Healthy Snacks Cooking Demonstration

Kathy and Susie were busy today planning and doing a cooking demonstration of healthy snacks (low in calories, fat, and salt; high in fiber and nutrients). We arrived with a collection of recipes that we reviewed with Marina, the Certified Nursing Assistant who staffs the Health Center. She told us which ones would be most likely to appeal to the residents of this area. We shopped for the necessary ingredients yesterday, and today it was time to measure, chop, stir, and simmer or bake.

We spent the morning typing 6 recipes into a handout to give to all who attended the demonstration. Marina had also found some helpful resources online that she printed and copied for additional handouts. We had found a copy of a Food Pyramid that was specific to Native American diets, so we added that one to the stack of handouts.
The demonstration took place in the mission school cafeteria, and we used the adjacent kitchen to prepare ingredients and simmer and bake the foods that needed the stove and oven. Marina and her daughter April set up tables with blue and yellow tablecloths and plates; April contributed flower arrangements for each table. Another table held the handouts and a sign-in sheet, and we had a large container of fruit punch as well as water and coffee for beverages.

We started with the Gelatin Jiggle Snacks recipe, which Kathy had made ahead of time. As we cut the gelatin into small squares and passed them out for everyone to taste, Kathy explained that sugar-free gelatin was lower in calories. The gelatin snacks were not familiar to many attendees, and they seemed to enjoy them. Marina and April cut up some watermelon, peaches, and kiwi fruit, and we passed out samples of those fruits to everyone as well.

While the attendees were sampling those snacks, we demonstrated how to make peanut butter sandwiches using rice cakes instead of bread, reduced-fat peanut butter, and apple slices. Substitutions included peaches or bananas in place of the apples, and raisins and cinnamon sugar were suggested additions.Then we started the recipes that involved baking. We made a healthy cookie recipe that included rolled oats, crunchy wheat and barley cereal, and raisins. While the first batch of cookies was baking, Kathy mixed up a batch of low-fat fruit bars. Marina was skeptical about that recipe; she has made granola bars before and she noticed that the recipe we used didn’t include oatmeal. But when the fruit bars were baked and cooled, she liked them so much that she surprised herself!

While the fruit bars were baking, we made a batch of sweet and savory popcorn. For this recipe, we used a spice that the local residents were not very familiar with—cumin. They liked it! We talked about substitutions for the cumin such as black or cayenne pepper or cinnamon. Then we had to mix up a second batch of the popcorn with black pepper to taste test the difference.

The final recipe was Ornish Trail Mix, a heart-healthy snack. This mixture included several unsweetened cereals, raisins, dry-roasted unsalted peanuts, and dry-roasted unsalted sunflower seeds. That recipe also was so popular that we had to make a second batch.

At the end of the demonstration, we distributed small plastic bags with samples of the snacks that we had prepared, so that participants could take them home to see if their family members would like them. Then Kathy, Susie, and Marina washed the bowls, pans, and utensils and cleaned up the kitchen.