After preparing organic meals at home for more than 20 years, K.C. Thorson is sharing her recipes for quick, organic meal choices as fast-food alternatives. Thorson founded Menomonee Falls-based K.C.’s Kafe last year to teach people how to live an organic lifestyle by bringing cooking back into the home.
“Organic simply means foods in their most natural forms,” Thorson said. “No pesticides or preservatives.”
The benefits that Thorson said she experienced from living a mostly pesticide- and preservative-free lifestyle include never overeating, having more energy throughout the day, sleeping better at night, healthier looking skin and stronger nails.
“It is about being aware of what you are eating,” Thorson said. “Food is fuel, like putting gas in your car. You need to be conscious of what the results can be.”
The energy and portion control stem from the fact that the body makes more efficient use of unrefined foods, Thorson said.
“If I am eating something I really love, it satisfies my taste buds, it satisfies my brain and I feel full,” Thorson said. “I don’t eat as much of it because it is a real energy source and it is not artificial.”
Thorson previously worked in the insurance and financial service industries for more than 10 years. The more responsibility she took on at work, the less time she had to prepare organic meals, so she became creative, she said.
Thorson has a list of shortcuts, condiment replacements, non-saccharin sugar substitutes and other alternatives, on-the-go meals and quick and easy meals that she is sharing with people who are interested in eating healthier while balancing a hectic schedule.
Many of Thorson’s recipes can be made within the time it takes to get fast food or carryout meals, she said.
“I offer fast and easy methods to put a homemade, from-scratch meal together,” Thorson said. “It is real world teaching for homemade meals, so people can feed their families better and feed them real food.”
Thorson teaches cooking classes at In Sync Design LLC in Menomonee Falls and will provide demonstrations for private parties in the home, workshops for corporate wellness programs and light catering for parties with 10 to 50 guests.
Thorson offers individualized services through her Eat Great for a Healthy Weight program, a six-week boot camp that includes 14-day meal plans, a one-on-one session and three at-home cooking demonstrations.
Clients can join K.C.’s Kafe Cooking Club, which includes one cooking class, a 14-day menu plan and access to recipes. Thorson plans to have a cookbook of her recipes published in 2007.
“I am teaching (people) how to cook from scratch in fast food times because they don’t need to spend overtime in the kitchen,” Thorson said. “There are easy ways to get through the week with dinners at home and even breakfast and lunch on the go.”
Thorson’s immediate goal for K.C.’s Kafe is to get as much information that she can out to the public.
“People know it is bad to smoke. Every time they reach for a cigarette they know it is bad,” Thorson said. “But people go into the grocery store, and they think they are buying good, healthful food, when really there are hidden factors.”
She plans to add employees to K.C.’s Kafe within the next two years and plans to have a storefront space to serve the meals she has created to offer a dining alternative to the public.
The two main groups of people interested in K.C.’s Kafe include adults concerned about their health and the health of their children and the younger generations who grew up in a fast-food lifestyle and never embraced the value of “real food,” Thorson said.
“Organic is a good place to be, but folks can start easily by making food choices simple,” Thorson said. “Even if they can’t begin with organic ingredients, they should at least start with whole foods, foods that are not processed. A good indicator is if you don’t know how to pronounce an ingredient, it probably is not a food.”
