COOKING CLASSES are currently on pause
(as I recently had a baby)
my most recent signature class was called…
INTUITIVE COOKING TONIGHT!
A LIVE COOKING CLASS DURING WHICH I WILL HELP YOU MAKE DINNER
from whatever you have on hand, no prep required!
$29
And make it a date / plan to join them!
You’ll share an experience together, plus… cooking knowledge is the gift that keeps on giving!
Student Testimonials + Dinner Results from INTUITIVE COOKING TONIGHT classes:
“Not only was Jess’s cooking class a BLAST, she had me use a vegetable in a way I absolutely never would have considered and I’m eternally grateful as I’ll be repeating that combo forever!” -Arielle
“Thanks Jess for a super fun class! I made 3 nights worth of dinners plus some fun add ons. It was also really fun watching the wheels turn while you helped us all create some dishes. I loved learning about how important it is to include a variety of textures (or even temperatures) to really elevate a dish. I just finished my crispy rice salsa bowl and it was SO GOOD. The rhubarb on the roasted asparagus turned out amazing and the cardamom nuts just made it next level!” - Abbie
“My biggest takeaway is to think more in terms of "flavor families" when I'm making dinner. It'll make our meals more interesting yet keep it simple by using what is on-hand. I'm also going to keep an eye out for interesting sauces and spices when I'm at the store. Thanks for expanding my thinking about cooking!” - Carrie
“Thanks again for the fun and interesting class! Loved it and loved the Japanese flavor family saute we made. My biggest takeaway from the class is that I can save a bunch of time by making one delicious ‘bowl’ of food that is very satisfying, rather than always thinking about cooking 3+ different components on a plate. Totally amazing mind shift!” - Lauren
“I liked how we were forced to raid our pantries and use things that we otherwise might have left behind. We ended up with a delicious dinner we wouldn’t have normally made! - Ian
Becky and Utsav’s intuitive Thai-inspired noodles + frittata!
Ian’s intuitive beef skillet + herby salad
Lauren’s intuitive beef skillet with Japanese spices + an egg!
Carrie’s intuitive turkey skilled + chips
Abbie’s intuitive asparagus!
Arielle’s intuitive leeks + veggie bowl with toasted peanuts
professional gig filming my scrappy cooking tips!
Hi, I’m Jess, aka Garlic Press Jess, and I want to teach you the magic of intuitive cooking :)
In case you don’t know me, here’s the quick TLDR:
I come from a big foodie family and am a proud self-taught cook.
I’ve worked in food for 10+ years in a variety of jobs: getting kids to eat healthy lunches at Revolution Foods, professional catering, personal cheffing for families, teaching cooking in person to kids and adults, even a 3-month stint on a coffee farm!
What I actually love most is cooking at home for myself and the people I love - normal, everyday cooking is what I’m best at! Since 2019 I’ve been teaching my version of home cooking - what I call “intuitive cooking” - through online courses for busy, health-conscious people who love food.
I define intuitive cooking to mean that you can open the fridge and make something simple, healthy, and delicious from whatever you have, and you can do this EVEN when you’re crazy stressed and busy.
A quick story about me + Covid:
The summer of 2020 was seriously ROUGH for me from a mental health perspective. Living alone, far away from my family, the constant stress of our crazy world took its toll. I’ve never been quite so down for a full three months like I was in June - August 2020 and I've never been less motivated or inspired to cook. (For me who's obsessed with food, that meant something was really off.)
If there's one thing 2020 made clear to me, it's that my intuitive cooking lifestyle is SO ingrained, I can rely on it to keep me solidly healthy and eating delicious food, no matter how lazy or unmotivated I get.
When I scroll through my photos from that summer, there are countless pics of simple, delicious, healthy meals that sustained me through the sad times. Yes, I did buy a few pints of ice cream and ate more chocolate than usual, but mostly I ate meals that I made in 20 mins or less without a plan, without a recipe, simply by opening the fridge and cooking from what I had.
In Intuitive Cooking Tonight, I’m going to teach you the exact formula I used to make the meals pictured below:
Reflecting on the summer makes it ever more clear to me just how well my cooking system works, and also how much I want to share it with YOU and everyone who needs it! We ALL need and deserve to be EXTRA well fed, no matter what life throws at us, and ESPECIALLY when it's throwing ALL THE SH*T like it is has for the past year.
