We all like to let loose a little on the weekends. Maybe we order pizza, have a burger and fries or go for that ice cream shake we’ve been craving all week. But then Monday rolls around and we feel the need to make right some of the wrongs from our weekend. Isabel Mejia, a nutritionist and community health educator from Food is Our Friend, recently started teaching Meatless Monday classes in downtown Salt Lake City. The classes are fun, educational, and I must say, delicious! She focuses on easy, healthy cooking methods and you leave feeling satisfied, but not stuffed, and filled with lots of new knowledge.
I jumped at the chance to attend one of Isabel’s first classes and here are a few snid bits of what I learned and ate:
A great way to up your water intake, is to infuse it with herbs and fruit. Try cucumber, mint, basil, and lemon to spice things up without adding calories or chemicals.
You don’t need cream to make a bisque. Use a good blender and puree your vegetables well to get the texture of creamy soup. Avocado, like in this Avocado Soup, creates a perfect creamy texture for soups and sauces.
Don’t be afraid to use water. We made a carrot soup and spiced it up with ginger and garlic (both anti inflammatory and anti viral ingredients). The addition of just enough water turned the puree into soup without watering it down. Also, carrots don’t loose their nutrients when you cook them, like many other vegetables. So, in this Carrot Soup, you can make it with shredded raw carrots or cooked carrots and get the same nutritional benefit.
We also enjoyed a fabulous grilled cheese on sourdough bread from Morning Mills Bakery. Sour dough bread doesn’t cause inflammation in the intestines and it is often times tolerable to those with gluten intolerances.
These are just a few tips I picked up from Isabel during our class. One of the greatest things about Isabel is that she’s approachable. She never makes you feel dumb if you don’t know something and she makes eating seem healthy doable and enjoyable! Check out her Meatless Monday class schedule to select a class you’d like to take this summer!
Love the information about Sourdough bread being non inflammatory!!! Thank you!!!!