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About The Author
After a family health crisis,
Sue Gregg began to
question how to improve the nutritional value of the food she served her
family.
Nine months on a rigorous, restrictive healthfood diet, while successful
in weight control and health renewal, presented too many obstacles and
evoked too much resistance from her family. That experience convinced
her that few meat and potatoes eaters would tolerate drastic dietary
diversions.
For two years she waited, researched, and prayed. One day standing at
her kitchen sink she wondered, "Would it be possible to transform
familiar family recipes?" Sue began experimenting with better
quality ingredients (white flour to whole grain, refined white sugar to
honey, hydrogenated fats to nonhydrogenated) to convert old favorites
such as minute bran muffins and cinnamon rolls. Trial and error testing
eventually achieved the results she was looking for.
Her success did not remain hidden. Others with similar concerns soon
requested demonstrations, recipes, and cooking classes. Recipes
accumulated and cookbooks followed.
Sue’s experimental cooking continues in her quest for recipes that
balance convenience and cost, nutritional value and appetite appeal.
She’s found the right seasoning combination that invites children to lick a
lentil-rice casserole clean. She’s found a way to make fresh, light
and tender whole grain waffles, pancakes, muffins, coffee cakes, and
crepes without an expensive grain mill. She is always looking out for
allergy alternative ingredients such as Kamut®
grain or spelt, almond and coconut milk.
Sue
Gregg’s experience includes teaching home economics in a high school for two years after
she received her B.S. in Home Economics Education at Washington State
University. She also provided food service on the
West Coast for student retreats at Ross Point, Idaho, International
Student House Parties at The Firs Mt Baker Ski Lodge in Washington State
and Hotel Gearhart on the Oregon coast, in Mexico, and Honduras. For seven summers she managed food
service for hundreds of finicky junior highers, high schoolers,
collegians, and families at
Campus By The Sea on Catalina Island
26 miles off the California coast. At that time modern conveniences
were minimal with no electricity, freezer, telephone, or road to the
camp. Food arrived via ocean going barge twice weekly. Despite these
limitations the camp gained a reputation for serving a tasty variety of
menus. This experience shaped Sue's awareness of the tastes and styles
that appeal to a broad range of people.
While traveling in the Eastern USA in 1982 she discovered that it was
possible to develop light
and tender whole grain muffin recipes that omitted the addition of fats
and oils.
In 1984 Sue Gregg accepted the challenge of inaugurating a whole foods
program for William Carey International University in Pasadena,
California where students were preparing for overseas service.
1985 found her at
Campamento Citlali
near Valle de Bravo in Mexico (60 miles west of Mexico City in the
mountains) working to develop a center for university student retreats.
She returned in 1988 and cooks from the retreat center interned in her California kitchen.
They wanted to develop international cuisine to broaden the menu for
their guests.
In 1994 Sue was invited to teach fast food oriented American CoMission
volunteers food survival skills in St Petersburg, Russia. Could
Americans adapt to borsht, beets, and cabbage? Two Russian friends,
Valentina Platova and Alex
Krutov, accepted invitations to learn healthy
style American cooking in her Southern California
kitchen. She has returned thirteen times to teach cooking classes partnering with her
widow friend Ludmilla, and learning
learn more about Russian home style cooking. She
also takes opportunity
to meet with t
graduate
orphan girls
at "The Harbor."
In 1995 she filmed a video cooking curriculum for the
Advanced Training Institute of America in Chicago. She has also
demonstrated for television audiences from studios in Tustin and San
Francisco California, Anchorage, Alaska, and Greenwood, Indiana.
In 2001 she incorporated a convenient two
stage blender batter baking process into whole grain recipes that unlocks more
nutrients and produces smoother batters.
Her research, teaching, and sense of adventure
took her to Okinawa, Kenya, Malawai, Estonia, and Russia in 2001 to
partner with cross cultural envoys working in orphanages, universities,
and community service projects. 2004 saw her in St. Petersburg and
Pushkin, Russia for an 8th visit to conduct "Taste & Tell"
classes for women who want to teach in Titus 2:3-5 ministries in their
churches.
In 2002 she published Cooking with
Children, with CD recipe demonstrations accompanying
her
Lunches
& Snacks
cookbook and Baking with Whole
Grains,
a
cooking
curriculum for high school level and above.
