Category Archives: Community Health Team

Now We’re Cookin’

Tina and I are almost through our nutrition and cooking classes in Pampacorral and nearing the end of the classes in Poques; it has been a whirlwind. One goal of ours as the Health and Wellness team was to offer nutrition and cooking classes to the two communities where we have built greenhouses: Poques and Pampacorral. Providing nutritional information and new preparation tips about the newly available greenhouse vegetables, is one aspect of the holistic and sustainable approach of the Andean Alliance.

We are offering classes once a week for four weeks before or after school. We begin by teaching the benefits of each of the ingredients then doing a hands-on cooking demonstration for two recipes. During the fourth week we will hold a “Quick-fire” type of challenge where each team will need to prepare a meal. The winner will be determined based on the most nutritious and tasty meal however the group will need to explain why the meal is nutritious. The winning team will be given an assortment of prizes that we are still trying to determine (suggestions are welcome).

The first week we made Ensalada de Repollo and Huevos Revueltos (cancer fighting coleslaw without mayonnaise and delicious veggie infused-scrambled eggs).  There is so much to say about the experiences teaching these classes in each of the communities without even talking about the nutrition or the cooking.  I am excited to see what the next few weeks have in store and I am sure we will be learning a lot from the students as well. ~Jeanne