You deserve FREAKING DELICIOUS meals, every single day, and I can show you how to make them with ease and joy and do it consistently. You can take the FIRST EASY STEP by signing up for my live class!
WHAT WILL WE DO DURING THIS CLASS?!
It will consist of 3 parts:
Scavenger Hunt
Learn the formula
Make Your Personalized Dinner Plan (guided by Jess) + COOK DINNER TOGETHER* !
*time permitting everyone will cook dinner together on the zoom; if a large group we may dismiss class and you can go cook your “plans” that we’ve made together.
BY THE END OF THE CLASS YOU WILL:
have learned my secret formula for cooking a delicious, healthy, 20-minute meal from whatever you have on hand
know how to apply this formula to YOUR OWN ingredients in YOUR OWN kitchen
have a plan for dinner/have at least started to cook dinner for tonight!
be inspired and you’ll HAVE A FLEXIBLE PLAN for even more creative dinners in the days + weeks to come!
Do I need to prep for this class?
You DON’T need to shop for anything specific! Easy peasy! But it would be helpful if you do the following before class:
have a clean kitchen with cleared countertops, ready for cooking!
make sure your computer is fully charged so you can bring it with you to the kitchen and/or have a power cord ready so you can charge while you watch (don’t want to lose you mid-class!!)
have a pen and paper ready, we will write a few things down
if you DO have some veggies in your fridge, that will be ideal
What my cooking students say about my classes and teachings:
photo by Erin Conger
“Jess’s cooking course, Intuitive Cooking 101 completely changed the way I approach cooking. Jess's concept of cooking formats* provided a solid foundation for my future cooking endeavors. Vegetables are the star of the show! Well worth the investment!”
- Loren V.
*In INTUITIVE COOKING TONIGHT, I will be deep diving into one of the “formats” I introduced in my longer course Intuitive Cooking 101.
Actual text message from Kara!
“If you want to eat more “veggie-centric” but don’t know how, you’re a great fit for Jess’s classes!
If you think meals have to follow a certain structure of protein/carb/boring veggie:
GET READY TO HAVE YOUR MIND BLOWN!
What I love about Jess’s message is that it’s positive:
‘Vegetables are AWESOME!’
Jess knows how to make them taste AMAZING and she’s gonna teach you and you’re gonna love it and your life is going to be changed!”
— Kara C.
(she took my IC101 preview in October 2019
and is also a registered dietician nutritionist)
FAQ
“But Jess, I’m SO OVER ZOOM RIGHT NOW!”
I hear ya, aren’t we all! If you want to improve your cooking in a long-lasting way, though, practicing something new AT HOME, IN YOUR OWN KITCHEN is really going to make the difference. Plus - you’ll be up and moving around for most of this class, finding new inspiration from ingredients right under your nose, AND you’ll put dinner on the table by the end of class, with no pre-prep required!
“If I already took IC101, will I benefit from this class?!”
Yes!! You did already learn the format I’ll be teaching, but this is a new-and-improved “formula” version that will give you an easy guide to making up your own creations! Plus, I’ll get to coach and advise you LIVE while you cook, which I did not get to do in IC101!
“I’m gluten free / dairy free / paleo / vegetarian / vegan … will I benefit from this class?!”
YEP!! There are no specific ingredients required - we’ll apply my formula to whatever you have on hand in your kitchen! That said, I think of my food as VEGGIE-CENTRIC so if you hate veggies, you might not be a great fit for my cooking teachings.
What if I’m a picky eater… ?!
Hello picky eater! Hmmm…. I gotta tell you that I’m an “I eat/love everything!” type of gal so if you’re super picky, we may not jive. If you’re open to expanding your mind and tastebuds and having your likes and dislikes challenged with SUPER FLAVORFUL FOOD, please join us!! When people tell me “I don’t like XXXX” I like to ask them - “Have you ever had REALLY GOOD QUALITY XXXXXX?” However, if you are super picky and not looking to change your tastes, you’re probably not a fit for my teachings. No problemo!
What if I’m cooking for a family?!
Cool! The meal we will make is fastest/easiest when made for 1-2 people, however, this formula will most definitely help you create meals for your bigger family, and when you show up live, I’ll be able to help you out personally and make specific recommendations on how I’d adapt this technique for a family-size meal!
What program are you using to teach this?!
Zoom! I’m assuming everyone is familiar and has it downloaded at this point, but if you don’t, please do so in advance of the class by following the instructions here.
Other questions? I’d love to answer them! Just email me!