Dallas woman promotes holiday health with Debra’s Healing Kitchen

by Shawn Williams of Dallas South News

Debra Peek-Haynes has spent more than 20 years researching healthy eating and living.

Debra Peek-Haynes

Debra Peek-Haynes and Debra’s Healing Kitchen hosted a free “Healthy Holiday Cooking Class” November 20, 2010, at Friendship West Baptist Church, located at 2020 W. Wheatland Road in Dallas. This inaugural event for www.debrashealingkitchen.com, which attracted about 200 people, focused on how to avoid major weight gain by preparing holiday foods using healthier ingredients. Food was prepared and cooked at the class, allowing the audience to view and sample the food items.

During the class, Peek-Haynes, 1st Lady and wife of Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, senior pastor at Friendship West, stressed the importance of seeking God first, drinking high quality water, dark leaf salads, eating more fresh vegetables (cooked without pork) and fruits, limiting carbonated beverages, salt and sugar, reading food labels, avoiding junk foods, more fiber, cleansing, high quality vitamins based on whole foods, proper rest, exercising, and telling your loved ones you love them. One of her loved ones, daughter Abeni Jewel, was one of the speakers and also participated in the cooking demonstrations.

Other speakers included Cynthia Mikens-Smith, from Methodist Charlton Medical Center (title sponsor for the class), who spoke on diabetes and thyroid, and Suzannah Rouse, RN, from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Allen (also a sponsor). Her topic was uterine fibroids.

Gift bags were given out to all who attended and the bags included CDs and DVDs courtesy of Flow Records. Drawings were also held and the prizes were contributed by Gifted By Dezyns.

Peek-Haynes has spent more than 20 years researching healthy eating and living. She has also organized and participated in health workshops, cooking classes, and she has spoken at numerous lectures.

December 2010, she will launch www.debrashealingkitchen.com, a website that will focus on healthful tips for abundant living. "My new web site will give me the opportunity to communicate with concerned individuals in a more consistent manner. We will provide meaningful information from a layman’s perspective. My hope is to reach as many people as possible, so that we can bring positive health changes to our community," says Peek-Haynes.

Peek-Haynes is also a licensed commercial real estate broker and a member of the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors and Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), was appointed to the board of the African American Museum of Life and Culture, and served on the board of the Dallas Symphony. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Arts with a minor in Marketing from Eastern Michigan University.