Hi! I’m Courtney Coleman, and it’s a joy and an honor to come to your kitchen here in SLO County and show you how to cook deliciously with whole foods which can prevent and reverse disease, increase energy, and bring the mind, body and spirit back to balance. I believe that everyone needs different types of foods and lifestyle practices to maintain balance. Some people need more warming foods like simmered whole grains and grass fed meats, and some people need more cooling, cleansing raw vegetables. Learning to prepare the foundation of a whole foods diet which you can creatively change and add to according to your needs and tastes, will inspire you to take your wellness into your own hands. Many of my clients feel victorious after finally getting off processed foods, and are surprised by the amazing flavors and by the strategies they learn for reducing the time and money they thought it would take to prepare their own whole foods meals. Also, they'd heard about the health benefits of soaking & sprouting whole grains, incorporating the dark leafy greens to get the most bio-available food-state minerals, cooking with sea vegetables for trace minerals and to remove both heavy metals and radioactive substances from the body, making cultured vegetables for probiotic supplementation, using only unrefined oils and unrefined sweeteners and salts, etc., but they didn't have the motivation to learn these practices until I walked them through it!

Teaching whole foods diet & lifestyle is what I love doing most, and since starting my business in 2006, I’ve developed a comprehensive and engaging way of teaching you or your small group to CookWell in up to five, two-hour sessions. During the sessions in your own kitchen, I’ll give you several informational handouts for reference, and teach you cooking techniques for dark leafy green stir-frys, for baked dishes with sprouted whole grains, for savory pots of beans, for healthy snacks to go, and much, much more (see The Course page). Whole foods are rich in protein, good fats and minerals, and kids love their simple flavors. I’ll show you how to easily incorporate the alternatives to refined sugar, salt, and flour so you and your family can get off these processed foods once and for all, and I'll teach you how to tune into your body to intuitively know what it really needs. I’ll help to de-mystify the many, conflicting, food-industry claims that leave so many of us confused and overwhelmed, such as which oils and cookware are safest to use at high temperatures, and the pros and cons of soy. If you have kids of varying ages and taste preferences, I’ll teach you to make meals that serve everyone’s nutritional needs with a fabulous variety of flavors! Each of the sessions I offer are adaptable to wheat/gluten-free, dairy-free, and low glycemic/candida diets. I guarantee you’ll love the food AND feel increased vitality after three weeks of consistently eating the whole foods diet that’s right for you, or I’ll refund your money.

Different foods and lifestyles balance different types of people. Many of us are utterly confused as to what is best for us, and lacking good health in the meantime trying to figure it out. I teach my clients the basic philosophies of Macrobiotics, Ayurvedic cooking, and Solar Nutrition, which state that foods eaten in the form that Mother Earth gave them to us act as foundation medicine, and that eating and living in harmony with nature (the changes of the seasons and our own body’s rhythms) maintains balance. My clients can then experiment with each path to discover which one, or combination of paths, works best for them. That each person’s body chemistry, constitution, metabolism and blood type are so very different, I help my clients pinpoint which types of foods (animal proteins vs. vegetarian proteins), which ratios of carbohydrates to proteins to fats, and which lifestyle activities are most harmonizing for their particular constitution.

I've listed a free recipe at the end of each of the first four pages of this site to get you started. I'd love to talk to you on the phone to answer any questions you may have, and to find out how I can best serve you and your family’s needs. 805-547-9073

I'm Now Offering:

quarterly CookWell enewsletter with schedule of group classes at New Frontiers & Cal Poly SLO, tips and recipes....just scroll down to add your email to the list

kid's classes for ages 7-11 and 12-18

on-site cooking for your party/event OR meals for you to store & re-heat

10 different video downloads for $7 each (the entire CookWell course)

phone consultations

CookWell classes taught alongside my wonderful husband Don Andrade! Don is a fantastic chef, knifemaker and Zen kitchen enthusiast. He brings joy and mindfulness into helping people gently transition to a whole foods diet & lifestyle. He not only offers sustenance training, but deep listening, life path counseling and meditation coaching as well. Our collaborative CookWell course is outlined on the sustenance training page of his website: www.gingerbuddha.com. We'd love to talk with you anytime about your needs. (805) 528-8837

Check out our new CookWell Blog full of great info & recipes!

Dark Leafy Greens Stir-Steam: In a large stainless steel or cast iron frying pan or wok with a fitting lid, place 2 Tbsp ghee or olive oil over med. heat and spread evenly over the pan. Immediately add 2 cups sliced carrots and/or burdock root, 1/2 cup filtered water, 1 Tbsp ground ginger and 1 tsp ground coriander into the bottom of the pan. Stir well so spices spread evenly over the veggies, and after cooking 1 minute, add 1 cup chopped fresh green beans or snap peas and stir, then cook another minute and stir well. Next add 1/4 cup water and sprinkle in ½ tsp dill, tarragon, or rosemary (or all three!). Stir again and layer 1 bunch chopped dino kale or collard greens on top and cover with lid. After 1 minute, remove lid and stir. Turn off heat as soon as all the kale or collards are wet looking and slightly wilted. Add 3 Tbsp shoyu or tamari, and the juice of a lemon evenly to all the veggies and stir again. Enjoy all these food-state minerals, which are the most bio-available kind.

Thanks for visiting my website!