See what the OFL Parkway class has been doing by reading this update from NCSU nutrition student and OFL class instructor Meghan Donovan! Also, don't forget that the Operation Frontlineblog has given a Parkway update in a previous blog entry.
Week 3
Week three at Parkway went really well. We reviewed fruits, vegetables, grains from the week before then we moved on to learning about the meat and milk categories. By the end of the class they were able to tell the difference between saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats. Participants were also able to choose between lean meats and turn a high fat fast food meal into something more healthy. In the kitchen while preparing Turkey Chili, participants watched a quick cutting demonstration, and then they broke off to work on individual tasks such as preparing the additional fruit salad. There was lots of great discussion including questions as to why we include garlic in certain dishes, the health benefits of carrots and why we cut the seeds out of peppers. Back in the class room participants were given seeds to start their garden. The participants’ children joined us for the Turkey Chili and Fruit Salad which everyone enjoyed. The children were excited about starting a garden with their parents and one little boy told us: “he would eat the chili if his dad made it.”
Week 4 
Week 4 of OFL class at Parkway went great. After recapping last week’s lesson on milk and lean protein we moved on to talking about the importance of breakfast. Everyone had eaten breakfast that morning so we knew we were off to a great start.
We discussed why they need to eat breakfast and the many benefits it has for their children, including helping them be alert in school. As a group we came up with on the go breakfast ideas that would help not only the adults but also the children to incorporate breakfast into rushed mornings. We then moved on to talking about eating out compared to the benefits of eating at home. In the end, our list of reasons to eat at home was much longer then the reasons to eat out. Some of the reasons on the list included being able to make substitutions and know exactly what goes into your meal, family bonding time and the opportunity to teach their children important life skills. Everyone got silly playing a game with the gardening instructor where they had to guess the fruit or vegetable that was on the card they were holding to their head. In the kitchen we worked together to make a vegetable and rice stir fry and a salad that included mixed greens, walnuts, oranges, sweet potatoes and a red wine vinaigrette that the class manager was able to create on the spot. Back in the classroom everyone was silent, and said it was a sign of how good the meal was.