In 2005 Weight Management
with SueGreggCookbooks supplemented
the basic cookbook set in facilitating menu planning and calorie
counting for weight control. It also complements weight loss programs as
PRISM® or
First Place. The 5th edition of
Meals
in Minutes
incorporating the Two Stage Process in recipes was also released. A
whole foods program was introduced to participants at
The
Harbor in St. Petersburg,
Russia.
December 2006 saw the release of Sue's first complete cookbook
introducing whole foods in the Russian
Language. It is accompanied by a Bible study guide for students
focusing on four food connected studies in the Gospel of John and a teaching guide for cooking class leaders.
An English translation edition was also released.
Final editing of a 3rd edition of
Baking with Whole
Grains
curriculum was completed in April of 2007 along with
a new Introduction to Whole Grain Baking which
serves as the cooking course text. A 2nd edition of this book was
published in 2009.
A new 4th edition of Breakfasts was printed September
2007. Recipes were revised to include the two stage process step.
Tips and menu plan variations for weight management for both men and women were
added. An updated 5th edition was released in 2010.
Sue Gregg’s husband, Rich, partners as her critical but appreciative
taste tester, photographer, editor, publisher, and webmaster. On Friday evenings
from 2007 to 2008 you'd often find them
traveling 60 miles from Riverside through downtown Los Angeles and on to Hollywood to
cater dishes
such as Baked Parmesan
Chicken or Boef Chandlier to "The
Book That Made Your World"
fellowship
group sponsored by Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi on the campus of historic Hollywood
Presbyterian Church or at The
U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, CA.
2008 saw the inauguration of a two week
internship program
in Sue's California kitchen for young cooks ages 13-21.
In March 2009 Sue Returned to St. Petersburg Russia
to
encourage Harbor participants
and graduates as well as friends and former students of cooking classes.
2009 also saw the release of Introducing
Whole Foods Cooking w/PowerPoint Demo CD for beginners
and those who teach cooking classes. This book compresses essential
nutritional concepts and offers basic beginner recipes. It also offers
models on how to make mealtimes opportunities for significant
conversations and teaching times at the table.
In 2010 the 4th edition of Soups & Muffins was
completed.
In 2011 Sue returned to St. Petersburg, Russia again,
her 14th trip, accompanied by her 14 year old granddaughter. She was
honored with a reunion of her leadership cooking class and with a
reunion of Harbor graduate girls.
During the fall of 2011 she revisited long term food
storage. Her research led her to time honored home food canning which
she had engaged in with her mother-in-law years ago. It is labor
intensive but in the long run very practical because it fulfills the all
important qualification of "store what you eat and eat what you
store."
From the very start of their marriage Sue and her
husband have opened their home to international students, neighborhood
children, college students, and others. They have hosted home schooling families
vacationing in Southern California as well as business people serving
clients in the area. Many of these people have engaged in the
"Blessing Dinners" described in the Introducing
Whole Foods Cooking
section on "Serving and Connecting."
In 2012 they extended invitations to people
already familiar with the SueGreggCookbooks to participate
in "Cooking Vacations" in her Southern California kitchen
where they prepare as many as 5 or more dishes a day with the
guidance of Sue's consultation.
A long awaited 4th edition of Lunches &
Sancks with visual guides on CD that instruct and motivate young cooks
is ready for launching early in 2012.
Sue Gregg’s research extends beyond current health fads and
nutritional studies to focus on the historically accepted basics (e.g.
choose fresh over processed, whole over refined, variety from all the
food groups). For example, ancient texts from the Bible and
archeological discoveries attest to the historical use and value of
olive oil in Mediterranean regions. Modern research confirms its
superiority over other fats and oils.
Helping others overcome obstacles to enjoying wholesome
food motivates Sue. She doesn’t buy the myth that things that are
"good for you" have to taste like medicine. She doesn’t
believe that Yuck is more healthy than Yum. Instead, she observes that
good cooks tap into the powerful Creator implanted pleasure principle resident deep within
the human psyche.
Sue Gregg is
motivated to
see others enjoy the benefits of a healthy lifestyle by discovering the
Creator’s design for living and serving. Then they can bring blessing to their
families and serve a needy world more effectively.
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