say this scholarship could really change my moms life, definitely her eating habits & maybe even save her! Thanks for the opportunity – What a great give away!
This is exactly what I’m looking for! I want to provide ny husband, myself, and our 3 young boys with nutrient rich foods that help our bodies perform well. This is a struggle in our society for many reasons. The cycle has to end and I want to learn how!
Aleks lived with her parents until she bought a condo with her [now] husband. Her mother is an excellent Russian cook, but never had the patience to let Aleks into the kitchen. When she asked me [a mediocre cook] for cooking lessons I was amazed at what she didn’t know: leveling a measuring cup, cutting up vegetables, peeling a potato. She’s made great strides in the past few years and will prepare from scratch meals, but cooking still doesn’t ‘make sense’ to her. She could really use these classes. [So could I!]
I would like to nominate my daughter in law, Megan, for this course. She has been my inspiration for learning how to cook ‘real’ food. She has a young son and her husband has pretty severe allergies to food additives, so she is trying to learn how to cook in a way that nourishes her family. She is a very busy mom, who also volunteers her time to help others and I know she would LOVE this class which would give her a big boost on the learning curve of real food cooking! Both of our families have benefited from our reading of books and blogs, but there is so much to learn.
My daughter, Amy, loves to learn & loves to cook. She is always trying out new recipes & wanting to improve her cooking skills. Her ultimate goal & desire is to be healthy & to be able to cook healthy meals for her children. She worries a lot about their health & this class would help her so much in learning how to cook real food. With her husband being in the Navy & Amy having to work full time to help support their family this is something she would never have the opportunity to do. Amy would really benefit from this class…that is why I nominate her.
Inspiration! After five years of eating vegan, I developed a soy allergy and started dreaming about cheese. A year of vegetarianism followed before I started dreaming about meat (when my body tells me something, I always listen). And reading more and more about real food. What I’m lacking is inspiration. With every book I read, I feel more committed and inspired, but sometimes it’s just hard to get excited about a task I need to tackle twice a day. Now I’m pregnant and eating real has become an even more urgent need. Please pretty please with a freshly picked cherry on top let me win the scholarship!
I would like to nominate my 19 year old daughter Brittany. After being home schooled, my daughter unfortunately has found her cooking inspiration from cooking shows which do not emphasize health but chronic disease. She is hoping to enroll in Culinary school in January. This is killing me!
I have been a Food Renegade for a number of years. My journey began twenty years ago when my husband was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I began reading labels and learning what went into our food and was horrified. I have hoped to take this course but for financial reasons, have held off.
My daughters have learned to cook gluten free, but what many people don’t realize is “Gluten-free” isn’t necessarily healthy. My daughter works in a Gluten free bakery that produces products that are unhealthy starches, sugar and rancid “Bad” fats.
I am a firm believer in “passing down” traditions and if we as a society are going to overcome and reverse disease, it will need to start with us and continue down the generations as we train our youth to be “Food Renegades”.
Because I only have a short window of time to influence my daughter, please consider us.
I nominate a friend of mine. She’s a busy mom, active church attendee, and volunteers so much if her time to her kids school and church. She also struggles with eczema. She wants to do better, but like us all, struggles to find balance, I think this class would be a fantastic way to steer her towards natural foods, and maybe introduce her to some amazing traditional practices like yogurt making and lactofermentation. Thank you for offering this opportunity.
Love to cook better
I would like to nominate my husband and myself. When my daughter was 2 months old I found out I had cancer and had to have surgery and radiation. After that I became a vegetarian thinking that was the best way to go. After a year and a half of that I stopped and started eating horrible and was depressed. I have really researched alot in the last year and whole heartedly believe that eating the nourishing traditions way/primal/paleo is the best way. The problem is that I can’t cook meat other than hamburger meat or chicken in a crockpot. Everything else tastes aweful so I REALLY need this class if I’m ever going to be able to feed my family in a healthy way. My husband has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type II diabetes. My son has asthma, peanut allergies, and eczema. So far my daughter doesn’t have any issues other than being big for her age and hating meat and veggies. 🙁
I’d love to nominate my best friend, Muna! Muna and her husband have the typical American lifestyle: she’s a housewife: doing the cooking, shopping, cleaning and chauffers of the kids between school, soccer and other extra-curricular activities. Muna’s husband is a great man and hard worker who puts in 12-14 hour days (at least!) between work and travel. He lost weight through Weight Watchers, but those pounds creep back.
