Cook Schools at

The Veggie Tree

A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon

Need some new ideas & inspiration for plant-based meals or how to make your vegetables more exciting? You are in the right place! The Veggie Tree Cook Schools are hands on, informative classes that cover a wide range of skills and cuisines along with foraging classes, plant medicine workshops and making your own non toxic home and self care products. The cook schools have been running here in Kaeo for ten years and have had over a thousand people attend. I am a trained chef and have been a vegetarian for 34 years, I draw on many years of eating, cooking and researching a plant-based diet to bring you these classes. Kids Classes are from Ages 4-12, the other classes are suitable for ages 12 and up. Contact Us on the menu bar to contact directly if you are interested in a private cooking class, for group bookings or travelling food tourist packages.

ONLINE Greek Cooking Class | Sunday 3rd May 2-5pm

To kick off The Veggie Tree Online classes we will be heading to Greece! Together in this Greek inspired cooking class via Zoom we will be making two classic Greek dishes Moussaka and Bougatsa with a Greek Salad to compliment the meal. The Moussaka has a wholesome protein rich mince, with layers of melting aubergine and potato nestled in a creamy white sauce. Bougatsa is the most delicious version of a custard square you'll ever eat, I literally hid it from my family in the fridge, its that good. These LIVE interactive classes will allow you to cook in the comfort of your own home along with me, ask questions, have a meal prepared to feed your family (or enjoy for lunches and leftovers). $66 includes the LIVE class, recipe and information file via email. Vegan and Gluten free friendly (please let me know when booking) I will send out a list of ingredients, equipment and the Zoom link the Sunday before the class (26th April) Please ensure you agree with the Terms and Conditions when you book in and pay for the class

Wild Italian Mushroom and Edible Weeds Forage and Feast Workshop | Sunday 17th May 1-5pm

Foraging wild ingredients including mushrooms in the Autumn time is a big part of Italian cuisine and in this class we will head out to my wild garden to forage for mushrooms and wild greens for our meal. We will be making green pasta from scratch with a creamy mushroom sauce infused with medicinal mushrooms, wild mushroom schnitzel and Hakeke Kimchi | $100 per person includes food and drink, foraging notes, recipe file, chefs tips and hints | Vegan and/or gluten-free on request (please do so when you book)

Gluten-Free Bread, Pasta and Pastry Workshop | Sunday 21st June 2-5pm

Whether you are Coeliac or gluten-free, these made from scratch gluten-free staples are life changing and will bring so much joy back in to meal times. The bread is soft and great for sandwiches, even after a couple of days. The pasta is tasty and so satisfying and the pastry means you can make sweet and savoury pies to your hearts content, and all without a sore tummy to be felt! All of these gluten-free basics are made with whole foods, are totally delicious and there will be tasters and take homes | $90 per person includes food, drink, recipe file, hints, tips and take homes. Please bring a tea towel or paper bag to take your bread home | Vegan and Gluten free friendly (please let me know when booking)

ONLINE Gluten free Bread and Pastry Workshop | Sunday 28th June 2-5pm

The Veggie Tree Online Gluten free bread and pastry workshop will cover a couple of Gluten free staples from scratch which no body should have to miss out on Bread and Pastry. These gluten-free staples are life changing and will bring so much joy back into meal times. The bread is soft and great for sandwiches, even after a couple of days. The pastry can be made sweet or savoury so you'll be able to make pies to your hearts content, and all without a sore tummy to be felt! Gluten-free and Vegan friendly (please let me know when booking) These LIVE interactive classes will allow you to cook in the comfort of your own home along with me, ask questions, and create delicious recipes that you will use again and again. $66 includes the LIVE class, recipe file via email I will send out a list of ingredients, equipment and the Zoom link the Sunday before the class (21st June) Please ensure you agree with the Terms and Conditions when you book and pay for the class

Sourdough Bread and Easy Cheese Workshop | Sunday 5th July 3-5pm

Master the art of the perfect sourdough bread and learn how to make the very versatile easy cheese and the most delicious way to eat it! This is beginners introduction class to making sourdough bread we will cover kneading techniques, trouble shooting potential problems, different flours used for bread making and why, best keeping practises, uses for whey and easy cheese | $80 per person Includes food, drink, recipe file, hints, tips with cheese and bread take homes. Please bring 1 x 500ml jar with a wide opening or similar for your take home starter and a tea towel or paper bag to take your bread home with you.

