Healthy Cooking/Nutrition Class Review

Well I had to write a post in regards to the nutrition/cooking class that was put on by my head personal trainer Luanne Cobb.  She was wonderful and gracious to drive down to help out our little group get a grip on some healthy cooking skills.  She presented over 20 meal ideas!  Luanne showed us how to prepare many meals by taking the time once a week to get your meat ready.  When you have your protein prepared you're more likely to integrate it into your small meals. 

I can get a copy of the meals on the blog, but I need to type them out so give me some time. I thought the most valuable opportunity of the class was to see, taste, and touch the different ingredients. She handed around her favorite spices to smell, reminding us that you can cut back on salt if your food is seasoned properly. 

We had a tasters table with quinoa, basmati rice, diced artichoke hearts in a vinegar solution, sundried tomatoes in an olive oil, dried cranberries, and pomegranates which she uses to flavor her food.  I cooked up her daughter's recipe of dill crusted salmon and for those of us who enjoy fish we couldn't stop snacking on it!

I made up Georgia's healthy muffins for the first time and loved them and more importantly my kids did too! Hopefully I can wean my baby off his cookie addiction ;o) I did cook one batch with Truvia and agave syrup to sweeten and I could taste the truvia, but it wasn't that bad and the batch I cooked with just sugar and agave syrup you couldn't tell at all! I really am liking the agave syrup on my french toast, cottage cheese and plain greek yogurt, just a little bit though, it's not calorie free.

Valeen made a yummy apple chicken salad that was so simple and balanced, Luanne gave the recipe 2 thumbs up! She also made banana bread using blended white beans to replace the fat and it was so moist and tasty you would never guess was made with beans. 

Every shared their favorite balanced small meal which I'll be posting on the meal ideas soon and lastly we got to sample Melaleuca products to see which ones we liked. This was very helpful for me as I was hesitant to try some things for fear I wouldn't like it, even though everything is returnable, just tasting the Ruby red grapefruit Sustain electrolyte drink convinced me to order that next month! I also liked the Access Shake hot, like a hot chocolate drink, first thing in the morning before you exercise, just perfect for winter.

Luanne explained that while some of the ingredients she showed us may seem expensive, you only use a little bit to flavor your food and they'll last for months in your fridge so it really pays off.  This cooking class really helped open our eyes to different things to try to get us out of our cooking ruts.  There will be another class like this in Layton the end of January, so contact me if interested in attending!