Week 6: Learn to Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside of the Box with Chrisetta Mosley

The final session nourishing the desert...Tuesday, April 30th.

We spent six weeks together learning how to shop and create healthy, simple delicious meals -- OUTSIDE of the Box!

For the final session I whipped up: Smokey Black Bean Dip with fresh Baked Tortilla Chips and Kale Chips (not shown) -- they gobbled them up too fast. ;) And, Nikki an eager class participant followed my Cashew Energy Bars recipe and brought a few in for us to enjoy! Now, that's OUTSIDE of the Box.

A blog post wrapping up the entire program forthcoming...But for now here's photos from week 6. 

 

What's Happening in April

April promises to be another busy month filled with community outreach and doing all the things I love. I'm singing, Alicia Keys, "This girl is on fire.

Highlights:

Honored to be the presenter for Camas & Washougal on a Diet's free screening of HBO's "The Weight of The Nation" part 3 “Children in Crisis." 

Wednesday
April 3rd & April 10
7 p.m.

Click here to watch video of my call to action
Click here to get all the details from LiveWell / The Columbian

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I'll be at the Cascade Park Library showing you how to create simple delicious Spring Salads with freshly made dressings and vinaigrettes.  Using recipes straight out of my cookbook -- Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside of the Box.

Saturday
April 20
2 - 4 p.m.

Notable: 

- Coming soon...ChrisettaMosley.com

- Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside of the Box with Chrisetta Mosley (eBook)

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Here's a list of all my events for the month of April:
  
Tuesday, April 9th
Tuesday, April 16th
Tuesday, April 23rd
Tuesday, April 30th
4-5:30 p.m.

Learn to Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside of the Box with Chrisetta Mosley

A FREE six-week program that offers fresh, healthy OUTSIDE of the Box ideas and recipes to anyone who lives, works, or plays in the Fruit Valley neighborhood.

Brought to you by The Fruit Valley Foundation.

Fruit Valley Elementary School (Family Resource Room)
3410 NW Fruit Valley Rd.
Vancouver, WA 98660

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Wednesday, April 24th
6-7:30 p.m.
 
"5 or 50" Women's Sustainable Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyle Group No matter if you have "5 or 50" pounds to lose. It's time to start seeing yourself as beautiful, strong, capable and look beyond physical attributes. I'll facilitate the meeting and share my tips for staying motivated. This will be a safe, inspiring environment to share and grow.

- Motivation and tips for healthy, sustainable weight loss
- Recipe sharing
- Self-love and affirmation

Cascade Park Community Library
600 NE 136th Ave.
Vancouver360.256.7782

That's it and that's all. I hope to see you somewhere out in the mix! 

Prep time

I’ll be honest, shopping, cooking, and eating “Outside of the Box” requires a commitment. Having a plan of action will save time and ultimately make the days easier.

For most folks, one of the biggest challenges to eating and living “Outside of the Box” is being prepared. On the food front: Being prepared means of course grocery shopping, but it also means once home with the goods taking it one step further — prepping. Slicing and chopping the fresh produce, hard-boiling eggs, making side dishes, making a pot of beans and/or grains, packaging up nuts and grains, etc.

Though, I am fortunate to work for myself from home or near home. I still benefit and stay on track better when I am prepared.  I dedicated part of my Saturday to prep time. So, this week when I'm blogging and my stomach starts grumbling I can just go grab a quick snack. Or after a day of talks and presentations I can come home and reheat with ease.

I prepped fresh veggies (carrots, cucumbers, and mushrooms), made a pot of wheat berries, and three side dishes (Sautéed Collard Greens with Garlic, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower).

Prepping tips:

Fresh produce always takes a little prep time. Do it in bulk right when you get home from the grocery store that way you'll be prepared throughout the week.

1. Pull out a cutting board, a colander, knife, produce peeler.
2. Rinse and/or peel produce. Get to slicing.
3. As you're slicing, put on the pot of beans, grains, eggs (cook as directed).
4. After vegetables are sliced either place in storage bags/containers or prepare as side dishes.
6. Once beans, grains, or eggs are finished cooking.  Allow to cool slightly and then store in fridge.

There you have it, prep time made easy. Happy Shopping, Prepping, Cooking, and Eating! 

A peek at the side dishes I whipped up:

Outside of the Box Finals at Clark College

Day Two: Grub time!

I was invited by my mentor and friend, Veronica to host a food presentation for her Health 100: Food and Your Health students' final. The students have been discussing and learning about food and health all quarter and using my cookbook.  My final visit was an OUTSIDE of the Box, delicious way to wrap up the course.

On the menu: 
Hummus with Crudités
Cashew Energy Bars
Santa Fe Chicken Wraps with Fresh Salsa

I really enjoyed my time with the students. It was super-duper fun being among all the youthful energy. After each class, I always ask the students if they can and will make the recipes at home. The consensus among the students was that the recipe ideas I shared with them were totally doable and they would indeed try them. So, with that said -- they are officially OUTSIDE of the Box.