Eat a Rainbow Kids Chef Skills | Thursday July 16th 11-1pm (SOLD OUT)

Have you got a budding chef in the family? Then this is the class for them, we'll be nailing down some essential skills and techniques in which will help them follow their dreams and keep them safe and efficient in the kitchen. We'll be going through knife skills, different cooking techniques, hygiene and safety, plus making something for lunch with all the skills they have learnt | $45 per child includes take home recipe file, food, chef hints, tips and skills

ONLINE Winter Wellness Workshop | Sunday 19th July 2-5pm

The Veggie Tree Online Winter Wellness Workshop will pick you up out of the winter blues with a bunch of immune boosting recipes to tickle your fancy and your microbiome. Together (virtually) we will make a Golden Glow Smoothie, Immunity Sauerkraut and Fire Cider to support your beautiful body over the colder months. Vegan and Gluten free friendly (please let me know when booking) These LIVE interactive classes will allow you to cook in the comfort of your own home along with me, ask questions, and set you up with some tried and true homemade wellness products | $66 includes the LIVE class, recipe and information file via email I will send out a list of ingredients, equipment and the Zoom link the Sunday before the class (21st June) Please ensure you agree with the Terms and Conditions when you book in and pay for the class

Wild Winter Forage and Feast Workshop | Sunday 26th July 1-5pm

Winter is prime time for wild edible greens and I have bunch of delicious recipes to share along with an in-depth deep dive into identification, nutritional and medicinal constituents of these wonderful free and abundant wild plants | $100 per person includes food and drink, a take home information and recipe file, foraging chefs hints, tips and knowledge sharing | Vegan and Gluten free friendly (please let me know when booking)

Women's Health Workshop | Sunday 16th August 1-5pm

Supporting ourselves during our monthly cycle by eating with our seasons/phases of our period is super important, and as we transition through peri-menopause and menopause we can make life a lot easier for ourselves and can seriously make a difference to unwanted negative effects of our changing hormones, whether it be menstrual or menopausal. There is a plethora of plants out there to help us along the way, we can draw from ancient herbal knowledge and the most recent nutritional information to support these phases of our lives so we don't have to dread them. So lets nourish ourselves and help each other to feel good in our glorious bodies by embracing what mother nature has provided us and utilising these gifts, some of which are growing right under our feet | In this workshop we will learn what foods support us during this time, with some tasty recipes we will make and eat together, supportive herbal teas and tonics depending on where we are in our lives, learn and make some herbal remedies, a nourishing body/tummy rub depending on where you are at, and a personalised essential oil blend to take home with you along with an in-depth dive into the workings of our female bodies so we can better understand how to support ourselves | $100 per person includes food and drink, recipe and information file and take home support remedies

ONLINE Backyard Forage and Feast Workshop | Sunday 23rd August 2-5pm

The Veggie Tree Online Backyard Foraging Workshop will take us into the great outdoors to get amongst it in your own backyard or someplace close by, to find and learn to identify some of the most common wild edible weedy plants that grow all around us, oftentimes right under our feet! Winter is prime time for wild edible greens and even if you can't find all of the ones we'll be covering in class, you will be able to see and learn from me and others some of the basic unmistakable wild plants out there available throughout the whole country and even abroad. We will then head inside to the kitchen and make our foraged finds into a couple of different recipes that can be made with a mix and match of wild plants. These LIVE interactive classes will allow you to cook in the comfort of your own home along with me, ask questions and identify plants in your own area and make delicious and nutritious food | $66 includes the live class, recipe and information file via email. Vegan and Gluten free friendly (please let me know when booking) I will send out a list of ingredients and information file so you will be able to see what we'll be covering and suss out where and what is available in your area, equipment and the Zoom link the Sunday before the class (16th August) Please ensure you agree with the Terms and Conditions when you book in and pay for the class

Natural Beauty Products Workshop | Sunday 30th August 1-5pm

Making your own natural beauty products is not only extremely satisfying, its cost effective, there are no nasty ingredients added, very little if any plastic waste or micro plastics in the actual products and they are super nourishing and made from plants, just as nature intended and they make you look and feel fabulous! I've been making our natural beauty products for years and my daughter, with all her beauty regimes even has given in to using all of these products | Together we will make Nourishing Face Oil, Flowery Toner, Conditioning Hair Gel, Homemade Deodorant and Whipped Body Butter for you to take home with you, plus I'll send you off with a couple of plants you may not have so you'll be able to continue making them for years to come | $100 per person includes products, recipe file, snacks, drinks, tips and plants

Group Bookings | By Appointment

Whether you fancy a fun get together with friends, are celebrating a birthday or looking for a different team building experience with colleges, The Veggie Tree Themed cooking class and meal might be what you are looking for. Select from one of the options below and book in for an afternoon of fun learning new skills in the kitchen then sitting down together at the end to dine on what you have made, even dress up for the occasion! Indian Inspired Meal Greek Inspired Meal Middle Eastern Mezze Mediterranean Inspired Meal East Asian Inspired Meal Chinese Inspired Meal Japanese Inspired Meal Mexican Fiesta Eastern European Meal Otherwise alternative classes and workshops are as follows: Sourdough and Easy Cheese Workshop Sourdough and Plant Cheese Workshop Fermentation and Preservation Workshop Gluten free Staples Workshop Edible Flowers Forage and Feast Workshop Seaweeds and Edible Weeds Forage and Feast Workshop Wild Italian Forage and Feast Workshop Nature's Medicine Cabinet Workshop Natural Beauty Products Woman's Health Workshop Healthy Sweets Celebration Cakes Workshop Homemade Household Workshop Cost includes all food and drink, recipe file, chef hints and tips, Minimum 6 and Maximum 10 people, please contact me directly for bookings on the Contact Page.

...............................................