Summer farm share is here!

Yesterday was a really good day.
My ten year old, Eli, came to work with me to help out with lunch and the weekly shopping trip. We knew it would be a busy day, but when we arrived at BCS to start work Sarah reminded us that it was also the first farm share pick up of the summer at the Intervale Center.  Yes!!!! I couldn't have picked a better day to bring along a kid assistant!

We couldn't wait to get to the barn, and when we arrived our excitement was matched by the enthusiasm and warmth of the volunteers who met us. I am slightly biased, because one of those volunteers is a fantastic BCS parent/board member/fundraiser/cheerleader  I'm always happy to spend a few minutes (or an hour) catching up with. But truly, the whole operation is really something special. We were greeted by folks who happily retrieved our 2 giant boxes of produce from the gorgeous new walk-in fridge inside the new barn, and then cheerfully packed it all into our van. Really!
All Eli and I had to do was sample the delicious snacks that were on hand.
Hunger Free VT had a representative there  (Hi Becca!) demonstrating a few recipes using some of the veggies everyone was receiving this week - frittata with zucchini and basil, and cucumbers with homemade ranch dressing. We couldn't wait around for the frittata to finish cooking sadly, but the ranch dressing was incredibly good.

Becca also had some great handouts with local resources for extra food during the summer, recipes for the veggies in our shares, and info about shopping and meal planning on a budget.  Really well done, and useful info too.

Basically, this project is great and I'm so proud of everyone involved with it, especially the folks who are accessing this awesome local food.  It makes me proud of our town. Go Burlington!

But the best part... serving up local greens for lunch today.

We even had visitors! Margot's parents stopped by and joined us for turkey burgers, Digger's Mirth greens, and pineapple.

 Ahhh summer!
xo
Erinn

Take home bags are taking off...

...in a really big way. It's hard to believe we are in our fifth month of the take home food bag project! We raised enough money during the marathon fundraiser to keep things going strong while we come up with new funding ideas. (Side note: I'm working on a grant proposal for Hannaford  - our neighborhood supermarket - in hopes that they will support our effort with a donation, especially since we buy almost all of the food for the bags there.)
The response to the program has been so good that we've permanently upped our weekly offering from 5 to 10 bags, and we're getting great feedback from the families who are taking and enjoying them.




We've moved from sending bags of staple ingredients for a variety of meals to packing bags with all the ingredients to prepare a large meal for a family - along with a few extras. So far we've packed bags with everything folks need to make homemade macaroni and cheese with salad, lasagna, curry chick peas and rice,

BCS kiddo Cabby enjoys Curry chick peas and rice at home

Empty curry bowl, full belly!

breakfast for dinner with pancakes and eggs, and the big favorite... pizza.

Pizza made at home for a family of 4 with a take home pizza bag! (photo provided by BCS family)

We generally include a great loaf of bread (which we've been lucky enough to recieve donated from August First Bakery) and a big bag of fresh greens from Digger's Mirth Farm - with whom we are lucky enough to have a close BCS family connection (thank you S'ra and Arlo!).

Homemade croutons with August First bread! (photo provided by BCS family)

We've gotten tons of great feedback are and thrilled to see that the bags really are helping families cook and eat together, and we are so thankful for everyone who has sent photos and kind words about how they've used the extra food, tried out the recipes, and shared a great meal together at home.

This week we are sending home bags with the recipe and ingredients for my easy tomato sauce...

 along with pasta, bread, greens, eggs, zucchini and carrots, a ball of pizza dough, and olive oil.  Sarah even made a zucchini cheat sheet with ideas for using up the ubiquitous Vermont summer veggie...

On top of all that, Monday marks the beginning of our summer farm share program through the Intervale Food Hub, so we will have even more fresh veggies and fruit to feed to the kids and send home with families.
Hooray for summer in Vermont, for our farmers, and for everyone having enough to eat!

Take Care,
Erinn

Lunch was darn good today

Summer is here, along with the desperate search for meals that don't require use of the oven! Thank goodness it also means beautiful veggies and salads, salads, salads.
I didn't completely accomplish the oven-free meal yesterday - I turned the oven on to roast some chickpeas. And I cooked some quinoa because I was anxious to try out an idea that came to me after talking to a co-worker about rekindling our love affair with the grain. We started cooking quinoa at BCS about a year ago, mainly using it as a substitute for rice in casseroles, or with beans or chili. It worked well as a side dish and the kids ate enough to make me believe I should try to incorporate it into the menu more often.
Here's what I came up with today...quinoa salad with rainbow peppers and black beans, along with carrots, hummus, whole grain bread and cantaloupe. Look at those lunch plates!

Actual Preschoolers' Lunch Plates

Hi there!
It took a week or so to recover from marathon madness, but we made it and.....(drumroll)....... we raised over $2500 for our take-home food bag project!!! Thank you to everyone who supported Team BCS in our efforts to make sure everyone has enough good food to eat, at school and at home. We love you!
We have already stepped up our efforts. In the coming weeks we plan to double the number of bags we prepare each Friday. This week we're sending home the ingredients for curried chick peas with brown rice and salad, along with bread and fruit - enough to make a hearty dinner for 5-6 people. I will keep you updated and post some pics of our bags this Friday! 

