Thank you for joining me. I’m Terry!
I’m a cookbook author, teacher, chef, writer, coach, and speaker. I’ve been empowering people to make healthy and sustainable diet and lifestyle changes for over two decades.
How did I get here? My wake up call came when in college. My dad had suffered a heart attack, and my mom insisted I have my cholesterol checked. When I did, I was told simply that I was in a no risk category. I reported my “no risk” status to my mom, and she insisted I go back and have my blood drawn. Days later, I learned that my cholesterol was through the roof. Living on cafeteria food and delivery pizza was not going to allow me to improve my health, so I moved into an apartment with a kitchen and started teaching myself how to cook and eat real food.
Most of my early meals consisted of brown rice, canned beans, and chopped raw vegetables. I had two techniques – toss it all with salad dressing or throw it all in a pot with water, simmer, and make soup (my family now lovingly refers to this as “Goodness Soup”). Most “healthy” cookbooks at that time were filled with dairy and sugar, so I just kept figuring it out on my own.
The more accomplished I became in the kitchen, the more I craved deeper knowledge. I dove into classes in macrobiotics, integrative nutrition, and Ayurveda. I gave birth to two amazing daughters which required me to learn about food sensitivities and gut health. And I continued on my own journey, discovering the connection between food, body, mind, and soul.
Many people thought I was crazy when they saw what I was eating, but a handful were curious enough to ask me to teach them how to cook with these “unusual” ingredients, and thank goodness they did. Twenty two years, four books, and hundreds of cooking classes later, I have that community to thank. Together we continue to find our way through an ever-changing food system, dig deep to understand our changing constitutions, support each other, shared countless hours in the kitchen, cook clean food, bake sourdough bread, ferment vegetables, eat, and embody the true meaning of nourishment.
When I’m not cooking, teaching, exploring a farmers market, or working in my garden, I could be hiking, running, cycling, skiing, knitting, dancing in the kitchen with my family, sitting on the front porch watching the weather, or snuggling with my best boy, Atlas (shown above).
Whether you are interested in classes, health coaching, corporate wellness programs, or cookbooks, I look forward to sharing this journey to good health.
