School food programs

All school should serve students healthy, nourishing and wholesome foods for lunch. Slow Food USA supporters and members are working hard on this cause and trying to get thousands of letters (especially from children) sent to legislators' districts offices before February, when Congress is expected to begin debating the funding standards for school meal programs. Please get involved and support this movement by writing a letter or organizing a letter-writing campaign. The Slow Food In Schools program meaningfully and directly connects children to their food source and ensures they have a future full of good, clean and fair food. They run wonderful Garden to Table projects that provide hands-on food experiences, community interactions and educational projects to K-12 students. Please visit Slow Food USA's website for tips and talking points to help you campaign and write a letter to congress to support this movement.

In the news:

Just this past week, the Senate Agriculture Committee held its 1st hearing about school meal programs. Sen. Blanche Lincoln opened by saying, "we must take steps to provide food that nourishes and promotes the development of our children, not just fills their stomachs." This past week, the Senate Agriculture Committee held its first hearing about school meal programs. Sen. Blanche Lincoln opened by saying, "with obesity, diabetes, and nutrition-related chronic disease epidemic among us, we must not stop at just filling [our children's] bellies, we must also take steps to provide food that nourish and promote the development of our children." Read on here.

You may also support Slow Food USA's partner organization farmtoschool.org. This organization also brings healthy food from local farms to school children nationwide. Farm-to-fork organizations like Slow Food USA and Farm to School instill healthy eating habits in children that last a lifetime and teach them about natural resources...a priceless gift if you ask me.

The Morning After...The Feast

Yesterday I had a beautiful Thanksgiving celebration with my new family. It was my first Thanksgiving at my in law’s house in Connecticut and we had SOME good eats. My husband’s mother graciously cooked for what seemed like two full days and she put together many beautiful (and tasty) seasonal dishes. Everything looked and tasted so good and we all definitely ate our fill. She made:

• Goat cheese toasts
• Fennel and pistachio dressing
• Cipolline baby onions in with a balsamic reduction
• Cauliflower with almonds, capers and raisins
• Brussels sprouts and chestnuts in a brown butter sauce
• Cranberry-orange sauce
• Garlic red skinned mashed potatoes
• Shredded brussels sprouts with lemon and poppy seeds
• Gruyere creamed spinach au gratin
• Apple Pie
• Pecan Pie
• Pumpkin Pie

Oh….and 2 enormous organic free-range turkeys roasted on The Big Green Egg!

What REALLY stood out was the delicious Butternut Squash and Apple Soup we had before our feast. The recipe comes from Ina Graten’s 2001 cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Parties! and it’s a simple soup to whip up.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large)
• 2 tablespoons mild curry powder
• 5 pounds butternut squash (2 large)
• 1 1/2 pounds sweet apples, such as McIntosh (4 apples)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups good apple cider or juice

Directions

Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.

Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Process the through a food mill or a blender, or puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

Pour the back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

Mrs. Lennon garnished each of our bowls of soup with a crispy pan-fried sage garnish. It was a nice added touch.

This soup would make a hearty weeknight meal through the fall and winter, just make a big batch and freeze the leftovers. Serve it up with a piece of whole-wheat baguette and you’re set to go.

Hodgepodge

Morning friends!

Aaaahh...nothing beats sleeping in and waking up to the smell of fresh coffee on a lazy Sunday morning. My husband woke up before me this morning and made a giant pot of coffee. Needless to say I'm taking full advantage by posting in my jammies from bed with a bowl of pomberry yogurt at my side.

Glorious.

So I should apologize for my recent blogging negligence. It was a busy and full week at home and work, and it left me with limited time to do anything other than work, eat, sleep and go to the gym. I did, however, manage to squeeze in seeing the premiere of NEW MOON (along with about 200 other screaming female tweens). But never fear. I'm back on track and I plan to get some major blogage in over Thanksgiving Break.

Some exciting news to share is that I started training for a half marathon. Minor detail: I haven't signed up for a race yet. My coworkers tease that I'm training for an imaginary half marathon at the North Pole. Who trains for a distance run without knowing which race they're doing? This guy. Today is my first "long" run, which is only 4 miles. But I had a jammed packed fitness week filled with kettlebell training, Pilates classes, running, cross training and TRX. Needless to say I'm a little sore. I'm going to post more this week on TRX is, so check back later to read all about it.

I made some recipes this week and weekend, but I didn't have time to publish them. So today I wanted to do a recipe smorgasboard, if you will.

Here they are

Thursday I made some savory crispy Kale chips. I bought a bunch of beautiful Red Russian Kale from the green market last weekend, but I didn't have time to sautee it or make a salad this week. Before it broke down and went bad, I turned it into delicious chips:

The Red Russian Kale is the flat, non-curled bunch on the LEFT with the purple veining

crunchy chips

bet you can't eat just one!