Now we are moving full speed ahead into summer, and getting excited about growing season in Vermont! Soon our weekly farm share from the Intervale Food Hub will begin, and the kids will be growing herbs and veggies in their raised beds and neighborhood garden plots. 
In celebration I'm going to start posting the photos I've been collecting of actual preschoolers' lunch plates! 
My plan is to continue this throughout the summer, focusing on all the fresh local veggies we'll be enjoying and sharing with families. 
We serve and share our meals and snacks family style, so remember these are plates of food children have served themselves. Look at all that green!

Turkey shepherd's pie and spinach salad

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Quinoa, stir fried veggies with chick peas, red grapes and apple slices

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In other exciting news, starting on Wednesday I will be posting on the Kids Vt blog every other week as the lunch lady!  Look for great recipes to make and share with kids, and maybe some stories about lunch lady life at BCS too. I'm so thankful for the opportunity and look forward to working with the cool and talented staff at Kids VT! 

Take Care!
Erinn

Go runners Go!

It's almost time for our two courageous teams of staff, parents, and friends to relay-run the Key Bank VT City Marathon to benefit our fantastic Food Bag project..... and we need YOUR HELP!

Do you love kids? Do you love food? Do you love it when families cook and eat healthy food together? Then you need to help us fund this project.
A $15 dollar donation will fill a a bag with healthy, delicious ingredients to make a meal to feed 6 people. A $25 donation lets us add fresh fruit and other staples.

BCS Preschooler enjoying a delicious,  healthy lunch in our food program

In addition, here are 10 great reasons to donate now, compiled by our fearless leader, Sarah Adams Kollitz...



1. BCS is worth every penny.
2. You’ll sleep soundly knowing your dollars are working hard to fill hungry BCS bellies.
3. 2014 donations fund the awesome take home food bag project. 
4. You can post the news of your impressive generosity on Facebook, Twitter, or via email, making you look great and inspiring other people to follow your lead.
5. Rumors are spreading that Erinn Simon and the team will make dinner for one lucky donor.
6. You can finally stop feeling guilty about not running a marathon leg or doing your own fundraising this year. 
7. You’ll earn the right to scream, “Hey, that’s my runner!!!” from the sidelines.
8. Team BCS is full of fantastic staff, parents, kids of staff, sisters of staff, and all-around nice people doing good things in our community. ( see the team at the link below)
9. Someone on the team is thinking about tattooing donor’s names on her arm.
10. It’s really, really easy. Click here and you’re almost done 

Donate here!!

Actual preschoolers lunch plate

Family style lunches at BCS

Donate now to provide kids with healthy meals.... like this one!

On behalf of all of us at BCS, Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Man oh man do we have some news..

I just can't believe April is over. After a winter that seemed to go on forever, we have blown through most of spring in the blink of an eye. Our last family dinner was, I dare say, our biggest success ever. We ran out of food! A first and, I hope, last experience for us. We had macaroni and cheese which, as Sarah wisely noted, tends to disappear faster than other stuff in a group setting. But we also had a fantastic kale salad that vanished completely as well, and much of it into the bellies of little ones, so we'll count that as a victory for everyone!

We are moving through the new season with plans for warmer weather, the growing season and... fundraisers!


First up, the toddler teachers organized a great Silent Auction with donations from parents, community members, friends and staff. We wrapped it up last night with another family dinner/auction party.

Pineapple smells soooo good!

Toddler cooks-in-training

Everyone ate sweet potato salad, coconut quinoa, bread donated from August First,  green salad with dressing made by the toddlers (!) and oranges and pineapple slices. As always we are grateful to City Market for generously funding our family dinners.

Sweet potato black bean salad

I don't have the final tally yet, but everyone went home with some great items and much fun was had by all.


Next up... The Key Bank VT City Marathon on May 26th! Once again BCS has put together two relay teams to run, all to raise money for BCS.  Erica, BCS preschool teacher and our marathon organizer, has decided to use all the money we raise by running to fund the Supper Project Sarah and I have been working on, sending bags home with families on Fridays full of either extra staple foods for the weekend, or the ingredients for a healthy, delicious meal for families to prepare and eat together. So far we have funded the project with grant money but it's about to run out, so fresh funds couldn't be coming at a better time. If you can, please check out our team fundraising page on Crowdrise and consider donating. You will be helping to feed and strengthen families in our neighborhood.

Click here to check out our team page!



Coming soon, a photo series I've been working on called "Actual Preschoolers Lunch Plates" with pics of kids self-made plates at BCS.

Thanks for checking in with us! Happy Spring!
Love,
Erinn

Lunch for 6 growing babies

First official family dinner of 2014!

Getting ready to prep our first family dinner of the year! Macaroni and cheese, a gluten free macaroni and cheese, kale salad, and fruit. Can't wait to see everyone, catch up, and talk spring plans! More photos to follow, plus a year-so-far update. Xoxo
Erinn

This is gonna be a BIG week!

Things are looking amazing in the BCS kitchen. Sarah, Jed and I have been working over the last year with some wonderful parent volunteers and grant providers to get the kitchen in tip top shape.

