Thank you so much to all those who attended our first cooking workshop! I apologize for not having the handouts I intended to have at the class, so this post will give a breakdown of the basics of what we covered as well as the recipes we used. (This was a 2 hour workshop, so this post may be a bit lengthy).
We began with the early process involved starting WellStone Gardens. In my research to find easier, cost effective ways to grow organic veggies for my own smoothies, we read the All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. My husband designed and created raised bed garden yard art. Several of the beds are total stand up gardens that require no bending over. They all worked beautifully and we will offer workshops to show how to build your own raised beds. You can order beds ready made from our two younger children at www.carvdcarpentry.com .
The next part of our health process was researching the best ways to prepare healthy meals, snacks and smoothies. I wanted “slow food – fast”. This was a lengthy process in my quest to design healthy, cost effective, time efficient, delicious food. These cooking workshops allow the opportunity to pass along some of my successes and to allow the participants the opportunity to taste recipes before going to the time and expense of buying ingredients they may not like. I believe if participants can “see it, taste it, smell it, do it” when learning, they are much more likely to apply it and make real lifestyle changes. Classes also allow for relationship building, encouragement and time for questions and answers.
We started with discussing several books that made real impact on my own thinking and health. These books are listed under our resource page, but I will list them again here. The first is Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, MD. The second is Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD. The third is The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. There are many more that are listed, but they all follow the same basic principles. I need to say that I personally do not agree with the total Paleo premise of “cavemen roots”, but I do believe within the past 50 -150 years our food production has dramatically changed. These changes are negatively impacting our health. Rick Warren in his book The Daniel Plan states that “convenience is killing us”. There is also many websites dedicated to “clean eating”. Lots and lots of information that you may or may not have time for. Basically these cooking classes provide recipes that focus on high protein, low carb, lots of veggies. We do follow grain free, gluten free, mostly dairy free principles. If you are interested in just finding recipes, type the word “Paleo” before any type of recipe you may be looking for and you will find many delightful websites. Some of my favorites are on the resources page.
Our first demonstration involved using a nutri bullet to make a smoothie. I like the nutri bullet for its size and portability. I use it every morning for my own smoothies. The nutri bullet works best with fresh veggies and fruits. If you are wanting to use frozen, I use my vitamix blender. If you are wanting a thicker “milkshake” texture, be sure to use frozen bananas. We used about 1 ½ of fresh spinach with a little purified water and blended it down to make more room. We then added a banana, some mango, some pineapple, some apple and blueberries. I personally add some green powdered super food to my morning smoothies. Mix and match other greens and fruits to your liking. My favorite green is kale.
We briefly mentioned bullet proof coffee (not related to the nurti bullet). You can look that up at www.bulletproofexec.com. I love it and also drink this every morning. I use coconut oil, not MCI. (I do blend it in my nutri bullet).
We discussed how to make easy chicken, using a whole organic chicken (I get a two pack at Cosco). I use a Power Cooker electric pressure cooker. I love it because it is so easy to use and you can find it at most Wal-mart stores. I used a carton of organic chicken stock (Cosco), an onion, carrots, celery, garlic, two tablespoons of Braggs apple cider vinegar, and two tablespoons of Coconut Secret – Raw Coconut Aminos (soy free aminos – delicious; we used it in two other demonstrations). I also seasoned the chicken with a poultry herb mixture. You can easily cook a whole chicken in an hour (maybe less if it is smaller). I cooked mine for 1 ½ hours because I love pulling more nutrients from the bones for the broth. (We will do more with bone brothing later. If you are interested now you can research many sites, I like www.whole9life.com/2013/12/whole9-bone-broth-faq/ . A pressure cooker does the work of a slow cooker in record time.
For our taste testing I used a NuWave burner to reheat the chicken I had already cooked. The burner is portable and does not get hot so it is easy for demos. I added some Raw Coconut Aminos to kick up the flavor.
We also tried some cauliflower “rice” which is so simple. You just chop cauliflower using an S blade in a food processor until it resembles the size and texture of rice. We then did a quick “stir fry” using organic butter (you can use ghee or coconut oil – some in the room might not have enjoyed the coconut oil). We added our Raw Coconut Aminos again for flavor. You can use this “rice” in any stir fry combination you desire. I just wanted to give a foundation of the basics and we will use them in other recipes as we go along. A good site with photos is www.everydaymaven.com/2013/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/ .
Other taste tests included kale chips. These are so easy. Just cut kale leaves away from the stems into the size you like. Put them in a Ziploc bag and add a little olive oil or avocado oil and celtic sea salt. Place flat on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees until you have your desired crispiness. We had no leftovers.
Last but not least are the recipes for our desserts and a blueberry muffin. The blueberry muffin recipe I like was found at www.livinghealthywithchocolate.com/desserts/paloe-blueberry-muffin-grain-free-gluten-free-low-carb-997/ . I did mix the wet ingredients briefly in my nutri bullet before adding to the wet ingredients. I also added about ½ cup blueberries, and I used a mini muffin pan.
The Chocolate Cupcakes and the Lemon Bar recipes came from the Paleo Desserts book by Jane Barthelemy. You can go to www.janeshealthykitchen.com to look for an ebook version. The recipes I used are on page 50, page 181, and page 86. I have emailed her directly to get her permission to put these recipes on a blog post, but haven’t received a reply yet. If I get permission, I will post them separately. The Just Like Sugar Table Top Sweetener is very healthy, but it does have a slight aftertaste. Jane has a great post on “What are the Best Paleo Sweeteners?” (I want to give a special thanks to Linda for her help and expertise).
The chocolate chip cookie recipe was adapted from several different recipes. Another good site to look through is www.elanaspantry.com . Here is my own version for these cookies.
Mel’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 ¼ cups blanched almond flour (I used Honeyville brand)
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup organic dark chocolate chips ( I used a 70% strong dark choc. bar and broke into small pieces)
¼ cup coconut oil (melted)
¼ cup raw honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 organic egg
Cookie Baking Instructions
- Place dry ingredients in a large bowl
- Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix well to combine (I again mixed wet ingred. in nutri bullet)
- Roll cookies into 1-inch balls – (I used a melon ball scoop)
- Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Press balls to flatten slightly
- Bake at 350° for 7-10 minutes
- Let cool for 20 minutes and serve
I hope this post was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.
