Anja Mast grows career from farm-to-table to kitchen lifestyle coach

Over the past 13 years, Anja Mast has been an organic vegetable farmer and CSA coordinator atTrillium Haven Farm, a Fulton Market grower, a restaurant supplier for six.one.six. and Reserve, a restaurant designer at Trillium Haven/Terra GR, a cooking instructor and local food promoter.

Now, in a new chapter, she hopes to bring those experiences full circle to teach others how to use tips gleaned from the restaurant business to make the kitchen the heart of the home.

“Cooking at home is an act of dedication,” says Mast. “It takes dedication to plan ahead, stock the pantry, make sure the fresh produce is prepped in the fridge and find the time to do the work. But if we think of cooking as less like an onerous chore, and more like a sacred devotion to a path of wellness and wholeness, then our task becomes easier.”

"Fast food happens because people aren't prepared," she says. Taking a bit of time in the beginning of the week can make weeknight meals quick and enjoyable, says Mast, and make it easier to incorporate whole foods and decrease the stress of being unprepared and short on time.

“Here’s what I know: If you organize your kitchen, you will transform your life,” says Mast. “The kitchen is the energy center of your home. And food is the energy that gets transformed through prepping and cooking, feeding your body, your mind and your spirit. Envisioning what you want from your kitchen, and then decluttering, re-organizing pantries and refrigerators, learning restaurant prep and storage techniques and then actually doing the work efficiently and competently can change your entire life.”

Mast will provide inspiration on her blog #anjamaniagr, and offer kitchen classes as well as personal coaching to help declutter, stock the pantry and choose recipes that will make cooking smooth and efficient.

"Deep winter is the perfect time to set intentions for the upcoming spring... and to put new habits in place so that when the fresh fruit and veggies start flowing into our gardens and farmers markets, we can cook with inspiration and creativity,” says Mast. “2014 is all about coming home to eat- growing our own gardens, shopping locally from our local farmers and dedicating ourselves to all the good things that Michigan has to offer.”