Raw Food and On-the-Go Family Recipes Showcased During Ag Expo Cooking Demos
6/24/09
Contact: Michelle Lavra
517-432-1555, ext. 151
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Need menu ideas for your on-the-go family? Want to learn creative ways to prepare raw foods? Ag Expo is the place for you! Cooking demos will take place each day at 11:45 a.m. on the United Dairy Industry of Michigan stage in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) tent, July 21-23.
On Tuesday, July 21, and Thursday, July 23, Gourmet Raw Living Food chefs and trainers, Samone Jones and Sandy Putt, will be preparing raw living food cuisine. Their menu will consist of The Mighty Green Smoothie, Michigan Cherry Crisp Delight, Oatmeal Cookie Granola, Pleasant Pesto and Zucchini Pasta. All foods will be prepared at less than 115 degrees Fahrenheit and only Michigan produce will be used.
“The purpose of demonstrating raw living cuisine is to expose people to new ways of preparing raw living Michigan foods, which are some of the most nutritiously powerful and delicious foods available to assist in maintaining a healthy body,” Jones said.
Jones also stresses the importance of buying Michigan produce, saying, “Locally grown produce is less likely to contain additives used to extend the life of shipped produce from remote locations, therefore reducing the amount of foreign substances the body has to rid itself of – which promotes optimal health.”
On Wednesday, July 22, local chef and author of the “Good-to-Go-Cookbook,” Kathleen Cannata Hanna, will host a cooking demo for families on the go. She will be preparing smart snacks, quick suppers and great take-along foods for busy families, using nutritious, economical, readily available ingredients.
“Eating out often is not good for the waistline or the wallet,” says Hanna. “There are hundreds of recipes in ‘Good-to-Go’ to get families through weeks of evening meals, sack lunches, afterschool snacks and out-the-door breakfasts using readily available ingredients as well as minding the family budget.”
Through her fun cooking tips and easy kitchen techniques, Hanna will show the experienced cook how to make dishes simple and still taste good, the novice cook how to have the confidence to work through any kind of recipe, and teens how much fun cooking can be.
“I want the audience to come away with the knowledge and confidence to make a snack or a meal in the kitchen with ease. I want people to have fun in the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated, just home-cooked goodness brought to the table . . . or minivan, school lunchroom or even the playing field,” says Hanna.
The CANR tent will be located on Expo Drive on the Ag Expo grounds. The grounds are just off Mt. Hope Road, across from the MSU Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education. Visitors should look for a large, white tent on the northern edge of the Ag Expo grounds.
Ag Expo features commercial farm equipment from throughout the Midwest and several Canadian provinces on the 35-acre main exhibition site, as well as educational exhibits from several MSU colleges and departments.
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 21 and 22, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 23. Admission to the grounds and parking at Farm Lane and Mt. Hope Road are free. Because of the construction on Farm Lane, the Ag Expo parking area and grounds will be accessible only from Mt. Hope Road.
For more information about Ag Expo, call 800-366-7055 or visit www.agexpo.msu.edu.
Ag Expo is sponsored by the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
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