Thank you to all who attended!  We had a great group with some very good, practical questions.  I hope everyone enjoyed the evening as much as I did.

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Maximize your workout by understanding what “healthy” food really is!

Fats and sugars are everywhere — from where you’d expect to find them to the least-likely places.  The good news is that we can make healthy food choices by focusing on reading food labels, understanding them, and learning about how what we eat affects our bodies.  Join the food revolution and take control of your health!

FitZone for Women
Troy, Michigan
(corner of John-R & Long Lake)

From deciphering food labels to understanding what food does (and doesn’t do) for your health, this intensive five-part series focused on the connection between what you put on your plate and how you feel on a day-to-day basis. Each class also included plenty of cooking tips, hands-on learning opportunities, and creative solutions to everyday kitchen dilemmas.

Stay tuned — I’ve been asked to return in January to teach another series.  Thank you to all who joined the September/October classes!

Thank you to all who joined me for an evening of food/health info at the library!  During this presentation, we talked about the following issues:

-Making the connections between food and wellness by understanding the principles of basic nutrition:  carbohydrates, fats, protein
-What it means to be a qualitarian:  emphasizing quality over quantity and appreciating the value of real, whole foods (especially as they relate to our health)
-Where these high-quality foods are (hint:  not the supermarket!)
-How we can take control of our own health through food and how we can create change in our nation’s food supply by spending our food dollars wisely

More nutrition info came your way!  I held a four-session program at Jazzercise in Royal Oak (one-hour session each Tuesday evening) to talk about a variety of topics:

Don’t Drink Your Calories

Be Carb Smart

Portion Control

Dine Out the Smart Weigh

Since the program was well-received, I was asked to return.  Upcoming talks will touch on the above topics but will go into much greater depth on specific issues.  The time and exact content is TBD, but if you’d like to participate in the program by requesting topics and/or signing up for a class, please contact Jazzercise directly at (248) 398-0111.  Thank you to all who attended the first session!

During this talk, I briefly recapped the basic nutrition concepts we covered in the first session and expanded them to cover more aspects of what it means to be a qualitarian:  where food products come from, how they’re processed, and how they affect our personal health and the health of our economy.  We explored the connections between the food we eat and the chronic diseases that have become so prevalent in our society (i.e., diabetes, heart disease, autism, arthritis).

Time ran out before we could get into the art of reading food labels, but stay tuned–I’ll be back for another session in fall!  Tentative title:  “Modern-Day Hunting & Gathering,”  wherein we’ll focus on ferreting out information from labels and packaging to make sure that we’re eating what we hope we’re eating.  We’ll also talk about easy ways to improve the quality of your in-home cooking.

If you’d like me to notify you of the next talk, please contact me at info@theculturedcook.com and ask to be put on my mailing list.

Thank you to all who attended!

During this talk, we focused on learning how to read and understand food labels.  (The latter isn’t always so easy!)  We also touched on the importance of choosing high-quality, nutrient-dense foods at any age.  If you’d like more information on the Senior Center, please visit the City of Berkley’s website or call (248) 658-3470.

Since optimists are perpetually alert and cheery–even at (or before) the crack of dawn!–I emphasized the good fats in our modern foodscape. From farmer’s markets to natural food stores, from the benefits of grass-fed beef to why pastured eggs are better than what’s in the battery-hen-produced cartons, we broadened our food horizons and learned to appreciate Nature’s bounty. For more info on the Optimists, please visit their website.

Gilda’s Club in Royal Oak is one of the 22 Gilda’s Club free cancer support centers throughout the country.  I spoke about the connection between food and wellness, how the current American foodscape affects cancer and other chronic health conditions, and how to find foods to support a healthy lifestyle.  I was asked to return, so check here for future events!  Thank to you all who attended.

Vegetable and Cheese Tray

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Normally, I’m more of a cook and coach than a caterer, but when I was asked if I could provide some appetizers for this “Dance Away Hunger” fundraiser event in Detroit, I was happy to come up with some “cultured” finger food.  The event was hosted by YA Salsa and was attended by some of the top Latin dancers in the D–it was a great evening of dancing and music to benefit Gleaners Food Bank.  My contributions included soy-glazed peapod and carrot skewers, pineapple and havarti skewers, savory Cheddar & corn muffins, and sweet cinnamon and chocolate chip muffins.  ¡Qué rico!  Gracias a todos lo que asistieron.

If you’d like to check out a video of the party, you can find it here on YouTube.