 Welcome to Lillian's Vegan World, the show in Honolulu where we talk about veganism and the plant-based diet. I'm coming to you live from the Think Tech Hawaii studio in downtown, gorgeous Honolulu. Always a big mahalo to Think Tech Hawaii for making shows like this possible. It's a gorgeous sunny day today and I'm very very very excited about my guest today who is a dear friend of mine, a retired professor of Ramapo College and resident scholar of UH at the Center of Disability Studies. Also my guest, my special guest, is author of her own memoir, Only You Christine Only You. It is with great pleasure that I introduce my dear friend Dr Christine McConnell to the show. Aloha Christine. Aloha Lillian. That was a big introduction. It's so wonderful to have you here on the show. Thank you for having me. Pleasure. I was just thinking that I haven't introduced anyone with such a long title before. There's so many things that you have achieved in this lifetime of yours and I'm really honoured to have you on the show. So thank you so much for being with us. I'm honoured to be with you. Oh thank you Christine. Thank you so much. As we go through your journey I do want to start Christine by talking about quickly telling the viewers about how you and I met here in Hollywood. So I'll let you... That sounds wonderful. I'll let you tell us how we met. So how we met was my husband discovered that you were having dinners at your house and we came to the dinners and I knew this throughout the dinners. I didn't choke at all. I was really thinking to myself maybe this is the way to go. So you said I'll just interrupt you. Excuse me for a moment. You said that you didn't choke when you were eating so you have difficulty swallowing food. Correct. And so when you came to my seven course vegan dinner you... Is it right for me to say you were swallowing better than normal than you normally do? I have to note that there's no question. That's very interesting. About the wonderful and that person was amazed also at how I did with eating. Okay so that was an eye opener that dinner. So before you came to that dinner which was roughly six months ago I think were you were you eating any plant-based food? Were you mainly plant-based or were you aware that plant-based food might be easier for you to swallow and to eat? Honestly I had no idea. You had no idea. Okay well... I used to eat fish and some meat were at least fish but I had a normal diet and it was healthy so I wouldn't eat a lot to eat weight. Absolutely everybody wants to eat a lot. I mean it's one of the pleasures in life eating so absolutely. So you came across this eye-opening event in your life that has really helped you with your eating and from that day we met I have been actually prepping food for you on a weekly basis all plant-based all organic food that you've been enjoying? Yes. If I don't eat home because I know I would get nutrition in years and I know when I go outside I can't eat the hand that would be difficult to eat. I can imagine. Christine I wanted to tell the viewers about this condition this medical condition that you have because this is also new to me and it's called dysphagia. Is that correct? This difficulty with swallowing so according to by the way just a quick disclaimer that the content of this show is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice diagnosis or treatment always seek advice from your physician or other qualified medical professional with any questions you have regarding a medical condition. We are talking only of Christine's journey and how the plant-based diet is helping with her condition which is dysphagia. So Christine I did look online to learn more about this because it is new to me as well and I would like to quote something that I found online from the Mayo Clinic and it just explains dysphagia. So dysphagia apparently is a difficulty swallowing foods or liquids arising from the throat or esophagus ranging from mild difficulty to complete and painful blockage. So it's a very serious condition. Yeah and I can say I am so pleased and excited to share this information that perhaps anyone with the same condition might want to consider you know at least incorporating mainly a plant-based diet into their lifestyle as it seems to be helping helping you. Yes my personal own experience okay not discussing or talking about anyone else but with the person who has a lot of problems and the end dysphagia it is wonderful I open up and I have a lot more energy I love that I'm happier. Wow. I'm like a little kid again. So so my magic potion is helping. My magic potion. I'm so glad to hear that so not only not only is the plant-based food helping with your difficulty with swallowing but also you feel more energetic as you said your skin looks better you're feeling better you're happier so you know hearing that is like music to my ears I'm so happy. Christine I wanted to show some photos to the viewers of some of the food that I prepare for you on a weekly basis. This first slide is not of food that I prepared for you personally but this is the kind of stuff that I'm serving or plant-based I do mainly seven course dinners and lunches cooking demos here in Honolulu. I'm a vegan chef and cooking instructor so that's some of the food that you can expect to eat at some of my events and like the one that you attended last year when we first met my seven course dinner so you can find more information about me on any of my social media lilyandvegan.com also my facebook page lilyandvegan and my youtube channel lilyandvegan where I have about 200 video recipes all vegan and plant-based recipes so do you check them out? Christine here. Of course and I guarantee you will love the cooking classes for the dinners mainly you work very hard you put all your passion into what you do and everyone can see that. Oh thank