VIRTUAL FANCY PLANTS BOOT CAMP
If you’d like to be notified when the next in-person Boot Camp is scheduled, please email your contact information.
“You are a basically a magical plant-whisperer. The wealth of knowledge, talent and passion you have for plant-based food is amazing! I learned a lot in the short amount of time.”
Fancy Plants Boot Camp is a six week experience packed with my greatest hits, a condensed version of what has helped my students streamline their experience in the kitchen and make sustainable improvements to their diets.
Join me for this crash course to increase your confidence and skills cooking plant-based foods. Hands-on learning, some demonstration, a bit of lecture and a lot of eating delicious food will set you up to seamlessly integrate more plants into your diet for all the meals and years to come. Omnivores, vegetarians, vegans welcome! This experience is for anyone who wants to up their game in the kitchen and eat more plants.
As evidence mounts regarding the impact of eating animals and animal products on human health, animal welfare, and the environment, more people are looking to increase their plant consumption. Amidst the conflicting definitions of what constitutes a nutritious diet, all diets recommend eating more vegetables and plants. I stay out of the food fight of which diet is best. Instead, I emphasize seasonal whole foods that nature provides and show you how to bring out the best in these ingredients. I demonstrate that you can transform and enhance your diet without sacrificing flavor, time, money or fun.
“I wanted to be inspired. I wanted quick and easy tips for weekday meals. I wanted to learn how to cook flexible meals based on ingredients on hand. I got all of this and more. Going into it, I was concerned about complicated recipes but found that none of them were complicated. I loved the variety of dishes and the uniqueness of them all.”
“I have been inspired to cook more at home, to experiment with new ingredients and recipes, and to enjoy every moment of it!”
I’ve been teaching students of all ages, skill levels, and dietary preferences to cook with seasonal plants and whole foods since 1999, long before it became mainstream. I’ve taught at dozens of non-profits, workplaces, schools and hospitals and teach in-home classes. As inaugural faculty in the graduate nutrition program at the National University of Natural Medicine, I developed and taught culinary classes to future nutritionists, naturopathic physicians and acupuncturists.
Adults are experiential learners. Cookbooks, videos, recipe blogs all can be helpful, but it's immeasurably valuable to be immersed in the teaching kitchen and students report that time flies during this class. You’ll benefit from my knowledge, skills, experience and passion. I’ll help you save time and money and teach you to make meal planning and healthful food prep doable (and even playful), adding freshness, flavor, color, vibrancy, and nourishment to your diet.
Learn to:
Combine flavors + ingredients to create vibrant dishes that satiate
Elevate plant proteins
Boost meals with herbs, spices + crunch
Integrate new ingredients into your diet
Present food beautifully
Leave with:
Delicious food! Classes are on Sunday so you’ll have a few new dishes to enjoy during the week ahead.
Straightforward recipes and countless variations on those recipes, ie - recipes that encourage you to ditch the recipe
Tips to save money + reduce food waste
upgrade your pantry
make use of your freezer
use the whole ingredient
utilize leftovers
cook + eat with the seasons
New skills
Come up with your own delicious dishes, considering seasonality, flavor, color, texture, shape, access to ingredients + more
knife skills
tricks of the trade to increase efficiency and have meals at your fingertips at all times, ready to go
Meal planning guidelines
Inspiration
Create:
Seasonal main dishes, soups + salads
Sauces, dressings + condiments
Sweets + snacks *Boot Camp is free of animal products, gluten, refined sugar + soy.
“I signed up for Fancy Plants Boot Camp because I was motivated to add a spark to my kitchen routines and to inspire eating more healthy and less environmentally impactful meals. To reduce the amount of meat I consume I needed to enhance my repertoire of satisfying plant-based meals. I was thrilled with what I learned as I came away with much more than a fistful of recipes. Lauren’s practical and entirely non-intimidating course taught me real foundations on how to prepare satisfying dishes and to adjust them in ways that keep it interesting. I left feeling inspired to try new things and more significantly empowered about how to go about it. A remarkably small investment in time for what I got out of it.”
“I loved my time in Fancy Plants Boot Camp. Lauren packs so much information and interactive experience into this class -it’s amazing. Her cooking style embodies an ‘anything-goes-spirit’ that makes creating in the kitchen so very approachable. At the end of this camp I felt more easeful around my relationship with cooking. AND, I left full, inspired and equipped to go home and cook something up. ”
“I took the Fancy Plants cooking class with Lauren Chandler and it was a wonderful experience. The class was very approachable, informative and of course, delicious. Lauren and her assistant Emily know their way around a kitchen and had tons of great tips throughout the class. I learned about new ingredients, new combinations of foods and new cooking techniques to bring into my kitchen. The class was very interactive and it was clear that the range of students, from newbies in the kitchen to seasoned home cooks, were all engaged and learning a lot. I can’t wait to recommend this class to friends.”
“Fancy Plants Boot Camp is awesome! I left feeling very excited to go shopping and get cooking. The time flew by. You don’t just learn how to cook a recipe or two. Instead, she teaches you how to combine and layer ingredients in creative ways such that I can now experiment with different combinations with confidence. It is fast-paced with both demonstrations and lots of hands-on learning and eating! She also leaves you with a detailed list of things to keep in your pantry, meal planning ideas and plenty of recipes that are more like templates that you can play around with. I highly recommend Fancy Plants Boot Camp!”
“This has been one of the best investments I’ve ever made in myself, and I feel so grateful to have found you.”
“Lauren created a class environment that was professional, but relaxed. I never felt intimidated to ask when I didn’t know what something was and I really appreciated that when learning a new skill. I liked learning how flavors go together and how to cook with new ingredients that I normally would avoid at the store because I didn’t know what to do with them. ”
“I’m blown away by how delicious and crazy nutritious the dishes are that we are creating. I’m learning to enjoy being in the kitchen and feel confident that I’m providing my family with awesome food. ”
“My doctor told me that I needed to learn to cook to improve my health. I was overwhelmed and didn’t believe I could make such drastic changes in my lifestyle, because I never cooked before and didn’t have much of an appetite. It only took one session for me to feel empowered! Lauren is kind, highly motivating, nurturing and amazing support. She has made a huge impact on my life.”