Instant Pot Basics

Why eat fast food when you can make real food fast? Join chef and culinary nutrition educator Marianne Jurayj as she shares what the Instant Pot does best and how it can help you get dinner on the table in a flash!
In this virtual, demonstration cooking class, we will explore the features of an Instant Pot® and how it can be just the right tool to making nutrient-dense and flavorful meals easy.. Walk away with recipes for real food that you and your family will love.

This cooking class is offered as a recorded class, which you can purchase here.

Slow Cooker Savvy

Hectic schedules can often side-track our healthy eating! Learn to save time and master your slow cooker. Chef and culinary educator Marianne Jurayj will show you how to prepare meals for busy weeknight dinners. She will also share easy recipes and creative tips on how to store and use up all those leftovers to have healthy, nourishing meals ready any time.

This cooking class is offered as a recorded class, which you can purchase here.

Global Flavors: Spices & Sauces

Learn the simple steps to spice up your meals! Don’t let your spice cabinet intimidate you! In this class, Chef Marianne will walk you through how to buy, store, and use spices and herbs to make your healthy food delicious and exciting. She’ll show you how to make your own spice mixtures as well as what to look for when buying premade mixes. You’ll walk away with recipes to try and a flavor profiles handout using different cultural cuisines, so you know what pairs well together as you experiment in the kitchen.

This cooking class is offered as a recorded class, which you can purchase here.

Please email us if you are interested in a particular class topic.

Kitchen Tips for Farmer's Market Vegetables

Getting enough vegetables into our day can be challenging, so we created a class to help you fill in the menu. We’ll cover a few basics about farmer’s market and CSA fresh produce and we will demonstrate how to prepare [and use up] delicious and fiber-rich sides to go with your chicken, fish, beef or pork. We’ll teach you how to bring out the best in your vegetables no matter where you get them (local grocery store and your backyard garden included!) and how to use them in salads, roasted, or on the grill.

Easy Weekday Lunches

Cooking Brain-Healthy Foods

“Food for Thought!” is an expression we’ve all heard, but we often forget how food has an impact on our minds! Join us as we dive into the kitchen to explore some tasty dishes that nourish our brains for better memory, processing, and learning, regardless of age. This class will include foods rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids and anti-inflammatory compounds that will feed our brain and keep us sharp from childhood to our senior years.

Pantry Possibilities

In this cooking demonstration, Chef Marianne covers helpful pantry staples to always have on hand, how to utilize what you’ve got in your fridge and cupboards, how to freeze foods to use in meals later, and how to put ingredients together to make healthy and delicious meals.

Cooking in Autumn

Although things are cooling off outside, it is a good time to heat things up in the kitchen. Chef Marianne will demonstrate how to prepare fall foods available from your CSA, farmers' market or local grocery store. Learn tips and tricks to try at home and receive delicious, nutritious recipes to share with family and friends.

Sheet Pan & One-Pot Meals

The worst part of cooking is all the dishes you’re left with after, right? After a long, busy day, cooking a complicated dish is not ideal. In this demonstration cooking class, we make cooking simple so you’re not spending all your time in the kitchen. Learn tips and tricks to make the dinner routine easy, delicious, and healthy using tools you already have in your kitchen and foods you already like to eat.

Cooking Heart-Healthy Meals

Your heart is the hardest working muscle in your body & we know that heart disease can be prevented with real food, so let’s take control by cooking up some delicious, heart-healthy meals and snacks. We will discuss foods that can help with cholesterol, blood pressure and vascular health. Join us in the kitchen where we will explore good fats, Vitamin B-rich proteins, and garden-fresh vegetables that give our heart the fuel it needs to keep us moving.

Cooking for Better Digestion

So much of our immune system lives in the GI system! And by cooking and eating the foods that nurture our gut, we can strengthen our immunity, lower inflammation, and have more energy! Join us for this demonstration cooking class that explores the many delicious foods that can feed our “inner garden” and keep us healthy, including bone broth, fermented foods, and fiber.

Start a Breakfast Habit with Real Food

Ditch the cereal and toast and start your day with the true breakfast of champions: real food! One of our favorite ways to kick off healthy eating habits and a boosted metabolism is to eat a balanced breakfast. In this virtual demonstration cooking class, we’ll teach you what balanced looks like (hint: protein, fat, carb!), give you lots of breakfast options to choose from that will add variety as well as ease to your morning routine, and provide tips of how to start a new breakfast eating habit if it’s not really your thing.

Salads for Balanced Meals

Salads and leafy greens are not just rabbit food! They can be hearty dishes full of texture and flavor to keep you satisfied for hours. In this virtual demonstration cooking class, Chef Marianne will give you tips on greens: what to look for when buying, different combinations for variety to add to your repertoire, how to wash, and how to store. We’ll cover ideas on how to make your salads balanced with a mix of different protein options, other fiber-full veggies, fun toppings to mix up the flavors and some basic salad dressings that are healthy ways to pull the salad together.

Healthy Burgers & Tacos

Healthy Bowls

You’ve probably heard of “protein bowls” or “power bowls” as the new dish to get on the go. In this class, we’ll break down what components to put in the bowl to meet all your nutrition needs while satisfying your taste buds. Walk away with examples on how to make a bowl for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and maybe even a snack!

Cooking For One

This is a topic we get asked about all the time in our classes! “I’m only cooking for myself. How do I cook for just me?” We’re going to tackle this topic to give you inspiration rather than overwhelm when it comes to getting into your kitchen for homecooked meals. In this class, we’ll go into the fridge, pantry, and freezer to show you how to throw together some dishes that are nourishing, simple, and easy for those who are cooking for one.

Meat- Roast, Braise & Sauté

Good, quality protein is an important part of a balanced meal, but it can often be the most challenging. In this demonstration cooking class, we’ll cover different cuts of meat, what to look for when buying, and what to do with it once you are in your kitchen. Using your slow cooker/Instant Pot, oven and sauté pan [including cast iron], we will answer all your “what should I do with this?” questions! You’ll walk away with delicious recipes that diversify your go-to proteins and inspire you to incorporate them into all your meals and snacks.

Vegetables: Raw, Roast, Steam and Sauté

Part of the core philosophy at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to get a healthy dose of vegetables as your carbohydrates. Veggies give you lots of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and a range of other health benefits. But how do you add more to your plate? How do you prep them to be delicious? What if you just don’t like vegetables very much?? Chef Marianne’s got you! In this virtual demonstration cooking class, you’ll learn ways to eat the rainbow by choosing and preparing colorful veggies in a variety of ways to discover your favorites and enhance your go-to options.

Creative Leftovers to Reduce Food Waste

With the rise of food costs, throwing away old or spoiled food hurts! Join Chef Marianne to discuss strategies for shopping and storage so you have what you need and nothing goes to waste. This class will cover ideas on how to use frozen veggies, repurposing meal components to make new dishes, and recipes to use up what’s in your fridge rather than tossing it in the trash. Since not everyone is thrilled about leftovers, we'll talk about ways to make repeat food feel less like a “leftover” and more like an “encore. "

Making Comfort Food Healthy

We all love comfort food, but it can have a bad reputation for being an unhealthy option. Join us for this virtual cooking demonstration to learn tips and tricks for creating healthy versions of your favorites that are still delicious and comforting. You’ll be inspired with new dishes, combining the coziness of comfort food while still getting critical nutrients needed for your health.

Questions?

Still not sure which cooking class is right for you? Call us at 651-699-3438 for more information.