They’re blessed with a large family, which means they go to many family functions, obviously revolving around food. These are rich foods filled with many calories, but not always packed with the best nutritious choices. Another downfall of the typical American lifestyle means they frequent fast foods places like SickDonald’s. Of course, the kids beg for fast food whenever they’re pushed for time and still must eat.
Muna, who suffers from PCOS, was diagnosed with diabetes a few years ago. She means well, and is interested when I talk to her about healthy eating and how to manage through the chaos (advanced planning), but she gets too caught up with the here and now. I’d love for her to know how to prepare for healthy eating, both at home and outside.
i’m nominating my mother. i haven’t seen her in 10 years because we don’t live in the same country and don’t have enough money to visit each other. so, it would be nice to take the class with her 🙂 my father had a heart attack about 15 years ago and has sinus, gout and cholesterol problems. when i was living there i tried cooking more healthy foods for him but my idea of healthy was limited to vegetarian and low-fat. i’ve tried to share with them the wonders of real food which i’ve discovered because of my children’s eczema problems and a battle with cancer. but they haven’t been willing to make many changes so far. which amazes me. in our family we have cancer, parkinson’s, suicidal depression, alcoholism, diabetes, and heart issues. i want them to seriously think about food in relation to all of that.
thank you
Prayers have been answered. I am so glad you have stepped out into the light to share this important message. I just returned from a womans retreat where so many(there were 1000 of us at this christian retreat)people who were confused,struggling and addicted to junk, yet open about listening to what is happening in our world with censorship, our health and the lack of it; drugs being promoted and truth lost. We don’t want their children to follow like lemmings into degenerative illness due to improper “diets”, and suffering allergies and exposure to toxins. I would love to share, promote and encourage the goodness of everything raw and provide alternatives to the unnatural, processed and unrecoginizable products that pass as food in this country and stop polluting our world and bodies. We collectively need to wakeup before it’s too late. I imagine a healthier world/country where we consume our food as God intended un-alduterated and uncontaminated, otherwise, our children will die earlier than us and not have a clue since schools promote junk for profit. We must also realize that our soils and contaminated and “anemic”; if it’s not in the soil, it’s not in the plant(Joel Wallach). People need to know our rights & liberty are threatened. Our freedom of choice, to select/purchase vitamins is also at stake in this once free country.(Seeds of deception, Food Inc,Future of Food, Healing Cancer from the inside out, F.L.O.W.)Thank God for opening our ears & for these renegade film makers giving us wisdom!
I was encouraged by the interest of so many women, wanting healthy change. I would love to share this program with everyone I know,and have them pass this on to everyone they know. We all hunger for a better way &direction on how to change the damaging patterns we unwittingly adopted during our lives, mostly due to commercialism fed to consumers how & what we buy, cook and eat, to more nutrient dense, life enhancing, lovely raw, nutritious healthy foods that promote well being not cell death and toxicity. There is a desperate need for help to enable this change. Sadly,we may be the only voice some people will hear about it. Thanks for making a difference, sharing, for your hard work & doing what is right-Amen!God Bless
I would like to nominate my Mother, Devorah. I have always been interested in health, food and cooking. My Mom? Not so much. Growing up, I would plead with her to only have a “healthy cart” at the grocery store (I was 8!) and always longed for her to cook for me like her “hippie” friends did for their families. Well, I am proud to say that all of my badgering has worked (kind of)! She is now really understanding and feeling the benefits of eating a diet based in the brilliance of Weston Price and Paleo influences. For the past year I have lived with her, cooking every dinner. She does have a garden and access to an abundance of beautiful local and organic foods in our community, but she lacks the cooking skills and education that she will need to continue what we have started when I leave. I want her to feel empowered in the kitchen and inspired to create her own healthy meals, as I have been for my entire life. I know the joy that preparing your own food can create and that is the missing link to making this a forever lifestyle, not just a “diet she tried” . You might ask, why don’t I teach her?! Well, I do, but I find when people take their learning into their own hands and make it their own, that is when true change occurs and has staying power. So, I ask for her to receive this gift for all of the gifts she has given me…….nourishment for her roots, as she has nourished my own.
