lohudfood.com writes about The Organic Teaching Kitchen!

Shed pounds with healthy eating cooking lessons

MARCH 31, 2015
by LUCY BAKER
Spring is finally here. And while everyone is excited for the sunshine, blossoming flowers, and warm weather, many of us have been hiding a few leftover holiday pounds beneath bulky wool sweaters and heavy down coats.

With swimsuit season looming dangerously on the horizon, you may be determined to drop a dress size, cut back on sugar, or eliminate gluten from your diet. And with all the spring veggies popping up at the farmers market, you may feel inspired to improve your kids’ eating habits by tossing out those chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas.

Confused about how to overhaul your diet — or your family’s? You don’t have to go it alone.

“People don’t know where to start,” says Susan Chasen, a certified nutrition and health coach and the owner of The Organic Teaching Kitchen in Croton-on-Hudson. They set themselves up for failure by creating goals that are too difficult or unrealistic. But “clean eating is a deceptively simple concept. You don’t need a gourmet kitchen to eat well. You just need the basics.”

A lifelong holistic enthusiast, Susan graduated from Manhattan’s Institute of Integrative Nutrition in 2009. She began seeing clients out of her home, and in 2012 expanded into a larger commercial space — complete with a vegetable garden — on the corner of Maple Street and Old Post Road South.

Working out of a sunny, warm kitchen redolent with granola and herbal tea, Susan offers hands-on cooking and nutrition classes that emphasize local, seasonal foods. “What sets me apart is that we actually go into the kitchen and cook,” she says. She often begins by demonstrating a quick and easy snack of bok choy leaves topped with homemade almond butter, cinnamon, and unsweetened coconut.

Susan sees clients privately and in groups, coaching them on eliminating gluten, making over their pantries, and even accompanying them to the supermarket, where she shows what to stock up on and which aisles to avoid. Workshops range from “Healthy Eating 101” to a “Sugar Seduction” seminar aimed at taming your sweet tooth and satisfying cravings with natural alternatives, like chocolate truffles made with raw cacao, medjool dates, walnuts, and chia seeds.

Her most popular offering is a 21-day cleanse in which clients give up sugar, dairy, gluten, alcohol, and caffeine. “But,” Susan says, “there are no restrictions on how much you can eat.” The recipes she teaches are straightforward and simple, and mix familiar flavors with new ingredients. A few examples: baked sweet potato fries with coconut oil, chickpea miso soup, kale salad with local raw honey, and vegan ice cream made with frozen bananas and natural peanut butter.

There are also classes for children ages 7 to 14 with topics like healthy breakfasts and after-school power snacks, plus birthday parties where kids bake two treats using organic ingredients and unrefined sugar, and wash everything down with a freshly blended “green piña colada” smoothie with spinach. “Kids start thinking about food,” Susan says. “And then they take that knowledge home to their parents.”

Her advice for getting started on a healthy eating track? “Join a group or hire a coach — both create structure and accountability. And reward yourself once you reach your goal. For example, buy that Vitamix blender you have been eyeing.”

That is, if you don’t have the money earmarked for a new swimsuit.

If you go …

The Organic Teaching Kitchen, 18 Old Post Road South, Croton-on-Hudson. 914-582-9574, theOrganicTeachingKitchen.com