Wholesome Chef Class #2

Today was the second class at Wholesome Chef with Paula Antonini all about grains.The class, as expected, was awesome! Learned an incredible amount and got to taste some wonderful recipes!! I believe I'm going to be trying every single one of these recipes again... only maybe not all this week.

So what's the big deal about grains? They are a wonderful way to add both fiber and protein to your diet.And I'm sure there are many more reasons, but that's the start. Whole grains really stand up the hype - but sprouted grains are even better. And when looking at grains, it can get incredibly overwhelming very quickly!So Paula very smartly started with two that I had never heard about: quinoa and millet.

I think that quinoa has been getting a lot of focus lately. It's considered a "complete protein" as it contains the 9 necessary amino acids for us to live on a daily basis. Don't ask me really what that means because that's the extent of my knowledge. But I'll come back to that in a minute.Quinoa is an ancient grain in that our western world doesn't work with it much. Which also means that it hasn't be genetically mutated within an inch of its life. Also a good thing!

One of the best things about the class is that Paula makes these amazing dishes and we get to taste the potential that quinoa has. I don't think that I would have known what to do with quinoa if I had picked it up from the shelf at the grocery store. I didn't know how it tasted or with what types of food that it goes with. Thanks to Paula and the amazing recipes she had, I'm excited about quinoa rather than scared. And that's half the battle!!

I'm still not so sure what millet is other than a type of grain. It didn't have much taste by itself but as a breakfast with blueberries, maple syrup, and almonds, it was heavenly! Millet is also an "ancient grain" and another one I'll be experimenting with.

Paula also provided us with a good number of take-home reading and I haven't gone through it yet. But I'll be happy to share some of this with you as I learn more and more.

After the class, I made four stops before getting home. The first was Fresh Market where I did some basic shopping for the one recipe I knew I was definitely going to make this week: Quinoa Salad with Fennel and Red Onion. Look for the recipe when I blog about it tomorrow! I still kept on looking for watercress but no look.

Second stop: Vitamin Shoppe. They have a great variety of protein shakes and drinks. I found Nuun there which was a great surprise! I've been reading about Nuun and I'm so excited to try it. I also picked up some Hemp protein which is a vegan protein which contains all ingredients which I can read and understand.

Third stop: Joseph-Beth Bookstore. Now that I have cracked open the door and have just enough knowledge to hurt me, I want to learn more. I want to understand more. So I got a book about Nutrition. I didn't find any good books on green smoothies or leafy greens so I'll be heading to Amazon. But based on my pocket book after today, it'll still be a while!

Four stop: Whole Foods. And I found WATERCRESS!!!!!!!!! Of course it's at the last place I look :) But I'm happy to have found it and it adds another recipe on the list to do this weekend.

The butternut squash casserole is currently in the oven. Tomorrow I'll be making the quinoa salad and the Potato Watercress Soup. Paula gave me permission to share but give her some love and sign up for her newsletter. She shares great recipes in that newsletter! Better yet, sign up for one of her classes. She's a lovely person and willingly shares her knowledge (and she's got a lot.) She walks the walk and can talk the talk but she's not pushy or overbearing. She has no agenda other than to help you become more healthy.