I think a lot of times people look at cooking as a chore or as something that they have to do or that like they're trying to squeeze it in and of course we've all been there but you know cooking can just be like a moving meditation cooking can be a gratitude practice cooking can be a chance to be grateful for just being alive.

I'm Rick Euston and welcome to the Plan Strong podcast. The mission at Plan Strong is to further the advancement of all things within the Plant Based Movement.

We advocate for the scientifically proven benefits of plant-based living and envision a world that universally understands, promotes and prescribes plants as a solution to empowering your health, enhancing your performance, restoring the environment and becoming better guardians to the animals we live in.

We welcome you wherever you are on your Plan Strong journey and I hope that you enjoy this show.

Hello my Plan Strong Pomegranate seeds. I love Pomegranate seeds. I want to welcome you to another episode of the Plan Strong podcast. I'm Rick Euston. Thank you so much for joining me.

Can you believe that we are already rounding the corner to spring spring break is upon us. I literally cannot believe how fast 2022 is ticking by. It is phenomenal.

Speaking of phenomenal today I'm going to take you on a very powerful healing journey. My guest is Bailey Ruskis at the tender age of 11. She was diagnosed with endometriosis that left her in tremendous amounts of chronic pain, constantly dosed up on multiple medications.

She got to the point where she had exhausted all standard treatments and turned back to the only thing that she really knew and understood and that was food.

And that's because Bailey who goes by chef Bay is also a classically trained chef from San Francisco's Lake Cordon Bleu. She spent years deep in the grind working 65 to 70 hours a week until her body just simply collapsed.

Nothing about her lifestyle was sustainable until she went back to her food choices and began to study the true healing power of plants.

And she literally had to unlearn what she had learned in culinary school. Today at the young age of 30 she has plant strong off all meds feeling vibrant and is the author of the best selling book Cook Heel Govigan.

Today we're going to go behind the scenes on this chef's life including her favorite spices, flavors and meals from her cookbook as well as tips on how you too can start to heal your body. Cook Heel Govigan is your guide to plant based cooking for better health and a better world. Welcome Chef Bailey Ruskis.

Today I have a chef another chef she actually came out was it your first book it was she came out with her first book called Cook Heel Govigan in August.

And she actually she sent me a copy of the book which you can see right here look at it's absolutely gorgeous you would not believe every recipe has a full page photo it is absolutely I want to eat it right up.

And then you also sent me this really wonderful nice handwritten note with a little gift bag so absolutely kind of you and you say rip you have been such an inspiration to my team and me over the years your Ted talk blew my mind long before I was vegan myself and helped me change from being a classically French train chef to a plant based chef that is where I want to start out I mean that is.

fascinating to me that you you went to what Lakota blue is that right yeah San Francisco yeah and why did you decide that you wanted to like get into food and be a chef and all that yeah I mean I like it was all I ever did so when I was 11 I went to work in a pastry kitchen instead of photos summer camp because I wanted to make money and I really wanted to learn how to make canollies.

And I will say that most my time was spent folding like cake boxes and stuff but I got like a paycheck at the end of the week I mean it was nothing substantial but for 11 year old I was like this is awesome I get to work with my hands yeah and so from then I was just working in kitchens when I was in high school I worked full time as a manager of a bagel shop and so I was like.

making bagels at three in the morning before high school and then I just I need to stop you there I love bagels I love hot warm I know I love hot warm sesame bagels oh I like an again everything kind of bagel girl.

Well I also like jalapeno bagels and I didn't have to go down to Austin Texas and then I learned to love the jalapeno bagels at first I'm from Cleveland to high and I'm like eating or I see.

The coach of the swim team brought this big thing of bagels and the jalapeno I'm like is that a joke is that a joke why would anybody either be the bagel with a jalapeno and now I like love them but okay so you worked in a bagel shop I worked at a bagel shop and I was honestly like such a partier in high school I had a 1.7 GPA I just like.

didn't really care about like the traditional school system I wasn't into like the the politics and the social aspect of school I just I was just kind of a weirdo I just did my own thing I like to work I liked to party with my friends who were older in college.

And then by the time it came for me to go to college my parents were like well it's not like you can get into school anywhere like you've been a terrible student this whole time and I was like yeah but culinary school except everybody.

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