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Community Impact

Learning Healthy Ways around the Kitchen

Clients of El Buen Samaritano can now have their cake and eat it, too. Through El Buen's recently implemented Alternative Baking classes, clients learn how to bake nutritious cakes and pastries.

"The class is called Alternative Baking because it incorporates the use of recipes that call for ingredients which significatnly reduce the calories in cakes and pastries," said Lil Almonte, director of outreach. "For example, instead of using oil, we encourage the participants to use apple sauce; and instead of regular flower, a mix of white and wheat flour."

The class is part of El Buen Samaritano's Nutrition curriculum, as it also offers an opportunity to teach the importance of lowering fats to positively affect cholesterol levels and using substitute sugars to reduce the risks associated with diabetes and weight problems.

The program is two-fold, as it provides an opportunity to offer a healthy alternative to baking while teaching the participants a marketable job skill. "This May, it will be one year since we started these classes," Lil said. "And already some participants have started their businesses, selling nutritiously baked cakes and pastries."

The class consists of three levels, introducing the participants to cake-decorating in level three. For information on how to get involved in Health, Wellness and Disease Prevention Programs, contact Lil Almonte.