I nominate my mother! She is overweight, severely hyperglycemic, and has been suffering from mood issues. My father is a juvenile onset diabetic who is tip toeing around renal failure (and both my parents eat what would be considered healthy by the mainstream doctors…)
They both were quite interested in how I was eating, but when I started to walk them through my diet, I think they got intimidated. This class would help take them through step by step instead of dropping things on them too quick like I did. 🙁
I would like to nominate my wife Anitha for this scholarship. We have an 8 year old son on the autism spectrum, who is also suffering from several gut issues. We started the GAPS diet for him about 2 months back. I have also been facing problems with digestion, and food intolerances all my life Since I have to work more than full time to support our family( we have a daughter too), the task of caring for our children, therapies etc are mainly on my wife. Despite her hectic schedule, she spends a lot of time researching diet, real foods and cooking from scratch so that our son can recover, and that the whole family is healthy. Winning the scholarship will be of tremendous help in the form of solid guidance in preparation,choice and budgeting of foods that heal and take us to our desired destination.
Honestly? I need to nominate myself. My diet isn’t SAD, but it’s definitely not happy and real food-y as it could be, mainly due to a variety of excuses: too complicated, too much planning, not practical, I’d have to (gasp) give up foods I’m probably addicted to.
I have a TON of health issues (very serious mental health and skin disorders) and I know they’re crying out to be addressed by a real food diet. If anyone can bust my excuses and empower me, I know Jenny can!
I nominate my daughter Rebecca, as she will be nourishing our future generations as well as us her family in her time at home.
My sister would be perfect for this class. She is my go to for real food answers but I know she would love to have some more information and ideas to add to her list. She has helped me so much and I would love to give back to her by being able to take this class!
I am nominating Emily from ButterBeliever.com!
I would like to nominate my friend Raul.
I have actually been wanting to buy him this class for some time because he is beginning chef school. The material is very standard because it is more of a trade school. He had never had a real pickle until I gave him a lacto-fermented one! He is bright, young, and passionate about food and health.
He comes from a family background filled with all the modern diseases of cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, fatty liver and also hepatitis.
His interest in health and food makes him very different from the rest of his family. He understands the relationship between diet and health, however he has not had much exposure to these ideas because it was never in his environment. I would love to see what he does with these classes! Thank you!
I would like to nominate my daughter Brittnie. She is a homeschooling highschooler struggling to understand proper nutrition and why it is important. Bad food is in abundance and calling to her teenage mind. We are a military family living overseas. In order for the food to be shipped to us most of it is highly processed and the milk is ultra pasteurized.
We all suffer from migraines, stomach upset, skin issues, weight and she constantly has dark circles under eyes. My youngest child a boy was born premature via emergency c-section. He was diagnosed with a rare (for an infant to have) Atrial Flutter. He is listed as failure to thrive being lower than 5% of the children his age for height and weight. He is now 3yrs old 34 inches tall and 28 pounds, He wears 12-18 month clothing, carries a potbelly, reflux and digestive troubles they can not explain.
Ever since he was born we have tried to be more aware and trying to take care of him. The harder we try the less it seems we are doing right for our family and we just get worse.
I bought the book Nourishing Traditions and we are trying to wrap our heads around what we should do.
I want her to learn proper healthful nutrition. This could be her foundation that she could build on. Even if we don’t win the class we are still going to work our way through this.
Brittnie is very concerned about taking care of others. One of the things she talks about everyday is that she would like to open a restaurant that serves healthy food. She would like to do this so that people have other opportunities than fast food. Something that will help people be healthier.
Thank you for this opportunity.
I am nominating my best friend Patricia. A few months ago she watched Food Matters and since then she and I have both started on a natural whole foods journey. We both feel so much better.. What a great gift for her to be able to learn more about how to cook healthy!!
