Cooking Classes

All cooking classes taught by Linda Watson, author of Wildly Affordable Organic: Eat Fabulous Food, Get Healthy, and Save the Planet—all on $5 a Day or Less. Also see the class descriptions in the Wildly Good Cook Certificate Program, which can be offered as a series or individually. See the calendar for the current class schedule.

These classes have been wildly successful at Whole Foods Markets, food co-ops, and businesses. If you'd like one of these classes or a customized version for your own organization, please fill out the event request form.

Cooking the Wildly Affordable Organic Way

Core class for 2012. If you’ve wanted to eat like it matters but felt you couldn’t afford it, Wildly Affordable Organic is for you. Learn to make Spicy Peanut Noodles with Summer Vegetables using key WOA skills: shopping with the seasons, elevating thrifty ingredients with spices, and even getting something for nothing. Get ready for wild savings! You’ll also discover how to:

• Ease your family into a greener lifestyle with the 20-minute starter plan
• Go organic on just $5 a day—or go thrifty and spend even less
• Take advantage of your freezer and freeze your costs
• Organize your cooking to cut costs and cleanup
• Let small applicances make cooking real food a snap, from rice cookers to ice cream makers

Class time: 60 minutes as talk with optional PowerPoint illustrations or 90 minutes with cooking demonstration and samples.

New: Plant-Strong Baking

You can have your cake and your health too! Learn to make healthy, whole-grained cakes, cookies, muffins, and even chocolate layer cake using apple sauce, flax seed, plant milks, and other cholesterol-free alternatives to milk, butter, and eggs. Learn to make Good Biscuit Mix using coconut spread for the best biscuits ever to easily convert thousands of biscuit-mix recipes. See how easy it is to make a flax-seed "egg." Taste and score different plant milks to help you pick the right ones for future recipes. Class includes a demonstration and tasting of Chia Seed Crackers, plus recipes and a substitution chart to help you update your own favorites.

Wonderful Winter Greens

Take advantage of winter's bountiful greens for healthy, thrifty winter meals. Learn core recipes for the three main types of greens from Linda Watson, author of Wildly Affordable Organic: Eat Fabulous Food, Get Healthy, and Save the Planet--All on $5 a Day or Less. Spice up your menus with new twists on Asian greens, parsley, and arugula too. Even omnivores will rave about these scrumptious vegetarian and vegan recipes. Class included a demonstration of Arugula Pesto or Steamed Collards with Lime-Peanut Sauce and a recipe handout.

Making the Most of Summer Produce

Get the most value and pleasure from summer's abundant fruits and vegetables from appetizers to desserts. I'll show you how ripe, fresh produce makes all the difference. Learn to make Fresh and Easy Salsa; Black Bean Salad with Corn, Peppers, and Tomatoes; and Peach Ice Cream Supreme. Watch cooking demonstrations, taste generous samples, and take home recipes and tips.

You Bought It, So Cook It! Making Green Cooking Affordable

You can afford to cook with local, sustainably grown, and organic ingredients. Just squeeze every last drop of flavor and nutrition out of the food you buy. I'll show you how to make delicious dishes out of food that many people throw away. Learn how to make Magic Asparagus Quiche, Parsley Pesto, Chickpea Gravy, and Spanish Rice. Develop new habits that will provide you with "free" meals every month. Save hundreds of dollars a year and up your locavore score by making the best use of your freezer. If you don't learn enough tips to save at least double the cost of this class in a year, contact Cook for Good for a full refund. Class time: 60 minutes as talk or 90 minutes with cooking demonstration and samples.

Momentum Cooking for One

Right-size the Cook for Good techniques to make delicious, seasonal food from scratch just the way you like it. Linda Watson shows how to cook once and enjoy variations several times. Learn to make hot biscuits and more from a healthy, homemade mix, no-knead yeast rolls, crisp salads, and vegetarian main dishes such as Acorn Squash with Black Beans and Greens-Stuffed Bread Pockets. Sample homemade ice cream: strawberry or peach, depending on the season. 90 minutes.

A Tale of Two Sauces

Break out of the tomato-sauce rut with these two delicious, no-cook sauces. Learn to make Spicy Peanut Noodle Sauce and match it with seasonal vegetables all year round for peak taste and value. Also learn to make Southern Summer Pesto, featuring basil and pecans. Class includes cooking demonstrations, samples, and recipes to take home. 90 minutes.

Eat Your Fruit and Vegetables for Dessert

Making thrifty, green living a pleasure with luxuriously delicious, nutritious desserts. Learn how to top your meals with desserts loaded with fruit, vegetables, and other healthy ingredients. See how easy it is to make pudding from scratch and taste it over fruit as a warm sauce. You'll be cooking too in this fun class. Top a carrot-cake cupcake with ginger glaze and taste how this lower-fat alternative to frosting adds tropical flavor. Stack up a fruit shortcake using a delicious, easy hot-milk cake, seasonal fruit, and whipped cream. Class includes cooking demonstrations, samples, and recipes to take home. 90 minutes.

Cook for Good for the Holidays aka Big Party, Small Budget, Small Footprint

Do you yearn to fill your home with friends and family, but feel you don't have the money or skills to feed them all? I'll show you how core Cook for Good skills scale up to make holidays affordable and sustainable. Learn to cook for 10 or 50 and still have the energy to enjoy your own party. Learn to prepare Solstice Curry and Spicy Black-Eyed Peas, then help make a Hummus Yule Tree. Fix a plate of sample dishes, then discuss joyful, relaxed holiday entertaining. Get tips for handling different dietary needs, shopping and cooking ahead, and minimizing waste. Take home these recipes and more to help you celebrate from Thanksgiving through New Years' Day. 90 minutes.

Hands On Bread Workshop – Homemade Bread: Quick and Slow

Are you curious about baking bread at home, but don't know where to start, or looking for some new techniques? When you bake bread at home, you can use local eggs, milk, corn meal, and soon even flour! Come to this fun class to learn how to make delicious, nutritious bread at home. Whether you whip up a fast bread or keep a bowl of slow-rising yeast dough in the fridge, you can make whole-grain, fresh bread with very little money or effort. Learn how to make a healthy and versatile baking mix so you can serve hot biscuits in just 10 minutes, or super-quick pancakes while you are practically asleep. We will discover how easy it is to put gluten to work by making no-knead yeast bread, garlic flat bread, and pizza. Of course, we'll get to enjoy samples of hot delicious biscuits, and take lots of great recipes home. Class time: 3 hours.