233. Chef Bai | Personal Chef | San Diego, CA

Chefbai.jpg

Tell us a little about yourself. 

No problem, I’m originally from Boulder, CO, I have been cooking since I was a little kid. I learned from my grandmother.

  • cooking videos and stuff
  • I moved to San Francisco,
  • big city
  • fresh out of high school
  • ended up getting my degree at the Cordon Bleu
  • private cheffing
  • living that lifestyle

Eventually I ended up moving back to Colorado and going back to school for nutrition which kind of led me to living in San Diego

The biggest thing I love about San Diego is there’s a farmer’s market every single day of the week!

So many questions there, how did you end up going from the Cordon Bleu to nutrition school. 

So I actually personally suffer from some health issues

degenerative disc disorder

chronic pain couldn’t manage it living in San Francisco which was very humbling to go from the big city owning own business back to mom and dad saying help me. I ended up going to a Dr. who wanted to take one of my discs out and he  gave me a 75% chance of walking again

I basically laughed at him and say you’re not going to decide my future so I decided to opt out of my surgery. It made me decide to go to school for nutrition. My life was so built around food and I knew if I tried hard enough I could help heal myself and heal my pain.

I went to a couple of nutrition schools to try one to find one that I liked.

Studied the psychology of why we eat what we eat

fresh foods

  • golden nugget of
  • I didn’t know in detail

So I healed myself through eating

  • healed my back pain
  • recently had another surgery for my endrometriosis

Nutrition has basically saved my life

  • I’m super grateful all of those experiences
  • To be able to open my own eyes and then teach other people how to heal themselves through eating healthy!

I also bought the domain name, life happens 4 you this week too because my motto for 2018 is life happens for you not to you. Sounds like life maybe happened to you since your teaching so many people! Maybe someone’s gonna direct them to hear this today and share it with someone that needs to hear it. When listeners go to your website and see how vibrant you are and how healthy you look!

Tell me about your first gardening experience was it with your grandmother did you say? 

That was my first cooking experience but my mother is such a kick ass gardener!

I grew up in Colorado maybe 20 minutes east of Boulder. Grew up on a couple of acres. 

My mom would every single year her garden would get more amazing! 

She could only garden in the summer time

She would bring ones in plants in pots in the house in the winter time so there were potted plants everywhere!

We would do little interviews on our video camera walking around I would talk about all the herbs, tomatoes and squash!

My mom would spend time out there for hours

  • replanting things
  • planting new things
  • she would get my dad on new projects
  • build new beds

Even to this day still the whole summer is filled with more gardening!

Maybe she will be a guest and talk to me about gardening!

It’s her biggest love

She owns a super successful business but I think if she could she would just quit and garden all day.

My mom cooks a few things really really well. She wasn’t the real chef, I would say I was always the chef, I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid! I would kind of teach myself. 

My mom was super big on organic! To the point where now if she sees someone spraying she will go up to people and tell them to stop!

Because the dogs graze on the grass and we want to keep

  • the bees happy
  • the birds

The more chemicals that are sprayed the more it messes up the whole ecosystem. She’s really concerned about super keeping everything environmentally friendly.

I’m teaching 4th grade and it sounds like you were doing what they are doing now. I keep telling my kids so much they are gonna be on the computer when they get older, making you tube videos etc. 

What do you want to talk about next your business or your healing process or where do you want to go?

We can talk about my business and healing process becaus I feel like they are one and the same.

You teach best what you most need to learn. For me personally, I am constantly on a path to healing

I had surgery 2 months ago now for my endometriosis and it has been this whole new process now of learning now what does my body need to feel different to feel better?

It’s different then it was 2 months ago. I have to open my eyes up to this different kind of lifestyle in a sense!

My business is I teach others how to cook healthy food straight to the source

You kind of let ingredients speak for themselves, which is perfect when you talk about organic gardening, you don’t want to alter ingredients very much because they taste the best when they are straight out of the ground or best when they haven’t traveled so far

Chef Bai Cooking Classes

Chef Bai cooking classes

  • long distance coaching
  • teaching cooking on a retreat
  • all the same vibe of how to heal yourself through food

We all have things to heal from. I don’t think anyone is exempt from that, I think it is part of the human condition

So I’m going through this crazy thing I went through menopause, I just turned 50 this year, and my dr gave me hormones to combat hat flashes and I have gained 12 lbs already in just a month or so! I was like omgosh this is so not cool! 

I have had some crazy experiences with hormones myself. 

pushed me pushed me

  • detoxed
  • got rid of the hormones
  • I have terrible acne when I’m on them. 

I’m crazy when I’m on these hormones and I actually detox myself because they just don’t work. I know taking hormones is kind of big business – pharmeceuticals….

