Elian puts her expertise to work daily. Besides using her knowledge for personal use, she works for a nonprofit organization, where she acts as a residential counselor for girls living in a group home. More recently, she has moved to full-time family support work in people's homes. "It helps me from getting empty nest syndrome too bad!" she says, referring to her only child, Krista, who just started college at Husson this year.
Elian's work is essentially that of a lifestyle coach, with an emphasis on redirecting people's thinking about eating healthy. One common misconception she comes across: Many people think that buying fruits and vegetables is too expensive, but they don't consider the cost of prepared foods. "It costs at least $2.99 for a family size bag of potato chips. I bought a five-pound bag of potatoes for $1.99 -- you can get many meals out of that. It's all about redirecting your thinking."
Advertisement
It's also about educating. Elian recently coached a 10-year-old boy who struggled with obesity. Both his parents worked, so he did a lot of his food prep himself, but he really didn't know how. "So I taught him how to add veggies to his meals to balance his diet better." The changes he implemented helped him to lose 10 pounds in one week. "He was so excited and motivated to keep eating healthy; that was really encouraging to me."
For our lunch, Elian decided to make grilled teriyaki chicken complemented by local potatoes and a "red, white, and green" salad. "My passion is showing people that eating healthy tastes good. People are afraid it will taste bad and they will lose all the things they are used to eating, so I like proving them wrong -- showing them how they can still eat their favorite foods as long as the overall balance is there." Elian pulls out the ingredients to start cooking. "This was only $1.49," she says, referring to the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. "I love getting a bargain."
When cooking, Elian believes that one should always use the best ingredients, like using fresh garlic instead of powdered garlic. The tools used are also important. Elian likes using a chef's knife when preparing food: "I can't stand little knives, and big knives are actually safer." To make the meal more enjoyable and less of a hassle, she says,"I like to trim the meat before I do anything. That way, when we sit down to eat, we don't have to do that much."
When it comes to measuring, Elian is exact. "For creativity, some people don't like to measure. I usually do. If people like something the first time, I want them to be able to make it themselves and have it taste as good the second time. Also, a lot of the people I cook for have health concerns; measuring makes sure the nutritional content is the same each time." Elian measures out soy sauce, one of the main ingredients in her teriyaki marinade. She recommends using Kikkoman. "It tastes sweeter than other soy sauces, plus this one is 'lite,' so there is 50% less sodium." Not surprisingly, she is a big fan of homemade marinades. "It really doesn't take very long to make this marinade, and it is a lot less expensive than just buying some!"
"Coach Elian" finds that cooking with her students side-by-side is one of the best ways to get her message across-that cooking healthy homemade meals "is actually relaxing, and it just tastes so much better." After watching Elian cook, listening to her advice, and eating her delicious meal, it's hard to disagree with her game plan.
Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
Yields 8 servings
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups lite soy sauce
1/4 cup white grape juice
1 clove fresh garlic (or 1 tsp. garlic powder)
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. black pepper
Take extra fat off chicken. If breasts are whole, cut them in half. Place in a large pot or bowl. Add all the ingredients for the marinade into the bowl with the chicken. Marinade should cover all pieces. Cover and let sit at least 15 minutes. Turn pieces twice. Put chicken on grill (if using an outdoor grill, spray with vegetable spray before lighting). Cook 10 minutes per inch thickness of the chicken breast. (If not using a Foreman grill, turn chicken over halfway through the cooking time.) Serving size: 3 ounces, about the size of a deck of cards.
