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. 

Look who came for lunch today!

We have been lucky lately to have so many guests for lunch! Today we welcomed Emma's mom and dad for vegetable soup, cheese, apples and bread. So glad they came!

Get a bag, Fill a bag!

Hi there!

If you're a regular lunch lady reader, you know all about our Growing Food initiative and our 

continuing efforts to raise money to improve our food program. And you probably remember our mini 

campaign before the holiday break to fill 15 bags with breakfast and lunch ingredients and recipes to send home with families to help out with meals during the week BCS was closed. It was a huge success, our families really appreciated the help, so we are excited to announce the next step, Sarah's latest great idea for Growing Food.. Get a bag, Fill a bag! From the "Get Involved" page on the BCS website:

Here’s your chance to improve childhood nutrition and get yourself a great bag, all at the same time.

If you make a donation of $25.00 or more to BCS (using the donate now button at the bottom of this page) we will send you an I Love Lunch bag and fill a bag with nutritious food for a family to take home over our next school break. Take home bags help low income families stay well fed when BCS is not open to provide breakfast, lunch and snack each day. They contain great ingredients like beans, tortillas, oatmeal, cheese, eggs, fresh fruit and vegetables, cereal, pasta, sauce, and

peanut butter along with ideas and recipes from Chef Erinn.

You can also drop by BCS to make a donation if you would like to use cash or a check.

So to recap... you donate $25 to BCS either here or by mail or in person with cash or a check, and not only do you fill a take home bag for a family you get an I Love Lunch bag. To keep! I would love it if you'd donate, then spread the word, then come by and visit us for lunch!  

xo

Dinner for The Big Picture Meeting

We had our second annual Big Picture meeting last night to share ideas for the coming year and beyond at BCS. About 30 parents, staff, and administrators got together, ate chili and cornbread, and brainstormed. Thanks to everyone who came out on a cold cold night!

Look what we had for lunch today!

Barbecue chicken, Brown rice,  yellow peppers and applesauce!

Q

New Year! New Ideas! New Lunches!

Happy 2013 everyone!

I hope you're feeling rested and energized heading into the new year. We are in full winter swing at BCS, thanks to some great holiday snow fall that turned our playground and neighborhood into a wonderland, followed by a deep freeze that's been keeping us inside.
Long mornings playing outside in the cold mean hungry bellies at lunch time, so we've been focusing on  warm, comforting dishes for lunch. So far this month we've cooked and eaten roasted beets, mashed potatoes, turkey-quinoa meatloaf,  squash soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, veggie pasta, barbecue chicken and sweet potatoes!
We've got some new recipes coming up too - sauteed snow peas, vegetarian stuffed peppers, cornmeal pancakes  - and the return of white bean and kale soup!

I also wanted to mention something great that happened right before the holiday. You might remember Sarah's idea to send food bags home with families over the break from my last post. Well guess what? Our fundraising effort was picked up by friends and we ended up with so many more donations than we expected! Enough to pack and distribute 15 bags of food instead of 10! I'd like to thank parent volunteers Sue Chayer and Donna Harrington for their help organizing and packing bags.

Yesterday for lunch we had vegetable soup, wraps with homemade hummus, and oranges.

Soup base...

I sauteed carrots, celery, and onion in butter to start, then added veggie broth, more sliced carrots, corn, peas, minced garlic and green beans. I cooked whole wheat penne separately and added it at the end so it wouldn't get too mushy. I seasoned with celery salt, pepper, and just a few red pepper flakes.
For the wraps  I just spread hummus on whole wheat tortillas, rolled them up and cut 'em in half.


Lunch!

Peace, love, and lunch

Working together to end hunger in our community...

My son is a third grader at the Integrated Arts Academy, and this past Thursday he was part of a wonderful fundraiser for our friends at Hunger Free Vermont called  Fill the Bowl.  It's an annual event put on each holiday season by the two third grade classrooms, their wonderful teachers, and parent and staff volunteers.
The idea is amazing.
 Throughout the season the kids talk about hunger in their community, and how they can help. The classes meet with an artist at the BCA clay studio downtown and learn to make bowls on the pottery wheel as well as pinch pots. Then they solicit donations from area restaurants for soup and bread. Local artists donate pottery bowls for a silent auction.
At the event the bows made by kids are for sale for $5 each, and the artist-made bowls are auctioned. Everyone who buys a bowl gets a ticket for soup and bread, and everyone eats together. It's lovely, and the very best part is the pride the kids feel in the night. It's a true community event, and  couldn't be prouder of my son, or his school.

