Health Starts Here: Week 4 Re-cap {Adobo}

Good Morning friends!

I don’t have much time before I need to get ready and head off to work.  This week has already been super busy & tight for me, but I love this little break to come and blog!

Our week 4 session doesn’t cover much material because we had a cooking demonstration from a local Restaurant owner/chef, Chef Luis Bruno who owns Adobo in Jackson, MS.  He was such a sport when Mary Lindsey told him what our stipulations were for the challenge and he accommodated everything to fit within our restrictions!  He was hilarious and fun to spend the evening with!  I can’t wait to try Adobo for myself and if you’re in the Jackson, MS area, you should too! 

A little about the Chef: Chef Luis is Puerto Rican, but has been in the Jackson area for 20 years now.  He grew up in the Bronx and his life was far from easy.  He dealt with a lot of health issues throughout life including fluctuating weight, club feet, diabetes, and multiple family deaths.  He decided to attend culinary school in Florida and gained even more weight there.  He ended up in Mississippi at the Governor’s Mansion, but eventually opened up his own restaurant.  He did the liquid diet through the Baptist Hospital where he lost a lot of weight and began cooking healthier.  His restaurant now uses very little oil to cook and does not fry a single thing on the menu.  If he adds cheese or other flavorings, it’s in moderation and it acts as another substitute (ex: He adds feta cheese to his Roasted Corn Salsa, he didn’t in our demonstration, but he says the cheese was his salt.  It was not the main part of the dish, but it added that little seasoning flare).

On the Menu:

Black Bean Burgers

Asparagus Salad with Roasted Red Peppers & Capers

Spicy Basil Guacamole

Roasted Corn Salsa

 

Chef Luis did an excellent job and delivered dishes that were easy to make and flavorful!  He also has a cookbook with all of these recipes in there!  If you’re ever in the Jackson area, be sure to check out Adobo!  Thank you Chef Luis for a wonderful evening with the Health Starts Here Challenge!

My week 4 went really well.  I was strict throughout the week and did a lot of prep before hand with chili & veggie rice.  I also stuck to it on the weekend and my parents decided to eat lunch with me on Saturday at Whole Foods.  That was the first time all month that I’d eaten out with my parents because I opted not to go the other times when they went out to eat.  Again, I cannot express how much I enjoyed this challenge!  I’ll be re-capping our graduation as well as some topics we discussed that I believe will help me maintain a diet similar to the one I was challenged to for the past 28 days!  Can’t wait to share my overall thoughts more in depth!

Have a wonderful Tuesday y’all!  I’ll be back shortly to share about Graduation night!