“The Vegetarian Way” health outreach is a program run by the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement.
During the first three Monday evenings of May 2014, the Schofields Church ran this program catering to the local community. The series of health lectures and cooking demonstrations were geared to educate and encourage the community to pursue a healthier lifestyle and also to bring an awareness that true happiness only comes from our wonderful, loving God.
For the first night an eager audience of 74 people gathered, followed by increasing numbers as it progressed. Many known faces returned from previous sessions, and many newcomers.
The evenings were divided in two sections. The first section comprised a health lecture given by our Naturopaths, Amos Thiel and Alasdair Pow; and the second was the practical food preparation demonstration presented by Lidia Voncina, Rosetta Ilic, Amy Gules, Stela Gules, Vivian Ilic and Alyssia Thiel.
The first lecture taken by Amos was about “The Fat Family.” He spoke about good and bad fats and the importance of the Omegas 3 and 6 in our diet. In the second week Amos spoke about the importance of having “whole” foods. The last health segment for this series was taken by Alasdair, and he spoke about being slim without dieting! He stressed the importance of having a plant-based diet which is very high in fiber.
The second part of each week’s workshop was the food preparation demonstration. For the first week it was decided to let “millet” shine! Some of the benefits of using millet in the diet are:
- A good source of some very important nutrients, including copper, manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium. Magnesium has been known to reduce the risk of heart attack and lower high blood pressure. The magnesium in millet can help reduce the effects of migraines and heart attacks.
- Millet is also known to help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, and due to the high fiber content it also aids in the prevention of gallstones.
- Millet is an excellent gluten-free and non-allergenic grain, but as everything else it should be used moderately.
The second Monday evening’s food preparation program focused on proteins.
Proteins, and more importantly complete proteins, are needed for growth, development and manufacture of hormones, antibodies and tissues. It is also needed for the development of bones, muscles, skin, cartilage and blood. Hair and nails are also made up of proteins. Lack of proteins in the diet can cause serious problems for the smooth functioning of the body.
The dishes demonstrated during these sessions were:
- Potato Soup
- Zucchini Soup
- Green Bean Soup
- Millet and Vegetable Croquettes
- Baked Creamy Rice
- Savoury Bean Casserole
- Pasta with Not-Meat Balls
- Raw Tomato Sauce
- Choko Salad
- Millet Pineapple Pie
- Simple Pie Crust
- Banana Crumble Slice
- Apple Pecan Cake
For those who are interested, these health lectures and cooking demonstrations can be viewed on YouTube by searching for Schofields Church:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LzaeuNWxBw and selecting The Vegetarian Way–Cooking Demo 1, 2, 3
To view recipes click: RECIPES__05-05-2014 RECIPES__12-05-2014 RECIPES__19-05-2014
Cooking demonstrations very much involve teamwork. A huge thank you to all those who tirelessly worked so hard in making this outreach such a success.
