Margaret Fosberg, at 93 years old, said you aren’t going to live to her age unless you have a varied diet and watch what you eat.
Fosberg, a retired nurse from the Student Health Center at the University of Idaho, said she eats healthy foods such as the ones demonstrated at Gritman Medical Center’s Diabetes Wellness Cooking Class.
Gritman Medical Center’s Diabetes Care Team provided free culinary education to the public Tuesday. The cooking class was called Spring into Summer: A Seasonal Cooking Class.
Todd Unger, Gritman Medical Center chef and former owner of Wheatberries Bake Shop in Moscow, instructed an audience on incorporating fruits and vegetables in their diets.
Unger showed the crowd four recipes: Veggie Lasagna, Edamame Pesto, Quinoa Veggie Salad and Fresh Fruit Pizza.
Edamame is a dish of green soybeans boiled or steamed in their pods. According to Unger, the Edamame Pesto is served well on crackers and toast.
The Veggie Lasagna featured layers of eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, white onion and tomato sauce.
According to Unger, quinoa, a grainy seed, used in the Quinoa Veggie Salad, is similar to rice but less sticky.
The cooking demonstration ended with Unger making a fruit pizza by spreading strawberries, blueberries, applesauce, orange-juice-mixed cream cheese and a sweet sauce on a cooked crust.
The Diabetes Wellness Cooking Class is open to the public and is an extension of the services Diabetes Care offers.
The Diabetes Support Group will offer a program on June 3 called the Progression of Diabetes, featuring Dr. Kama White, MD.
On July 1, a program called “A Clear View for those with Diabetes” will feature Dr. David Leach from the Clearview Eye Clinic.
Because their annual cooking class has been a successful event, the Diabetes Care Team started a second cooking class this year.
The Diabetes Care Team at Gritman offers an annual holiday cooking class focused on diabetes. This year’s holiday cooking class will be December 2.
According to Tiffany Schaeffer, clinical dietitian at Gritman Medical Center, the Diabetes Care group has been offered for the past 18 years, and every year featured a Diabetes Wellness Cooking Course.
Gritman Medical Center Dietician Nancy Kure said she started the Diabetes Care Programs with the help of Louise Collens.
Schaeffer said the Diabetes Care Team likes to provide quality education to people with diabetes, so they can be successful managers of their condition.
“In general, we have education for people who can learn something about their condition,” Schaeffer said. “As far as cooking classes go, we like to give people resources and actually show them how to prepare food and how to prepare things that are easy for them.”
Denae Kramer, owner of the Bean Farm on Highway 8, said being pre-diabetic made her panic.
“(I decided) because I was prediabetic, I could eat a ton of sugar, because I wasn’t real diabetic yet,” Kramer said. “And I said I had to quit doing that and I need to make some lifestyle changes.”
Kramer said she walked away from the class realizing how easy it was to make her own food.
Jake Smith can be reached at [email protected]
