Did you know that the average Thanksgiving dinner has 2,000 calories per person, and the average person will consume 4,500 calories on that holiday? In order to address this Chef Jessica Williams, a local food expert and former nutritionist for the UMass Extension Nutrition Education Program, offered a cooking class at CD-REC on November 13, 2010. "Once people learn what they can cook, people can avoid many of the high calorie foods that typically find their way to the Thanksgiving table," noted Williams. "There are lots of tasty healthy options that people can prepare themselves, thereby avoiding prepared foods that are often loaded with sodium, unhealthy fats and too many calories. Williams prepared a risotto dish made with sweet potatoes, chicken stock, scallions and spices that impressed the members of her class. A number of participants in the class have been participants in the fitness challenge and plan to attend more of Chef Jessica's classes over the coming months. Click here for other classes that Jessica has taught.. For more information about the program, contact Jessica Williams at 508-675-7315.
 

(Top row, left) Rebecca Mellor and Samantha Webb listen as Chef Jessica begins the class. (Top row, right) Susan Camara, Sariya and Samantha Webb and Rebecca Mellor listen as Chef Jessica shows them a container of risotto that she will use along with squash and scallions to prepare a colorful, healthy dish that fits right in with a Thanksgiving dinner menu. (Middle row) Chef Jessica describes ways to keep costs down while using fresh produce as Susan Camara and Sariya and Samantha Webb listen. (Bottom row, left) Charlene Gonzalez and Starr Stroup enjoy the aroma of the recipe as it nears completion. (Bottom row, center and right) Chef Jessica talks about ways of preventing overeating at Thanksgiving as Aryana Webb and Asinhna Gonzalez sample Chef Jessica's recipe.