The other thing is I quit drinking at the same time, and I started taking the progesterone hormonal yam cream which has the warning on it, this product is known to produce cancer, but the company said no it’s natural progesterone…

You don’t know till you try

It’s all trial and error

taking  synthetic hormones

There are a lot of other ways you can go about it, especially just doing it for menopause

  • acupuncture
  • doing it regularly
  • watching what you eat
  • stay away from dairy is super important

There are a lot of hormones in dairy so it can completely alter your body chemistry

If you cleanse from eating dairy you feel like a different person

Also eating meat is something I found something not eating meat my hormones are so much more leveled out ~ I am in a totally different phase of life then you are. Talking hormones you want to get rid of anything that has added hormones. Even the meat that we eat even if it’s organic it always has hormones in it. 

I wanted to ask you. There’s a local girl who sells fresh cows milk, I thought it might be a good choice, IDK if I can go without dairy. But I thought if I got milk from this girl. It just kind of ties into cruelty free living, and making our own cheese, IDK it seems like it would take a lot of butter. 

My friend said I should buy organic butter and I can’t even afford regular butter. Mike bakes with a lot of butter.

its still dairy, nothing is forever

Especially when I talk to clients about stop consuming  something they really like

I love cheese so I would have to change my diet to give myself a break!

I would offer doing some sort of elimination diet.

For two weeks

stopped eating

  • meat
  • dairy
  • all added sugar

For two weeks you go on a vegan no sugar diet

Do a food diary, track how your feeling every single day

On the third week add in meat.

  • See how your feeling
  • hormonally
  • how your’e sleeping

next week

the fourth week you add in dairy

You can see by just by doing a little experiment

no real blood test, there’s no test from the take from a dr if you are having a reaction.

The only way to know is to do a test on yourself.

That sounds doable to only have to give it up for 2 weeks. I found a NoMeat Athlete podcast. I’m trying to run a half marathon in July. My official training date is April first to go into the plan. I’m trying to just do something every couple of days. Daylight savings is trying to throw me off.

No meat, no dairy

Vegan

There’s tons of resources out there

MinamilistBakerWEbsite.png

Minimalist Baker she has an amazing website packed full of vegan recipes that take 10 ingredients or less! 

best resources

OhSheGlowsWebsite

take out oh she glows

You’ll find that after those two weeks, you find you don’t crave those other things. I guarantee you will feel different. I just have to ask have you heard of that Oh She Glows Site? Another friend of mine mentioned her website.

Chef Bai Website

My website it more of a place to find me, it’s not a place of like a thousand recipes

few of my favorites

Im gonna make after we talk

chocolate zucchini muffin

no flour

ingredients

  • bananas
  • zucchini
  • almond butter
  • eggs
  • honey is the sweetener
  • black seed meal
  • baking soda
  • raw cacao ~ is basically the raw form of chocolate with no sugar added

I make them for my clients kids

boyfriend likes

not vegan muffins

a vegan egg replacer for a  muffin is flax seed meal

one heaping tablespoon flax seed meal with 3 tablespoons of water, mix that up, and set it on your counter for an hour and it replace one egg.

That would be awesome I have a whole bag of flax seed too!

It’s super simple way to replace an egg

You’ll spend a lot less money on food

If you are on a budget, committing to a couple of days of vegan or vegetarian is a lot less expensive. 

not necessarily

if I buy meat I always buy local organic meat

it’s expensive, so you find if you are not spending that extra $10 and just eating 

  • healthy grains
  • fats

You’re in San Diego where produce is a lot cheaper, I walked through the grocery store yesterday and I was like I can’t afford that or that or anything but splurged on some brocolli.

  • I do forget that super spoiled that we have a farmer’s market 365 days of year, it’s an actual law in the county of San Diego that we have a farmer’s market every day.

always summer here

  • live more inlands
  • eat it during the winter
  • cheaper
  • all those things

warmer months eating vegetarian is gonna get easier. 

I think I’m a pescatarian, I don’t actually eat much meat just fish and dairy. And most of my listeners are actually in California so they probably have access to farmer’s markets and produce. 

What else do you want to tell us?

I just started my own, I live in an apartment. I live by the beach so I don’t have a yard but I have a deck. I just started my own herb garden. But I had a question for you. 

There is some sort of animal eating specific herbs

  • dill
  • edible flowers
  • It will pick off succulents out of the dirt
  • eat edible flowers
  • likes to graze on the chives

I have no idea, my mom is stumped!

eats all of my edible!

If anyone knows or has any ideas email Bailey at info@chefbai.kitchen

The person I think might know would be Nell Foster who is in your area.

What’s your favorite recipe?

I just making super simple salads

I love making all sorts of different salsas

  • strawberry jalepeno salsa
  • tomatilla salsa

some of my favorite super easy things to make

  • fresh herbs in a 

    rice pilaf

simple

  • sauté the onions first
  • oil or butter ~ whatever you like to use for fat
  • fennel
  • toast the rice
  • veggie stock
  • rice finish
  • fresh herbs

don’t chop them fine

big chunks of herbs

That’s like heaven to me!

greek yogurt on there!

I’ve been putting greek yogurt in a lot of things this summer. Do you have any videos?

