Chili and cornbread

One of my lunch lady goals is to bake more.  We love to bake with the kids during the cold months. Its such a relaxing, thoughtful activity, and it works nicely with small groups. Plus the kids love trying their own creations and sharing them with friends. A few teachers and I are working on a plan to bake all of our own bread at BCS. I'll keep you updated on our progress. For now, cornbread from scratch to go with our vegetarian chili will have to do!

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!

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.

School Break Take-home Bags!

Thanks so much to everyone who helped us pack and distribute 10 take-home bags of food last Friday! BCS is the best. This time around we included rice, oatmeal, carrots, green beans, apples, bread, peanut butter, beans, eggs, cheese, and some spices.