the lunch lady

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.

Erinn

Thanksgiving Family Dinner

Yesterday we celebrated my favorite BCS tradition...Thanksgiving Family Dinner. This was our fifth year in a row, and the day has become a real part of the culture of our school. Sarah is the true mastermind and leader, (she will deny this but it's true).

Our fearless leader

She always arrives early and gets everything beautifully organized and half-prepped so that by the time I get there things are humming along smoothly.

We roast three enormous turkeys...

Parents and friends stop by throughout the day to chat or help a little, kids and teachers pop in and out of the kitchen..

Looking good

In the afternoon the real work starts, and the kitchen at the Senior Center fills up with volunteers...

Parents and friends whipping up mashed potatoes and homemade stuffing

BCS teachers hard at work prepping dinner

And before you know it we have fed 150 people!
We love our school, our community, and Thanksgiving. We are thankful for each other. And for you.

Happy Holidays from the Lunch Lady!

Kid bakers

Toddler teacher Kat and her classroom of kiddos made this incredible challah yesterday morning during an open house for families, then baked it in the kitchen after lunch today. So beautiful.

Things we ate last week...

It was a pretty good week of lunches, if I do say so myself. We had beautiful roasted brussels sprouts and butternut squash.

Kale salad with the curly green, white and purple kale we got from Black River Produce...

and we tried wild rice made with veggie stock. With a little butter and special seasoning, it was a hit!

pulled chicken, wild rice, and kale salad

actual preschooler's lunch plate

The Zen of Mashed Potatoes

I was walking to work yesterday thinking "I can't wait to get started on those potatoes." There's nothing like a big prep job to slow everything down, and bring things back together after a crazy morning. Thanks, mashed potatoes, for requiring so much work to get to your delicious, comforting result.

Lunch was turkey quinoa meatloaf, mashed potatoes, ginger red cabbage slaw, and rolls.

Frost on the pumpkins, stew for lunch...

Today we had Morrocan Stew, based on a City Market recipe taught to us by Caroline Homan. Sweet potatoes, zucchini, onion, garlic, chick peas and black beans stewed with crushed tomatoes, olive oil, cumin, turmeric, and cinnamon. Rice, roasted zucchini, and oranges to round it out and we've got ourselves lunch for a chilly day!