Over at BCS, we're getting ready for winter break and we know it will be hard for some families to get by without all the snacks and lunches that we prepare on the days we are closed.
We  know that the end of the month can be especially hard if 3 Squares benefits are running out.
 This year Sarah had the fantastic idea of preparing to-go bags full of ingredients for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks (along with recipes and suggestions) for families to take home. She sent out a letter to families explaining the idea with space to sign up to take a bag,  help pack up bags, or donate to fill a bag for another family.  We are filling the bags this week, and will be sending them home with as many families as possible on Friday.
In addition, you can now donate directly to support the food program through our website!
Here's the info on our food bag idea from the Get Involved page...

The Growing Food program 

BCS now serves over 30,000 snacks and meals each year.  Bi-monthly dinners, supported by City Market,  regularly attract 60 parents,  staff members,  children,  and relatives who cook and eat together,  learning more about the meals we serve during the day and enjoying family style eating.  Over 120 family members and community partners joined us for our annual Family Feast on November 16.   Through our nutrition program we are able to see the many positive outcomes for children who are well fed in the hours they are at school.  These include positive behavior,  improved social interactions,  energy for active play and daily outings,  and growing interest in trying new foods.  For children from homes where food is scarce,  these effects are even more pronounced:  fewer illnesses,  better school attendance,  lower anxiety about getting enough to eat,  and the ability to regulate their eating based on cues from their bodies. When children know they are going to have enough to teat,  they can begin to enjoy food.

A gift of $15 allows us to send home enough for breakfast and lunch for 5 days.  And additional $5.00 allows us to add fresh produce to the bag.  A larger donation will help us make much needed upgrades to our kitchen so that Erinn can process and store more fresh produce to use throughout the winter and take better advantage of free produce from our neighbors at the Intervale.

What better way to support our community, and get into the holiday spirit?  

I'm so proud of our neighborhood, our schools, and our kids. Thanks for thinking of folks who are hungry this season. And thanks for reading.

 Peace, love, and lunch.

Happy Holidays.

Love,

Erinn

Thanks.

We served Thanksgiving Family Dinner  on Friday November 16th. We had a big crowd, fantastic food, and a lot of fun. We have so much to be thankful for! Like...
Amazing preschoolers! Our big kids peeled 40 pounds of potatoes, and tore bunches of kale leaves for salad to help prepare for the big dinner.
Our families! BCS parents donated veggies, bread, and apples for the feast!
City Market, as always! Thanks to their generous donation family dinners are always free for everyone.
Farm to Preschool, for including a beautiful write up on BCS family dinners in their Fall newsletter!
And so much more.
I have more to share, about our latest session with nutrition coordinator Caroline on snacks made with root veggies, our Mayor Miro Weinberger participating in the Hunger Free VT challenge, and some new recipes we've been working on. Next time!
xo
Erinn

Fall is Happening!

Wow, we have a lot to talk about. First of all, lunch of course! We are working with a local produce distributor as the growing season winds down and we approach the end of the Intervale Gleaning program. So far we have been really happy with everything we've ordered. Last week we made a great butternut squash soup, sauteed green peppers, ate kale chips that the preschoolers helped prepare, and amazing red grapes and bartlett pears that we ripened to yellow perfection in paper bags. This week we've got baby spinach, gorgeous bunches of organic carrots, and as a special treat... pineapple!

The really big news though, is the brand new BCS website. We were lucky to have the help of a former BCS teacher, Erin Barnaby, and a few other kind folks (including my husband, photographer extraordinaire Sam Simon) and the result is a really great picture of who we are and what we do. Please take a look, and pass it on!

Burlington Children's Space





We also heard from our friend Caroline at City Market about some cool upcoming classes right at the Mc Clure Multigenerational Center - the building that houses BCS. Check it out!

Kids’ cooking class with City Market!

