SCHOOL NEWS re-cap: chalk talk with chef tanya

Last night we were pleased to host Chef Tanya Petrovna, owner and Executive Chef of Native Foods at our Anaheim Hills campus for a Chalk Talk about healthy eating for families. Tanya's energy for life and passion for good food radiated throughout the room from the minute she arrived. I had the pleasure of hearing stories about her decision to rescue a diabetic dog from the pound and her adventures in her yoga class earlier that day and learned that Tanya is definitely a woman who practices what she preaches.

Tanya kicked off our Chalk Talk with the story behind Native Foods--a restaurant chain that grew from Tanya's exposure to whole foods as a child and her love for animals and the environment. She knew she wanted to create a healthy, sustainable, vegetarian restaurant alternative on every corner, but she didn't know exactly how to get there. So Tanya looked to the wise words of Ghandi ("If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning") and drew the inspiration to just start somewhere and believe that the right path would be revealed to her. Now Tanya's restaurant is a huge success with 7 current locations and many new locations in the works.

Chef Tanya shared some tips about making small changes in your life to help you and your family start eating more healthily. Some of her recommendations were:

• To start the day off with oatmeal as a great source of whole grains 
• To always keep legumes around the house (lentils, beans, chick peas, etc) 
• To incorporate more leafy greens in your diet 
• To make sugars a once-a-week treat for children instead of a daily expectation 

To learn more, please visit Chef Tanya's blog. Thank you to everyone who attended this Chalk Talk, and here's to a happy and healthy 2011!

Contributed by Alyssa, Marketing