NaFOS's First Meeting

We had our first NaFOS meeting this past Sunday where we talked about the program, handed out booklets and enjoyed a cooking / preparation class. We were able to inform the participants about what is expected and answered questions that they had. Then we got to the actual cooking part of the meeting and the fun really started. There were a dozen people washing, chopping, blending, mixing and preparing fresh vegetables and lean lovely proteins. We were cooking and tasting as food became ready, starting with Kale/Swiss Chard Chips (thanks Hungry Girl). Everyone was so astounded at how good the chips were and they were really excited that they could still snack and snack healthy. They asked me how much was a serving of kale chips, and I told them that it was a guilt free snack and to feel free to munch away…you can’t get enough kale in your diet in my opinion. The next course we had was a tasting of the Asparagus, Mushroom & Goat Cheese Frittata, a favorite for breakfast and loved by everyone who had some. Next was the Sautéed Cabbage and Onion with low-fat Turkey Kielbasa (haha, people didn’t realize they liked cooked cabbage so much…surprise!), then the Italian Chicken Zucchini packets…mmm. Finally the “Lasagna” (homemade lean-beef bolognaise sauce w/low-fat cottage cheese & part skim mozzarella over roasted egg-plant layers) was ready and boy was it a hit! One of my favorites. After our tasting dinner, we retired to the living room for Almond cookies that we had rolled, pressed, and baked during the whole shebang. What a great way to finish the night and everyone had a fun and informative time. Who said eating healthy has to be boring?...I proved to them, that it’s not only healthy to eat this way, but delicious…one may even say it’s better than many restaurants one may frequent? And did you notice there’s not one processed or empty carb in the whole night? Nope, not even in the cookies which were made with Almond meal & ground flaxseeds.

Here’s what one of our participants had to say about Sunday’s meeting (oh and just an FYI, she’s only 20 years old, but wants to learn about eating right and getting fit…wow, I wish I was as aware as she is at that age):

I actually had a lot of fun yesterday! You wouldn't think a meeting about healthy food, and exercise would actually be entertaining, but it was! A lot of what you were saying about the food that we will be eating (lean protein, vegetables, no white flour) really sounds good. While I have eaten like that before, a lot of what you said has put it in a new outlook for me and I'm really excited to start next week. And I'm even more excited about the dance, yoga and boxing classes. Oh and the Kale chips were amazing! I was telling my mom we have to make them. See you soon!

I’m sorry, but that just gets me so excited about what we’re doing here and I hope we can all make great progress. Oh, and you can find a lot of the recipes that were mentioned in my previous blog entry.

Have a great day!
-Bex