Flatbreads from around the World!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

5:00pm - 6:30pm

At the Multi-Generational Center

We all love flatbread pizza, but did you know many different kinds of flatbreads are eaten all around the world? In this class we will roll up our sleeves, dust our work stations with flour, and have fun learning to make three different flatbreads – Mexican tortillas, Middle Eastern pita breads, and Indian chapathis. These simple breads can accompany just about any meal. For kids and teens accompanied by an adult.

$5 for City Market Members, $10 for non-members. Sign up through City Market: www.citymarket.coop OR 861-9701.

Cooking class with City Market

Unlocking the Nutrients - Soaking Grains Nuts and Beans

Saturday, October 20, 2012 11 a.m.- 1 p.m.

At the Multi-Generational Center

Soaking grains, nuts and beans before cooking removes the phytic acid from the outer layer of the bran, improving their flavor and allowing their nutrients to be more available to our bodies. In this class, you will learn the age-old (and recently popular again!) method for properly soaking these foods. Caroline Homan, who teaches food and nutrition education at City Market, will bring samples of a variety of soaked grains, nuts, and seeds from the Bulk Department. We will also prepare a delicious local chili, a perfect pot of brown rice, and a yummy dessert using these soaking methods.

$5 for City Market Members, $10 for non-members. Sign up through City Market: www.citymarket.coop OR 861-9701.

Last but not least... City Market is teaming up with Sustainability Academy in Burlington to celebrate their Eat Local Week October 6th-14th with the First Annual Harvest Fun Run/Walk for Sustainability!
The Simon Family will be there in support, and it should be a great time.

From the event website:

The Sustainability Academy and City Market are partnering up to present the First Annual Harvest Fun Run/Walk for Sustainability as part of City Market's Eat Local Week 2012 (October 6 - 14). We'll have a Kids' 1K and a 5K. After the race, visit with the local food vendors and take part in family activities!

Prizes for Adult Races to include craziest localvore costume! Pumpkin prizes for all registered kids! Some scholarships available for SA families.

The Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes, a collaborative partnership of educators, families and the community, integrates the big ideas of sustainability into PreK-5 curriculum and campus practices.

The goal of the Academy is to prepare students to be responsible citizens and agents for change, in their community and beyond. The Academy is an international model for using sustainability as a lens for place-based education and service learning.  We maintain the highest expectations for academic and personal growth for all of our students and embrace the rich economic and cultural diversity of our community.

Online registration is closed, but you can still register the morning of the run! If you're a Burlington local head on down! 

xo

Erinn

Farms in Addison County

Because I love PDFs so much, here is another one.  This time a guide to local food and farms of Addison County.  Lots of good stuff here if you are ever looking to get out of the "big city".

October is Here!

I can't believe it's October already. This weekend everything changed and it became FALL in Vermont. Cool air, bright leaves, that different smell in the air. Soup weather! That's good news in the kitchen though. It means it's time for not only soup but some comfort food favorites...like pizza! Friday at the farm we picked up the last of the watermelons, lots of mixed greens, some parsley, chives, onion grass and beautiful, beautiful red chili peppers I couldn't resist. For lunch that day five preschoolers and I made some amazing pizzas with whole wheat dough. They had a great time with the sauce and cheese and colorful veggies, and the end result was really delicious.

The real news today is, October is National Farm to School Month! We plan to send a special thank you to our farmers, and the organizers or the Intervale gleaning and food rescue program.

heading for the compost bin

relaxing at the table 

To get you in the mood for soup weather, here's a recipe I'll be making for the kids this month from Real Simple magazine... White bean and kale! (I omitted 2 tbsp fresh rosemary)

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 4  cloves garlic, chopped
• 2  stalks celery, sliced
• 1  large onion, chopped
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2  15.5-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed
• 1  cup  small soup pasta, such as tubettini, ditalini, or orzo (4 ounces)
• 1  bunch  kale, thick stems discarded and leaves torn into 2-inch pieces (8 cups)
• 1/2  cup  shaved Parmesan (2 ounces), plus 1 piece rind (optional)
• 1  tablespoon  fresh lemon juice
• warm bread

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
2. Add the garlic, celery, onion, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
3. Add the beans, pasta, kale, 8 cups water, and Parmesan rind (if using). Cover and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer until the pasta and kale are tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
5. Remove the Parmesan rind. Stir in the lemon juice and sprinkle with the shaved Parmesan before serving. Serve with the bread.

Recipe by By Sara Quessenberry , January, 2010