Doing what I love, loving what I do!

Day Two/Thursday, March 21:

Food is Fuel

A student helps with Santa Fe Chicken Salad

Assembly line for Santa Fe Chicken Wraps

 

Michael gives a thumbs up for the Cashew Energy Bars 

Hummus time

Day One/Tuesday, March 19:

Lecturing with my mentor -- super duper cool!

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I lectured for 11 classes and four programs at Clark College during Winter quarter 2013.  I made lots of connections with the students, staff and faculty. Thanks to the Health department for having me and extra-thanks to: Veronica Brock, Kristen Myklebust, Erin Staples, Kristin Woitte, Garet Struder, and Steve Demassa.

V day!

Yesterday, was V day with a double meaning. It was Valentine's Day, but I also declare it Veronica day. A little history...Veronica Brock was my Health 100: Food and Your Health professor at Clark College just over a year ago. She's the force behind me learning so much about food, how it is meant to nourish our bodies, and how the food we eat relates to our health and the environment.

As I learned and blossomed she recognized the seed she planted. After completing the course we stayed in touch. She's the force behind me authoring -- Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside of the Box, how it became a REQUIRED book for the class, and how I've come to have the pleasure of guest lecturing at Clark College.

So yesterday for me to lecture in the very classroom with her by my side was AWESOME.

She won't take much credit for my success. Instead, she says it my enthusiasm and determination that got me the deal. But, I argue she absolutely has to take some of the credit. She believed in me and my ideas. Thanks for putting me on V. Forever grateful.

"For Veronica -- In Food and In Health."

"...Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

Outside of the Box: Chili

I'm on a mission to share my love for good, real food -- Outside of the Box with you. Today, I whipped up spicy, hearty chili served with Cilantro Lime Rice. In less than 1.5 hours I created this meal and that's with me talking and entertaining. The cost was less than $25 and I used premium goods. So, see it's simple and inexpensive to eat OUTSIDE of the Box!

 

 

Outside of the Box: Cookin' with teens

Wow. Just when I think it can't get any better it does. Last night, I hosted a cooking demo for teens at the Cascade Park Community Library.

The youth and teens are our future. And, I'm proud and honored to help them make better, informed food decisions. I tell you -- it's the most AWESOME feeling, to look around the room at young enthusiastic faces and see their bulbs shining brighter and brighter as I introduce ingredients and talk techniques. My message is simple: Any and everything that is in a box or package can be made at home using fresh, whole ingredients.

To drive home the point, I whipped up a few healthy favorites -- Blueberry Banana Kale Smoothies, Cashew Whole Food Energy Bars, and two types of Brown Bag Popcorn (Parmesan and Honey Butter).

They were amazed at how easy these goods were to make.  When I asked them the burning question at the end of our time together..."Can you do this?" They all eagerly answered "Yes." Will you do this? Again they answered "Yes." Music to my ears.

Thanks again for having me, Linda Landi,Teen Librarian and Teresa Torres, Branch Librarian. And to the teens that came out thanks for a delicious fun time! Happy Shopping, Cooking, and Eating!

An OUTSIDE of the Box thank you

Oh, how time flies when you're having fun! It's hard to believe that only a year ago I authored my first convenient little cookbook, Bringing Cooking Back. As I type, the press is rolling for more copies of my latest cookbook -- Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside of the Box.  The books will hit the shelves of Clark College Bookstore, Friday, December 7th for winter quarter 2013. This will mark the second quarter that my cookbook is a required text for Health 100: Food and Your Health students. Yay!

Thank you Clark College for believing in me to author the cookbook and your continued support. For those of you, yeah you, who bought the cookbook and embraced the OUTSIDE of the Box movement -- thank you, thank you, thank you. The last few months have been delicious fun and I'm looking forward to many more!

Home Ec

I love what I do! Sharing my passion for food and cooking with the community. The last couple of weeks, I've been relishing the time I shared with the Clark College Health 100: "Food and Your Health" students. Oh, what delicious fun we had! The students have been using my cookbook -- Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside of the Box for the past several weeks and their time spent with me was to help them step further OUTSIDE of the Box.

As much as I enjoyed our time together, it dawned on me and sadden me to realize that most of these young adults have never cooked.  Yet alone shopped in the grocery store.

I'm a child of the 70s. Probably the last generation before fast food and TV dinners replaced good home cooked meals. I grew up with a mother and grandmother who cooked and grocery shopped religiously. So I got to see first hand how it was done. Thank you mama and grandmama. As a reinforcement to what they taught me, I also took a Home Ec class in 7th grade. What ever happened to Home Ec classes? Have they been replaced with computer technology classes? I wonder.

