A Successful Event!
Happy Monday my friends! I am so happy to share today how well my first Seasonal Plant-Based Taste & Learn event went at Excellence in Exercise. It really was so much fun to spend some time sharing my joy of wholesome food, and also inspire others to perhaps try some new things in their own kitchens. I think I take away just as much from hosting events like this as I hope the participants did from their end!
First off, the group asked some excellent questions. As a presenter, especially with a smaller group, you hope for some good engagement and participation to show people are interested in the topic and to keep things flowing. The last thing I want to do is just stand up there and ramble on without hitting on the topics that people are truly interested in learning more about. I think one of the things I would like to do at future events is to have a specific side topic related to plant-based nutrition in addition to the seasonal aspect. There’s so much in the field of nutrition to talk about, that you can’t fit everything into one short presentation. Though I’m always happy to help answer any general questions, having an even more focused topic may help me give even more good information to share with the group.
From the feedback that I got from everyone, the food I chose to share was a hit! I know some of my choices are a bit quirky sometimes, so I tried to pick items to share that would have a broader appeal so many people would enjoy them. The Strawberry Gazpacho might have been the dish I got the most positive comments about. I can’t say I blame them, I think it’s vibrant and delicious! I know one of my clients was really keen on making the Chickpea Crackers that I served with beet hummus, as well. The raw cauliflower and Brussels salad was also equally spoken highly of!
I did have a few questions on where I source some of my ingredients, so here are a few links for local shops that have fantastic products:
Spices: Penzeys (Sandy Springs & online ordering)
Flavored Vinegars: https://www.oliandve.com/ (Roswell & online) or Olea Oliva (East Cobb & online)
Farmers Market: Marietta Square is my favorite, but check your local city to see if there is one in your neighborhood!
Many of the other ingredients like the chickpea flour and beans you can find at many of the local grocery stores. Of course Whole Foods and Sprouts have a great variety, but even Kroger, Publix and Aldi have stepped up their offerings in the plant-based sphere! I also like to do some of my bulk foods (dry beans, steel cut oats, etc.) shopping at places like Life Grocery and Nature’s Pick Market (both in Marietta) to support my local shops.
As far as my resources for the best and latest nutrition research, I am a huge advocate of Dr. Michael Greger and his work at https://nutritionfacts.org/. You can find a ton of information on the site, and he even does podcasts if you’d prefer to listen than sit and read articles. PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) is another site I frequent for research-based nutrition recommendations. There are quite a few more, but those are two excellent ones to start with if you are interested in learning more about plant-based nutrition.
Thank you once again for everyone who was a part of the day! My heart is full knowing it was an enjoyable and motivational event! Can’t wait for the next one!
