A Review: Julia Turshen's No Judgment Cooking Class
TLDR - I'm a big fan!
Last weekend, I took
No Judgment Cooking Class with guest,. (I mean - what an incredible powerhouse duo! Huge fan girl moment over here!) I’ve taken numerous of Julia’s cooking classes before, but never before her No Judgment Series. I’ve had curiosity about the classes, but never quite sure what they were like and tbh was nervous/hesistant to sign up. I finally took the plunge and signed up, planning to take the class with my mom and sister as a Christmas present to my mom (the classes make great gifts!).The class is described on her website as the following, “Whether you come because you’re recovering from an eating disorder, dismantling body image issues, or something else entirely, these classes will provide the joy of cooking in community and a supportive atmosphere to eat together without judgment. When you sign up for class, you’ll receive recipes + a grocery list. Class will begin with step-by-step cooking instruction and will be followed by time to eat together while we all talk + share resources.”
I am going to review this class as if you are cooking and eating along with Julia, as that is how I experienced the class. It is important to mention you can just watch along with the class or watch the recorded class and cook at a later date (which would be helpful if you want to cook at a slower pace and pause along the way).
Pros:
Make a home cooked meal - with potential for leftovers for the week!
Eat a delicious meal that you may be working to reclaim from diet culture
Eat a meal without judgment
Learn new recipes that can potentially be added to your repertoire
Feel a sense of community of likeminded people who are also healing their relationship with body and food
Learn tips from Julia - she has great spinoffs of the recipes and is so creative with ideas and suggestions! I always learn something new from her classes.
Hear from an expert in the field, in this case it was journalist and author
- and hear a Q&A with Julia and Virginia where viewers can ask questions live (they covered topics such as parenting toddlers in the age of diet culture, Ozempic, cooking for 1, and ableism in the kitchen).Cooking live with Julia Turshen, a best selling cookbook author and in eating disorder recovery herself
Donation based class (pay what you can) - proceeds from class went to NAAFA
Cons (not really cons, but could be considered a slight hindrance):
Need to buy ingredients beforehand, which can cost some $ (although many ingredients are pantry staples)
Need to prep ingredients beforehand, which takes time and effort
Need to clean up afterwards, which takes time and effort
Julia moves fast through the recipes - if you get easily frazzled in the kitchen - this is something to note and be aware of, and I’d recommend prepping as many of the recipes (chopping, getting ingredients and cookware out) ahead of time or simply watching only, and cooking later.
Prepping ingredients ahead of class
How to Take a No Judgment Cooking Class:
At time of sign up, Julia sends an email to you with a PDF attachment of the recipes being cooked, ingredients needed and a Zoom link. Julia’s live classes take place on Sunday afternoons, typically at 2pm EST. They usually run around 90 minutes. Whent he class goes live, all participants are muted, and you watch Julia in her kitchen. Julia’s assistant, Haley is live in the chat answering questions as you go - which makes you feel like you have someone holding your hand as you’re cooking. Julia takes you through the step-by-step of the recipes, cooking together as you go. In this class, we made an Americano cocktail, Italian Chopped Salad, Rigatoni with Sausage Ragu, and Ghiradelli Brownies. (Julia also was sure to give lots of variations for dietary restrictions for each recipe). I mean, what a killer menu.
After we cooked, we ate our creations and listened to the Q&A with Virginia and Julia. Both Julia and Virginia answered questions, and they are such a wealth of knowledge around the topics of diet culture in parenting, recovery, cooking with food freedom, healing your relationship with food, etc. Honestly, the Q&A alone was so insightful.
Post-class you receive an email from Julia with links mentioned in the class as well as the class recording.
My Honest Review of Julia Turshen’s No Judgment Cooking Class:
I am such a big fan of Julia Turshen and her cooking classes. Honestly, they’re one of my favorite forms of self care, and this class was no different. This class was incredibly healing for me and such a great way to get my family more aligned with the work that I do professionally and personally in my own eating disorder recovery. I didn’t realize how much I had been craving likeminded community, until taking this class.
A note on
: Julia has a way of making you feel so comfortable, at ease, and free to show up as your imperfect self, to class. Her classes feel informal, yet structured - a challenging balance to create. Something about her hosting the class in her own kitchen, seeing her dog Winky wag his tail in the background, and Julia’s mom asking a question in the Q&A, really makes you feel like you’re right in Julia’s kitchen besides her cooking. The class left us laughing, thinking, and with a happy belly. You sort of feel like you’ve become “friends” with Julia, by the time the 90 minutes is up.I would 100% recommend Julia’s No Judgment Cooking Class to anyone wanting to feel community in healing their relationship with food and body, via cooking. It is such a healing positive experience. It is also a great way to get loved ones involved in your healing work.
A link to Julia’s classes, if interested.