you so much Christine that is what motivates me when I hear that people are enjoying what I'm doing and I'm you know happy to share this passion because I know that uh the plant-based diet will help people feel better and take back some of their health so Christine I want to show the viewers some of the food that I make for you on a weekly basis this next slide is of your husband's birthday that you asked me to cook for and I remember you saying that he likes apples so there is an apple pie in the forefront there all vegan everything made from scratch there's a phyllo phyllo pie there with spinach and my vegan feta cheese some pasta and then there's a nice big party plate with my some of my vegan cheeses my cashew brie there and other cheeses so how did you enjoy that little party plate vegan fiesta? The vegan fiesta I'll never forget we opened up that we were so surprised happy and I have to tell you a secret okay what's the secret you guys kept it to yourself I'm so glad to hear that yeah I that was a special event and I did want to make it extra special for your husband Mac who I must say is an incredible person I see how much he loves you and supports you and takes care of you so you're very very blessed to have him in your life he is my angel I see that he's your angel yes Chris this is a close-up this is a this next slide is a close-up of the birthday party plate just for the viewers to see I mean all of this is vegan there's three types of vegan cashew cheeses there that I made the cashew brie there's a pistachio and cranberry and sundried tomato and herb lots of little odourves so there you go I mean I hope that people are starting to to realize that you really don't have to give up much when you go when you go plant-based there's always something yummy to be had here's another one Chris of the food that I've been preparing for you this was actually a picture I took from a new year event or dinner I should say that I cooked for you in your family over the holidays that looks exactly like fish doesn't it it does and that's my little Japanese bento but it's it's definitely not fish it tastes so good thank you I'm so glad my father was worried that he was going to be hungry after the dinner and he was so full I know a lot of people say that when they first come to my dinners that they always prepare to stop somewhere on the way home to pick something up to eat in case they can't you know eat the food Christine I we are going to take a short break and when we come back we are going to talk about your awesome book your memoir your memoir titled only you Christine only you so do stay tuned we'll take a short break and see you after it Hi I'm Rusty Komori host of beyond the lines I have a tv show based on my book which is also called beyond the lines and it's about leadership creating a superior culture of excellence and building winning teams we are having a fun drive for think tec Hawaii and please please please please help us keep these shows going please go on our website think tec Hawaii dot com to donate thank you Aloha y'all my name is Mitch Ewan I'm from the Hawaii natural energy institute and I'm the host of Hawaii the state of clean energy we're on every Wednesday at four o'clock and we hope that we have interesting uh yes who talked to us about various energy things that are happening in Hawaii all the way from tv the windmills the hydrogen close to my heart electric buses and electric vehicles so please dial in every Wednesday at four o'clock on Hawaii the state of clean energy Aloha welcome back everyone to Lillian's vegan world I'm your host Lillian Cumick thank you for joining us I'm so excited to have not only my dear friend but a very very wonderful person Chris Dr. Christine McConnell who is retired professor of ramah per college and resident scholar of UH at the center of disability studies Christine McConnell welcome back thank you so lovely having you you know um I'm intrigued with this memoir of yours and I do have to get myself a copy so I can read it uh the memoir that you wrote Christine in is it 2009 that you wrote this book that is correct okay and it's titled only you Christine only you can you give me give us a quick idea of where the title came from and what it means hi one something original majority of majority of people with disabilities who write books back to life have disabilities in them but it doesn't really represent the book okay all we did are the office the unpaid borrowers okay this means my way I would kind of please feel it so I see that I see you're a very um yes I see you're a very you're your your own spirit and you live life the way you want which is beautiful to see I mean everyone should regardless of their abilities or disabilities Christine I if you don't mind I do want to quote something that you wrote from your professional biography um which is it's just written so well I hope you don't mind me quoting you so thank you I appreciate it so Christine about your book only you Christine only you presents the reader with the prism through which we view our own lives and how we interact with others regardless of their abilities and disabilities she hopes Christine you hope to write fictional books tailored to adolescents with disabilities you're in the initial stages of establishing McConnell associates LLC at the present time which will develop and customize educational workshops surrounding your memoirs through colleges and universities throughout the nation going back to your book Christine it says that you wrote this book as a conversational literary piece we're throughout yeah you utilize humor to alleviate the distresses that occur in in painful events correct I use humor a lot and so far the humor that is agreed max is awesome to utilize yes the tool that you utilize so my audience I would know if they could understand me or