Frequently Asked Questions
After years of teaching and hearing from students and viewers, I wanted to share with you some of the most frequently asked questions that come to my attention. As much as I would love to answer each and every one of you personally, the volume of emails makes it physically impossible, as you can imagine. Thanks for all the great support over the years…I love what I do and love that you all have responded as you have!
How do I find the recipes from the shows?
Simply visit my main recipes page to access an alphabetical listing of all my recipes. We recently added a search option by keyword. For example, my strawberry pie is called "sweet strawberry pie." Some viewers had trouble finding it. While it can be found alphabetically under "s" for "sweet" you may not have known to look for it that way. You can now also find it in a keyword search for "strawberry" or "pie." If you still have any trouble locating a recipe, please use the "contact us" form and we will help you out. We will soon be featuring recipe videos, a pantry list and a glossary of various food items and ingredients so stay tuned and visit us often. We love having you here. Happy cooking!
How can I find ‘Christina Cooks’ on PBS and Create TV?
We recommend contacting your local PBS affiliate directly to see if they offer Christina Cooks. If the show is not airing in your neck of the woods, write them or call the station and request it. Ultimately it is you, the viewer, who gets my show on the air. Christina Cooks can also be found on Create TV. For the current schedule, click here.
Can I substitute certain ingredients for others?
For sugar, my first choice is brown rice syrup. If you can’t find brown rice syrup, you can use honey or maple syrup, remembering that the sweetness will be a little more intense.
For daikon radish, simply use red radish. Any leafy green can be substituted for another.
If soy is a problem, I am sorry to tell you that there really is no substitution…you will simply have to do without it. For soy sauce, you can use Bragg’s amino acids or simply use good quality sea salt.
White flour is great for paper mache, but not for your intestines, so substitute whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour or some other whole grain flour. If you are sensitive to wheat and need flour substitutions with less or no gluten, try millet or oat flour, quinoa flour, chestnut flour or tapioca flour. The texture of the finished product will be a little different, but you will still get the satisfaction you are looking for.
Dairy products have lots of substitutions…soymilk matches dairy for its richness and smooth, thick creaminess. But you can also use grain milks or nut milks as well.
How does food affect certain health conditions?
This is a big one…and many of you have emailed me asking how a whole natural diet can help cure disease or alleviate symptoms.
A diet of whole unprocessed, seasonal foods will, simply stated, improve the quality of your health. There are countless stories of people who have cured life-threatening illnesses with diet changes…me among them.
While I appreciate how concerned you all are about your health or the health of a loved one, without seeing you face to face or knowing more about your condition than you can tell me in an email, it would be irresponsible to advise you about diet changes over the Internet.
If you are interested in macrobiotic counseling I recommend contacting the Kushi Institute in Massachusetts to find a counselor near you. I also recommend the services of Healthy Humans, which puts people in touch with integrative healthcare specialists.
What cookware do you use?
I use these products on my show and in my kitchen at home. I absolutely love them and hope you will too!
Pots - Kuhn Rikon
Spoons - Jonathan's Spoons
Food Processor - Cuisinart
Duromatic Pressure Cooker - Kuhn Rikon
Grill Pan - Swiss Diamond
Glass Bowls - Crate and Barrel
Juicer/Blender - Vitamix
Mixer - Kitchen Aid
Salt Grinder, Whisks, Garlic Press and other kitchen tools - Kuhn Rikon