I would like to nominate myself, and if I win give the second enrollment to my sister Jasmine. When I had kid #1 ten years ago no one had ever showed me how to cook. We were eating out of boxes and cans, and I almost never even stopped in the produce section. Now kid #1 is on the autism spectrum. When I got pregnant with kid #3 two years ago I knew that I needed to be super careful about what I ate to ensure that that wouldn’t happen again. I learned about cooking with whole foods as I tried to eat right in my third pregnancy, with the help of sites like Food Renegade. Now I am pregnant with kid #4 and feel like I want to commit to eating whole foods because it is the right thing for my family, and I want to get a solid footing in educating myself. My sister took a smarter path than I did and has always been conscientious about what she eats. I think these courses would be ideal for both of us to learn more.
I would like to nominate my friend Julie for the scholarship to Jenny’s “How To Cook Real Food” online cooking class. My friend Julie and I both got started together on the “real food” and good nutrition through healthy eating, band wagon. During this time, my father was found to have stage four cancer and began treatment. The treatment was making him very ill and we did not think he would survive these treatments. Julie suggested a doctor to us and my dad went for a second opinion. His treatment now also includes a whole foods healthy diet. Thanks to Julie’s suggestion, my dad is doing very well and has quality of life again.
The reason I would like Julie to win, is that both she and I are passionate about healthy diet and eating real foods, but both of us are cooking challenged! We both find ourselves saying, “I just don’t know what or how to prepare it.” We would love to be able to prepare delicious healthy meals for our families. We also both have a passion for introducing people to this lifestyle change but it would really help if we knew how to cook!
I would like to nominate my older sister Vanessa. She had her first baby almost a year ago and is expecting her second in April. I’m due with my first in less than a month. Needless to say, both of us have been spending a lot of time recently thinking about what we put in our bodies and feed to our families. I think it would be an excellent opportunity for both of us to learn more about real foods that fit our lives, and it would be a perfect bonding experience. I can imagine now telling our children about how we learned to make some of their favorites together when we were young 🙂
I’ve been coveting this cooking class so I thought I’d try out for the scholarship 🙂 Our food struggles began w/our son in 2/06 when he had colic, eczema, etc. Denying the doctor’s steroid cream and GERD medication, we opted for me doing an elimination diet (since he was nursing). This then led to a host of food intolerances including: gluten, dairy, soy, corn, tomato, citrus, chocolate (OUCH), eggs, potatoes. Then my husband discovered bleeding which led him down the same road of food intolerances, plus no rice nor garlic. Through the blessing in disguise of my son’s food issues, I discovered my IBS symptoms disappeared! Fast forward to my daughter born last year, and she has the same intolerances. So we’ve come full circle and feel the Lord leading us to do a GAPS diet, which is quite a life change and HUGE commitment. I’d love to learn to cook better (I never really cooked before until 2007, my husband did the cooking and we ate out all the time), with more variety, less reliance on recipes, save money and to learn how to meal plan. The more we’re learning about using fermented foods and broths, the better we’re feeling. Thanks for offering this!!
My daughter has been a vegan now for about a year. She goes between eating cooked food and raw depending on her needs. She is always looking for good recipes to share with her friends and family. She loves cooking/creating with fresh organic food in season. It would be great for her (and me) to cook/create those tasty recipes all year round even when the garden isn’t being so bountiful.
We want to support her lifestyle. We are also feeling much more energetic and our weight has stabilized. It’s all about the choices we make. She has started university this year and so she will have many new challenges ahead of her. She would be thrilled to be able to get a scholarship to take this online course as her graduation present was a laptop and they are now inseparable and would be fantastic in the kitchen! Thanks so much for this-we would have a blast!
I’d like to nominate my 2 daughters and defer my scholarship. My oldest daughter is in her later 30’s and a 5 year survivor of stage 3 melanoma. Mom to 3, stopped nursing her youngest to start her cancer treatment. We have changed ALOT about how and what we eat. But this course could be the next step to improve her chances of continued health. My youngest daughter also has experienced health issues and is Mom to one so far. I’m very proud of their courage and optimism in the face of difficult times in their lives. More than anything in the world I’d like to leave my girls a legacy of better health and long lives. Thank you.
I nominate my sister-in-law Josey, currently living in Germany. While she and my brother have been abroad they’ve found the same information I’ve found from the Weston A Price Foundation. How exciting for us that we’ve each begun to make the same dietary changes, independently. Though my brother is a great cook, Josey describes herself as a beginner. I know she and I would both enjoy learning to cook real foods, together, while an ocean apart!