not uh-huh okay it's interesting because it says that you're you're in your book it's it's like you wrote it in a way that you're having a conversation with the reader as I am yeah that's interesting having open dialogue with the reader so they could be intrigued right well Christine if you write if you don't mind I do want to briefly tell what tell the viewers what the book is about so you are a railway native Christine and your memoir is is about reflecting on living and growing up to adulthood with cerebral palsy um correct right and it says that navigating the staircase of oppression associated with the disability is the main theme of only you Christine only you you touch on your relationships with your parents two brothers one sister and your husband Mack and all of your friends there's a quote here that's interesting you are quoted as saying who is really disabled out there and then I think to myself do I have the authority to judge anyone so you later went on to attend Ramapo College of New Jersey where you attained a BA in uh psychology and then later attained an MA in counseling from Seton Hall University and also received post master credits at Temple University Christine where did you get all the time to do all of that I didn't know that I had no life I did read two two thousand not I can imagine you must have been working teaching writing studying so it's just amazing and um I I did read also about this memoir was it that your mother that encouraged you to write a book as a very old age here with a future writer book yes also people factors I had seen in the past would encourage me okay so you had a lot of encouragement yeah well then maybe someone needs to encourage you to write another book so probably they can't take uh huh I want to go so I take this and I'm also be tired yes I'm enjoying my retirement you're enjoying your time yes and what I'm just looking at the background there Chris and what a gorgeous place you have you have chosen to to retire Honolulu I mean Hawaii is just amazing speaking of Hawaii and Honolulu I Christine if you don't mind I do want to talk about an event coming up in February um there's a slide with it's a vegan festival Thursday February 20th this year from 6 30 to 9 30 at the Good Fibre Center which is in the downtown area so I will be actually at one of the booths cooking some vegan food and there will be several booths there so that's February 20th I do hope that viewers or anyone who's in the Honolulu area might who might want to come do do join us for that festival Christine let's have a look at another thank you I would love for you you and your husband Mac to come although you get to try my food on a weekly basis and this is where I was going to show another another slide um this is actually food that I've cooked for you I I usually cook about about five to six dishes each time so there's lots of stuff going on there I always make a soup for you and I'm sure you've discovered my secret to cooking for you Christine that I sneak in so many vegetables I love about food thank you that I can eat vegetables with that coordinate that yeah so I'm so I'm so glad you know I hope that anyone who knows anyone that has you know difficulty swallowing or eating might really consider what we're talking about that the plant-based food not only is it easier to swallow but definitely easier to digest without a doubt so if it can help you perhaps it can help you know other people with similar conditions so and I do yes I do want to say that when you eat out you don't get that quality food I mean it's totally organic and I do take into consideration the salt and sugar oil that I'm using so I'm so glad that it's working for you and it's making well helping you feel better when you eat let's have a look at another slide Christine okay this is this is one of the recent ones I think from last week the muffins what did you think of the little cupcake muffins it was so good thanks all of them everything you make is thank you so much Christine you know those cupcakes I snuck in a little bit of liqueur into them I um so the cupcakes are actually they're lemon lemon and dried fruit cupcakes there and I put in some yeah a little bit of liqueur just to give them an extra punch lots of um there's some tofu some mock chicken which is made with the soy curls a little bit of a tie tie inspired dish there with some coconut milk Christine the other thing I noticed as I cook for you is that I have to be careful with spices I know that I can't use anything too spicy that you know will irritate that you know irritate that swallow when you're trying to swallow so I have to say thank you to you for helping me broaden my horizons as a chef because it's really it's interesting I've always got you in mind when I'm cooking for you and wonder you know how you would appreciate this so thank you to you for that I I'm not I'm totally honest you are the sleeping right what you're helping me is no longer oh that's the plan for all of us to live longer and healthier lives and if I can be a part of that I I tell you that's the only motivation I need to hear something like that is just amazing I do want to Chris show your book one more time to the viewers they can find that I think it's available on Amazon as well only you Christine only you by Christine McConnell a wonderful book about your journey through life with cerebral palsy and you do it in a a humorous way that you know makes the reader feel like they're having a conversation with you so anyone out there who might might be interested in obtaining a copy do obtain a copy and get get Christine to sign it for you if you're ever in Honolulu and thank you Christine I do have to wrap up it's been awesome having you on the show thank you so much look forward to more of Lillian's Vegan World next time aloha and have a wonderful day