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Introductions :)

Introduction

My name is Tiffany Zellner, and I am a high school culinary arts teacher.  
You can call me Z. 
You can follow me on twitter @tz7432, and on Pinterst.com/tz7432    

 What can you expect from this blog?
A lot of people wish they could take a cooking class. I cannot tell you how many times fellow teachers and members of our community say, "I wish I could take your classes".  I want this blog to be for those members of my community and your community. I also want it to be a place for culinary and foods teachers to be able to find information and ideas for their classrooms. In this blog I want to provide short bursts of knowledge about cooking and food.

 *This will probably change as I explore this new adventure of blogging:)

So why I became a culinary arts teacher????

Food has not always been my friend, and for a short time in high school that relationship was out of control. I struggled with Anorexia and Bulimia. I went from a healthy 5' foot 6 inch 152 lbs to an unhealthy 118 lbs (my BMI was under 18 which is considered to be unhealthy for my age/height/weight). I was a walking skeleton. Accompanying my physical transformation, I also develop crazy subconscious habits, like tugging at my sides to try to feel the thickness of my abdomen. I would stand in the mirror or lay on the bed to look for the bikini dip between my hips. Once, I was sent to the emergency room because my blood pressure and heart rate dropped dangerously low. It was a horrible time in my life both physically and mentally. Food was something that I could control and had became my dangerous out.  

 Then school started. I took my first Family and Consumer Science course (Home Economics on Steroids) Nutrition and Foods. It was an awesome class.
In Nutrition and Foods, you learn about meal preparation and personal/family nutritional habits. I found out that I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED TO COOK.  I was good at it. It gave me a place that I could focus my need for control and create something positive. I was able to create and not destroy. During this class, I began my road to recovery. Food became something that I could control, but healthily.

 (Shout out to my Family and Consumer science teacher. Mrs. Winnigham) 

 So, after high school, I enrolled in a Human Ecology Program at Tennessee Technological University. There I received awesome instruction under great professors. 

 Now here I am.

 Cooking is very special to me. It is one of my first and greatest loves. I became a teacher so that I could share with others all that it means to me. 

 So, I hope you enjoy my future blog posts. 

 Z




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