  • I just my mom is my biggest supporter in getting my youtube
  • couple more that I’m editing
  • couple added every week… I need to take more time for and make it a priority.
  • get most of my business from

Instagram

Instagram live

always posting whatever Im making that day on my stories

All of my posts have the recipes and captions

if you find me on Instagram

OK, I’m gonna go there because the dr was like healthier snacks. She wasn’t buying the hormones thing. I have to say, after talking to the Life without Plastics buy this morning I wonder if part of my problem is all the water bottles I reused against my husbands advice. 

tons of recipes that I’m constantly posting 

it’s been growing

Probably you have videos on instagram?

snacks that you can make in a couple of minutes!

Plastics

Plastic is terrible that’s the problem with plastic is it’s convenience

That’s why everyone is constantly consuming plastic

you look at things is unnecessary plastic on it…

And when you see the back end of a store, how much plastic comes on a pallet that comes into the store.

Even restaurant industry, the waste in the amount in plastic is just something so deeply rooted in our society and system.

purveyors

even farmers

deeply rooted in our society

IDK what it’s gonna take to change it?

I think it’s you rockstar millennials who are doing it and are being a good example for my kids.

what it’s

I saw there is one questions what is the one change is the

I just think buying local as much as possible is such a great way to reduce your carbon footprint

  • support your local farmers
  • your not supporting big pharma and big business
  • one of the most important things you can do
  • every time you buy something you are voting
  • voting with your dollars
  • vote for your farm next door
  • vote for these tiny companies
  • Monsanto and Bayer

every single dollar

one biggest piece of advice

It might take shopping around, going to a few grocery stores, or waiting till that farmers market day. 

It’s definitely worth it

You can build a relationship with these farmers, and once they know you care, they can give you a better deal!

Plus the more farmers who have CSA members the more they can give you a better deal.

What do you have for listeners on your site?

so I have a couple things

The most inexpensive thing is

I wrote an ebook on green smoothies

gardening

green smoothie a day keeps the Dr. away

packing this

  • spinach
  • kale
  • celery
  • whatever you have
  • flashy fruit
  • orange
  • good source of protein

Will you talk about good sources of protein. One of these teachers had soy protein in these packets. People always tell me to eat hemp protein.

Soy over processed plant

  • soy has a lot of estrogen
  • you personally should stay away from soy
  • I really like pea protein
  • I stay away from whey

pea protein

It’s actually readily available

buy it online

cheapest form of protein you can buy.

hemp protein

  • hemphearts
  • hempseed

blender

quinoa

complete

whole grain and a bean

rice and beans

eggs

don’t buy conventional eggs

  • specifically buy them from farmers
  • buy those eggs
  • taste
  • stomach
  • when I eat a conventional egg I immediately get a stomach ache when I eat an egg from a farmer, I get energy from it.

We’re down to our last rooster. We don’t have any hens right now.  We’ve had chickens for a long time, this is the first time we haven’t had chickens in a long time.

It’s pretty crazy especially with the egg industry free range organic

  • doesn’t really mean that much
  • not in cages
  • doesn’t mean that they see the light of day ever
  • never see sunlight
  • still on top of each other
  • still crushing each other
  • free range
  • organic

what they are being fed is organic

not being fed added hormones

In some sense it’s better but they are still not not treated humanely

look for pasture raised organic raised there is a specific guideline 

  • how many square they need
  • they actually run around on the grass like they should be

machines that some companies

free range just means they are not in a cage, but it doesn’t mean they are free.

I didn’t know any of this.

ThriveMag.jpg

lately I’m super into the magazine called Thrive

super vibrant and beautiful

at natural grocery stores

  • Whole foods
  • sprouts
  • online

Instagram

reposting

other users recipes you can get a lot of plant based ideas

magazine

Thrive Magazine

ThriveMarket.png

I do like Thrive Market too

It’s  essentially a place to buy wholesale organic dry goods

household products

basically cutting out the middle man

buying directly from the purveyor

discounts

  • adaptogens
  • protein
  • chick pea pasta
  • quinoa
  • bodywash

$60/year membership

totally worth it. I just have a little alarm on my phone and reminds me to shop with thrive

  • come to your house
  • really convenient
  • allows you to not really go to the grocery store

Shop for all your dry goods and then wait to go to the farmer’s market

especially

  • always warm
  • get all your produce
  • get your dry goods online
  • avoid the grocery store and that saves you money.

exactly

I think they do 30% off your first three orders

They’re not paying me to say this

so it will kind of help you figure  if you want to join and I’m pretty sure your first 30 days are free. 

You can check it out

get the discount

and try it.

I might sign my husband up, because he hates the grocery store. Although he hates the UPS store comes up our road. 

tons of stuff on amazon prime

As a personal chef one of my client’s biggest  sores is they don’t want to go the grocery store plus if you’re try to budget

  • ebook
  • you can also set up just a basic consultation
  • learning form me
  • doing a cooking class
  • set up a consultation where I talk to you about an hour where I give you as many golden nugs of personal health hacks that work for you

best ways to contact me and work with me as well!

Chef Bai Cooking ClassesI’ve been super inspired by you and learned a ton today.

About the author, Jackie Marie

I'm an artist and educator. I live at the "Organic Oasis" with my husband Mike where we practice earth friendly techniques in our garden nestled in the mountains of Montana.

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