I have fond memories of my time in the Home Ec classroom. There was a kitchenette were we practiced all sorts of basic cooking skills. Making chocolate chip cookies was always a sweet delight. There was a living space with a sewing machine and sewing items. I wasn't crazy about this area, but I did learn the very basics: how to stitch, sew on buttons, etc.

I wanna know...What happened to teaching our kids the very basic life skills (cooking, sewing, cleaning) at home? Is grocery shopping for real food a thing of the past? Is cooking from scratch a lost art? And, why did Home Ec get phased out of the curriculum?

For me cooking is an everyday essential skill. Instead of just pondering the questions, I'm doing what I can to help us return to the very basics. I'm on a mission to Bring Cooking Back and help folks step OUTSIDE of the prepared food Box!  The responsibility should not fall on only our school systems or on the shoulders of lil ol' me, but really starts at home.

Northwest Personal Training: Steps OUTSIDE of the Box

It's always a fun time when Northwest Personal Training (NWPT) hosts an event. Last night, was delicious fun and I just so happened to be the hostess. It was a great honor and pleasure to be invited to share my story, my love for good real food, and passion for health, fitness, and life with NWPT clients.

The cool thing about doing what I do, is no matter the audience I mostly always reach them with new information, inspiration, encouragement. The NWPT folks last night would prove no different. Sometimes it could be a tidbit:  Kale can be frozen. A new found kitchen gadget. Fresh lemon juice adds a bright flavor without any calories to a number of dishes.

The more events I host I realize my concept of being OUTSIDE of the Box is simply a reminder to folks. A reminder of how simple it is to prepare real food.  A reminder that Shopping, Cooking, Eating OUTSIDE of the Box allows us to not only take control of our health and our lives, but it gives us freedom. Somewhere along the way, somehow we got BOXED in, and lost our freedom and creativity.  It's darn cool to show folks how simple it is to step OUTSIDE of the Box.  It's even cooler to end the evening with a hug from a lady who you met only a couple of hours ago.

NWPT you are more than a training studio, and I'm proud to be a part of the NWPT family. An extra-special thanks to Kristin for organizing everything and Cindy for being my personal assistant. You two are AWESOME.

NWPT is officially OUTSIDE of the Box.

Clark College: Steps OUTSIDE of the Box

What delicious fun we had on Friday! 50 Clark College "Food and Your Health" students and me -- Shopping, Cooking, and Eating. 

I've hosted many of cooking classes at Chuck's, but none quite as special as these two. It was a great honor to instruct these eager, young students. I loved seeing their light bulbs come on.

We started the store tour in the beautiful produce department:
- I discussed the different types of greens (Kale, Swiss Chard, Greens, Spinach, etc.)
- The countless varieties of apples -- we live in the Apple State after all                 
- Potatoes (aren't bad it's all the stuff we put on them)                                        
- Shallots versus onions
- The slight difference between sweet potatoes and yams
- Advising them to say no to convenient bagged lettuce, carrots, and bottled citrus juice
and opt for the fresh varieties

Bonus:  The produce gals gave the students samples (Kiwi berries, Hidden Rose Apples, and Sprouted Almonds).

Next, we quickly toured the dairy, meat, bread, and deli sections. Our tour ended in the bulk section -- Discovering how we could buy a little or a lot of honey, grind our own nut butters, and what dishes we could create with the endless grains, beans, nuts, and spices.

Then back to the classroom for the real fun. I loved seeing the students look on in awe as I pulsed and processed the dates to make the Cashew Whole Food Energy Bars. "Yes, it's that simple," I said. Watching Kate swing her crossed leg back and forth in sheer delight as she enjoyed the freshly roasted Brussels Sprouts. Naomi and Kate going back to scoop up the last few Kale Chips. The look of anticipation as I layered The Mexican Rice Bowl (my version of Chipotle's burrito in a bowl) with all the goods and finishing it with a fresh squeeze of lime. Bam! As Emeril would say.

At the beginning of each class, I told the students, "You can do this. I'm confident". I also gave them a few things I wanted them to take away from their time with me:

1. Everything in a prepared food box can be made from scratch using whole, natural ingredients.
2. How simple and fun it is to cook.
3. We don't have to eat OUTSIDE of the Box all the time, but most of the time.

The sweetest reward: By the end of each class ALL 50 students said they could do it (cook at home) and promised they would.

Thanks to Clark College for believing in me to author the cookbook and Kristen Myklebust for allowing her students to take it a step further under my instruction.
 
Chuck's Produce & Street Market -- Thank you so much for graciously opening your doors to the students. An extra-special thanks to Angee Murray for getting us on the schedule and for everything else.    

I'm looking forward to making more delicious memories and helping 50 more Clark College "Food and Your Health" students step OUTSIDE of the box, next Friday, November 16. Until then...here's some photos from the first classes.

Class #1

Class #2