New recipe day...

Wednesday I tried out a recipe I adapted from the great Caroline Homan of City Market in Burlington.... Morroccan Stew! Sweet potatoes, zucchini, onions, garlic, crushed tomatoes, chick peas and black beans seasoned with cumin and a little cinnamon. It was pretty tasty if I do say myself, but more importantly the kids really liked it! I served it with white rice and oranges. Definitely going into the menu rotation.

Kid lunch classic...

...but better! Whole wheat English muffins, fresh tomato basil sauce with ground turkey, a little broccoli, and cheddar cheese. Heck yeah! What are you having for lunch today?

Homemade sauce for lunch...

...in my beat up (but trusty) old pot! Ravioli and my own recipe for pasta sauce with spinach and ground turkey. Green salad and some sliced pears on the side. Who's hungry?? Btvlunch!

Look what's for lunch today!!

Cooking up shepherd's pie with beef, spinach, and onions for our hungry snow players today!

Family Dinner Pizza Bake!

Last Wednesday we hosted a special March Family Dinner at BCS... Our toddler teachers organized a silent auction fundraiser with items up for bid from local businesses, and our own talented staff.
I made pizzas with the help of two terrific preschoolers, and everyone pitched in in one way or another to bring it all together. We had carrot dip from Caroline Homan's City Market recipe with crackers, we roasted broccoli, and veggie pizzas were the main dish. 85 people showed up to bid and the auction raised over $1400!!!
Thank you, thank you to Sheila, Kat, Sam, Becca Mack, Erica, Missa, Ashley, Jed, Sarah, and EVERYONE for the kitchen help!! And thanks to everyone who donated auction items. A true family effort. Go BCS!! 

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!