 Abbey Duke of Sugarsnap (and BCS parent) donated this fantastic chest freezer, as well as tons of consulting time to help us wrap our heads around new kitchen equipment, systems, recipes, and more and BOY are we grateful. Thank you Abbey!!   Also thanks to  Jed, BCS parents Sue and Erin, Erin's dad, and everyone who helped in any way to get the freezer into our space. We love you, and can't wait to have you visit for lunch!

It's got a convection setting! And THREE racks!!

 Our beautiful new stove and Kitchen Aid cook pots were purchased with grant money from the Children's Trust Fund and an energy efficiency grant. I was so absorbed with their loveliness at first I was reluctant to cook with them. On their first day in the kitchen Sarah came by to chat and noticed I was using my old beat up cookware on the new stove, the shiny new pots sitting in wait on the shelves. She looked puzzled though she didn't make a big deal out of it. But I had to confess. "I felt terrible leaving them over there, like I was betraying them!" I wailed. I think the new stove AND new pots were just too much change all at once for me. Over the weekend I came in, washed and organized all the new stuff, and moved the old ones to their new home. Then I felt better, and ready to embrace the kitchen upgrade in its entirety!

Aren't they beautiful?

 We are so excited about the possibilities the new kitchen holds as we move forward this week with our Supper Project! This week we will send home our first dinner bags with staples like pasta, sauce, spices, beans, carrots, tortillas, eggs and some fresh fruit. Each bag will include ideas and easy, fast recipes for getting the most out of the ingredients. We're also including a survey to find out exactly what folks like and don't like in each bag so we can really refine what we include, to make sure everyone is getting the maximum benefit.

Our next step is including a "main dish" for four each week along with the  staples - soup, stew, lasagna, mac and cheese - that just needs to be warmed and served.  We can't wait to get started!

Also this week - the annual BCS Big Picture meeting!  Sarah, Jed, the Board of Directors, staff and families gather for food and a lively session to plan for the vibrant future of our beloved school. It's one of my favorite things about BCS. Sarah and I plan to talk about the Supper Project and show off the first take home bags, and I can't wait to get the community together and hear everyone's brilliant ideas for the next year (or 5, or 10). I think I'm going to make butternut squash soup and cheddar leek biscuits for dinner. And I'll be sure to report back with a recap!

So, wishing you a wonderful week full of good food, and great ideas!
Love,
Erinn

New year, new soup

"Vegetable" soup and ham sandwiches were on the menu today, but I didn't really have a plan.  I knew I would start off the soup the way I always have since my training session last winter with Abbey Duke of Sugarsnap  - with mirepoix (fancy chef speak for a mix of aromatic veggies, in this case finely chopped carrots, celery, and onion). But that was as far as I'd thought out lunch. I checked the fridge. Leftover green beans, kale, and chick peas. The freezer held some sweet corn. Chicken stock. Hmmmm.
Basically it all went into the pot. And something warm and lovely for lunch on a frigid day came out.

trying a little of everything

serving soup, practicing skills

actual preschooler's lunch plate

eating together, warming up

Welcome 2014!

Delicious lunches this week as we settle into the winter groove st BCS. Sesame noodles, spiced roasted chick peas, red peppers and oranges.

It's the Giving Season

The holidays are here....

 Sarah posted this letter to the BCS blog last week about our holiday take-home bag project and I'm just going to repost it here, because she says it all so well:

This time of year we often find ourselves reflecting on our good fortune and the support of the community that has kept BCS alive and well for 29 years!  We are also reminded that this is a very hard time of year for families struggling to make ends meet.  For those 29 years we have operated on the belief that high quality ,  affordable child care can make a huge difference for a family.  Over the past few years we have also learned how much good nutrition can compliment the work we do at school and the impact BCS can have on the quality of life for our families.  We’re very proud of the ways food has become the glue that unites families,  strengthens children,  and enriches almost every aspect of our school culture.  We worry about the times when children are not with us.  

Winter break means many days without Erinn’s warm meals at a time when food budgets are competing with many other expenses.

Last year we decided  to make sure BCS families go home for the Holidays well fed.  Volunteers helped pack bags with beans,  cheese,  tortillas,  pasta and sauce,  eggs,  rice,  peanut butter,  fruit,  and vegetables along with a few recipes and menu suggestions.  Donations literally poured in from BCS families,  relatives,  and followers of Erinn’s blog.  At $25.00 each we were able to fill 15 bags. Miraculously we had requests for….. 15 BAGS!

Of course,  we’re doing it all again this year.  $25.00 is all it takes to fill a bag with wholesome ingredients like the ones we serve at BCS. Please consider making a donation to keep a family well fed and enjoying healthy food together.  Donations can be made in person,  by mailing a check to us at 241 North Winooski Avenue,  Burlington,  VT 05401 or using the “donate now” button on the BCS Blog page. 

Thank you!

If you'd like to make a donation, please visit the BCS Blog, mail us a check, or stop by BCS! Thank you so much for supporting our work keeping kids and families healthy. May we all be happy and well fed this season. Love to you, from all of us. 

xo

Erinn