Food Chronicles 2014

After a tumultuous start to my year...it didn't keep me from sharing my passion for food with YOU. Thanks for inviting me into your homes, offices, schools, etc. Here's a look back at some of the deliciousness of 2014! I'm looking forward to making more food memories in 2015.

Chrisetta Mosley © 2014
Culinary Goddess

Health 100: Food and Your Health -- Fall '14

I'm so blessed to have an employer, FamilyCare Health Plans that embraces my passion and doesn't see it as a threat! They want me to continue doing what I love! I have the best of both worlds.

2 days, 3 lectures, 100 students

There's so many reasons I love visiting campus and sharing my passion for food and health with students. High on that is when they want to take a photo with me or have me sign their cookbooks. Priceless.

In between, the past

In order to change and grow, one of the most important things is to be honest with yourself. That's part of the reason I blog. I can write my feelings down for all to see. It keeps me not only honest with myself, but gives me a sounding board.  I'm not ashamed or afraid to share my feelings and I welcome constructive criticism. 

As I was talking with a respected professional, this was her advice: "Time to stop visiting the past, only visit the past for the purpose of evaluation and information gathering - e.g., what worked, what didn't and that's about it. Only focus on today and moving forward."She's absolutely right. Time to stop living in the past.  This is who I am today. No more looking back.

Life happens. Life ebbs and flows. I am no longer in the same place as I used to be. In most instances that's a good thing, but when it comes to my weight, not so good. I've put on some of the 170 pounds I had lost. I'm upset with myself. Disappointed.  Today, I'm somewhere in between my heaviest weight of 388 pounds and my lowest  of 218 pounds. So where I am today is what I must embrace. I can't keep holding on to what used to be. Yesterday is gone. It's time to use the past to make tomorrow better.

Zumba In Pink For A Cause

Yesterday, the church ministry Get Fit, that I am blessed to lead, held it's first Zumba In Pink event. It was an hour long Zumba class with everyone donning pink to show their support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The proceeds of the event will go to a local Breast Cancer Foundation.

It was a sweaty, fun time -- here's a few photos...

Signing in

 

 

 

Sound Check

Zumba

Harvest Healthy Snacks with Chrisetta

It had been a while since I held a cooking presentation, but I was back at it again at one of my favorite spots on Saturday. I had the pleasure of whipping up Harvest Healthy Snacks at the Cascade Park Community Library. As always, it was a great time. I'm so blessed to share my passion for food with YOU.Here's a look at the delicious fun!

On the menu:

-Fuji Apples with fresh squeezed lime juice and sprinkled with chili powder
-Fresh popped popcorn with honey butter, dried cranberries, and sliced almonds
-Apple Fennel Salad

Portland Iron Chef Competition 2014

It was an honor to attend Portland’s Original Iron Chef Competition on behalf of my employer, FamilyCare Health Plans. What a fantastic, first rate event. The food was delicious, the venue was perfect, the auction was lively, and the crowd was diverse – what’s better it was all for good cause. All proceeds support the two LifeWorks NW Children’s Relief Nursery locations in the Portland metro area.

   

Gabriel Gabreski - A Cena Ristorante
Warm farro salad with chantrelles, roasted beets, kale, and hazelnuts. This was out of this world delicious -- the picture does NOT do it justice.

Mirna Attar- Ya Hala
Seared halloumi with carrots and sweet peper melange and pomengranate glace. We could only vote for one, but this easily would've been my second place vote!

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A part of the Family!

So proud to be a part of the family!

I've been self-employed, out and about in the community; sharing my passion for food and health for the past six years. In August, I accepted a full-time position with an awesome, growing, local health plan. I knew if I ever returned to work for an organization it would have to be at a place where their values lined up with mine. I found that place -- FamilyCare Health Plans. They've been proving themselves over and over. Today, I was featured in the October Employee Newsletter. You can read more, here >>>


NEW EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

Chrisetta Mosley—touching lives in and outside of FamilyCare
Chrisetta Mosley joins our Navigation Services team on the front lines of
member navigation, fulfilling members’ every need, from changing PCPs to
inputting referrals and authorizations. Chrisetta’s first foray into healthcare, however, was back in the ‘90s, when she held several roles at Providence Health & Services here in Portland.

After years in the Seattle marketing scene, Chrisetta has returned to
Portland, and has since made a splash as a budding cookbook author. Her
journey to local fame began with a realization. “I’ve been overweight my
entire life...There comes a time when you just can’t do [it] anymore.” From
then on, her mission was clear: to regain control of her life. Through hard
work and determination, Chrisetta lost 170 pounds and recorded her weight loss journey on a blog: Farewell Fatso! But Chrisetta thought, “I can do more than this...maybe there is something else [I am] meant to do.”
Chrisetta’s passion for cooking had her creating and photographing
healthful dishes at home. The pictures on her blog created a buzz at her
local gym, and she was soon compiling the dishes into her first cookbook, Bringing Cooking Back.

The success of her cookbook caught the attention of a professor at Clark College in Vancouver, WA, where Chrisetta was also teaching cooking classes at a local food market. Chrisetta was asked to develop a second cookbook, strictly for students at Clark College. This is now the third year that Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside of the Box with Chrisetta Mosley has been a required textbook for Clark’s health students. Chrisetta has been touching lives in and around Portland, and we’re happy she’s here continuing the
mission at FamilyCare. Please welcome Chrisetta Mosley to the family.

*NEW EMPLOYEE MEET-AND-GREET CONTEST
The 5th person to introduce him/herself to Chrisetta Mosley will receive a free casual day. Chrisetta will write names on a Meet-and-Greet Contest sheet and present it to Communications once all ten slots are filled. The winner will be notified via email. Chrisetta is on the 13th floor. Let’s give her a warm welcome!

Get Fit Neighborhood Walk

I'm so proud to be the lead of the Get Fit ministry at my church, Emmanuel Temple.  Our first Get Fit Neighborhood Walk last Saturday was a success. We talked, laughed, and WALKED our way through the neighborhood. Before we knew it we had walked 2.2 miles. Way to go, ladies! Let's plan to do it again late Spring '15!

 

 

Sunday at Washington Park

Jamie and I hooked up for our last trip of Summer ’14. Today, we visited Washington Park — such a treasure right in the center of the city! Oh, Portland you have it all! Thanks for being so hospitable.