My original response appears to have disappeared. I wanted to nominate my 21y.o. Daughter Christina. She bakes but doesn’t cook much. She is interested in healthier eating but, like me, is frustrated by figuring out where to start and how to use real food as the foundation of her diet.
We’ve made the effort to eat healthier – we grow our own organic veggies and started raising chickens for eggs (and eventually meat). We are talking about raising goats or a cow for milk, too. But we don’t really know the fundamentals of cooking healthy and it is important to us since her father/my husband is a cancer survivor.
I nominate my daughter and her new roomie. I raised my daughter on real food and food safety and her roomie knows nothing about either. My biggest concern is that she doesn’t handle meat properly and keeps cross contaminating EVERYTHING. Not sure if you cover this but the girls clearly need lots of help. I’ve been battling advanced cancer and am overly concerned about my daughters health, this would put my mind at ease.
I would like to nominate my friend Katie Kenfield. Katie lives with her daughter and husband in a small studio, because it is all she can afford. Her husband has been out of work for several years, and she recently stopped working herself. Thankfully Josh, her husband was able to find a part time job, but they are still barely making it. Recently Katie told me that right now all they can afford is ToppRamen noodles. She really wants to eat healthier and is one of my biggest supporters in my effort to live a life full of real foods that are not only good for me but good for the planet. I think with this class she will learn how to feed her family in a guilt-free way and have hope that, even on a small budget, we can and deserve to eat well and consequently live well.
Thanks for the opportunity to enter! 🙂
I nominate myself and my daughter. I don’t have a hardship story to tell, thank goodness but I truly want to change the way my family eats and views food! We have been changing slowly on what we already know but we definitely need to know more. What is most important, I think, is that we want to pass on the knowledge. So many need to know that how they are “nourishing” their bodies is actually making them sick! That’s why I like your website and others like it! That is my story and I hope you and others like it…it’s all I got! :^)
I would like to nominate my eldest daughter Olivia. She is a 16 yo (about to be 17)who loves to cook and bake for our family and others. She is the oldest girl in our family of 8 children and helps me in the kitchen regularly. Since her little brother was diagnosed with leukemia, we have been on a quest to live healthier and help him heal. She is intrigued with science, she is athletic, and as mentioned, is interested in good health. I would be thrilled to give her this gift as she prepares for her future as a woman, wife, and mother.
I’d like to nominate my wife Amy for this scholarship. Amy has always loved to cook, whether it be for her family or friends. She works with a company now that deals with school meal programs making sure kids get the nutrients that they need. I’ve built her multiple bookshelves for her cookbooks that seems to be slowly taking over the house. Currently I am in the Navy and try to visit often to be with my family, one of the best part is the home cooking. Never does Amy let me leave without a good meal and a plate full of treats for the seven hour drive. If there is anyone worthy of such a scholarship its my amazing wife Amy.
I would like to nominate my mother. She cared for a terminally ill husband for 19 years (Myotonic Dystrophy), raised 3 young children & only now is she trying to heal herself from years of neglect- uncontrolled diabetes, etc. (and a childhood of malnourishment). She is now left in a situation of trying to make up for the financial hardships of caring for someone for 19 years (insurance does not come close to cutting it) and working well into her retirement years, scraping by to buy real food for the first time in her life. This is someone who truly deserves to finally get a leg up in this world.
I’d like to nominate my wife, Sarah. She has really started trying to cook healthy meals for us and eat real foods. Our move away from processed foods has really helped my allergies and I’m thankful for all the work she’s done.
She would really benefit from your class for several reasons – she works hard to cook good meals but she hasn’t learned yet how to make most things taste very good.
She’s also a blogger about healthy living, so I’m sure much of what she would learn would be passed on to her blogging community.
I nominate my friend Cindy who led me to this site!
I would like to nominate my sister Mylie!! She worked 2 jobs while going to school as a full time student and never had time to take care of herself or do the things she wanted to, like learn to cook. Now she is about to get married and they want kids, however she is afraid her insufficient diet could have a negative effect on her fertility. I think she truly deserves this as it will allow her some ‘me’ time and also help set her and her hopefully new family on the right path… and maybe help a baby come along!!