To make these chips, check out my recipe here. This batch was made with garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and S&P. Kale Chips are SOOOO easy to make and a great snack for kids and adults alike. Make these!!

Saturday before I went out to watch the OSU vs. Michigan football game, I made a quick and delicious lunch:

spiralized parsnip, turnip, yellow carrot, and cucumber "noodles" with pesto.

By the way, I LOVE the new spiralizer!

With a side of lemon kale salad with pomegranate arelis and mushrooms.

For dessert? Some flax seed bread from the green market with Trader Joe's creamy Pumpkin Butter. Yuuuum!

I highly recommend TJ's Pumpkin Butter! It tastes like pumpkin pie in a jar. It's very sweet so a little goes a long way.

For a snack, I blended up a Bluecherry smoothie:

-1/2 cup frozen organic dark cherries

-1/2 cup frozen organic wild blueberries

-1 scoop of raw vegan Sun Warrior Protein powder

-1/4 cup greek yogurt

-1/4 cup almond milk

-1 T. flax seed oil

frosty and creamy goodness

I've got lots of stuff to get done today, so I'm signing off for now. Check back this week for more posts on TRX training, health and wellness info and more easy and nutritious everyday recipes from my kitchen.

Have a great Sunday!!

Cookie monster

Had a yummy breakfast cookie a la Fitnessista this morning before school

sweet, almondy, cinnamony heaven

...and majorly filling too

my cookie was made with:

-1/3 cup oats

-1/8 organic unsweetened almond milk

-1 scoop of raw/vegan Sun Warrior Protein Powder

-1 tbs. flax seed oil

-1 tbs. organic almond butter

-lots of cinnamon

-a sprinkle of ginger

-goji berries

of course I had to have my morning cup of jo with my cookie. This time I used hemp seed milk in my coffee instead of my usual almond milk. Not sure how I feel about hemp milk yet...hmmmmm

I made a different cookie one other time for me and Pat. I changed it up and made it with:

-1/3 c. oats

-1/8 c. almond milk

-1 Tbs. nut butter

-lots of cinnamon

-1/2 of a mashed up 'nanner

-and raisins

happy cookie

his and hers

I personally liked this morning's goji cookie better. You can add whatever you like to the oats + milk + nut butter base. Try raw pumpkin puree, cocoa powder, baked apples, nuts and seeds, frozen fruit.... whatever your little heart desires.

Make your cookie the night before and stick it in the fridge to set overnight. The almond milk softens the oats and the cookie firms up. Enjoy with a spoon :)

Autumn harvest in apt 4F

Union Square Farm Stands

Pat and I went to the Union Square Greenmarket last Saturday.

Embarrassing foodie confession: I traveled 40 minutes downtown AGAIN on Monday to get more stuff. Obsessed much? Let's put it this way, if the Greenmarket made #1 fan foam fingers, I'd sport one.

Needless to say I am one happy clam at any open air market. I love seeing and tasting all of the fresh, organic and local produce. And it's great to meet the farmers and share recipes with shoppers and vendors alike.

For those of you who don't know, the Union Square Greenmarket in NYC is THE MOTHER of all farmers markets. Throngs of New Yorkers, including professional 4-star chefs, push and poke their way through the park on a quest to find the freshest homegrown produce. The market operates year round (on M, W, F, and Sat), but the market on Saturday is where it's at. Aside from amazing seasonal fruits and veggies you can get handmade pretzels, organic meats and cheeses, and homemade jams and honeys.

Here are a few shots:

This guy is awesome.

He was on rollerblades and had some major greenage sprouting out from his backpack...

Here's what we came home with:

Japanese turnips (you can eat these like apples)

tricolor cauliflower, tricolor carrots, Red Russian and curly kale

fingerling potatoes and baby carrots

flax bread, organic maple yogurt, 2 kinds of cheese and some awesome apples

peppery arugula and kale

garlic and delicata squash (dark chocolate and rosemary not from farmers market)

I ended up cooking up a "meatless monday" dinner with all our yummy stuff. I know my husband really appreciates when we have a meatless monday dinner (heavy on the sarcasm).

We ate:

A tricolor cauliflower salad

Dress 3 cups purple, orange, green and white cauliflower with:

-3 tbs olive oil

-1 1/2 tbs lemon juice

-1/4 c. chopped scallions

-1/4 chopped cilantro

-coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Our cauliflower was young and fresh from the market, so we just ate it raw. But you could also steam it for 2-3 minutes, so that it retains its color and crispness but develops a slightly more tender texture.

I also made rosemary, thyme and garlic roasted tricolored carrots, fingerling potatoes, shallots and spring onions.

look how cool the purple carrots look once you cut them. Don't they look tye dyed?!

added herbs, garlic, and olive oil

and some coarse sea salt and pepper

and it looked like this:

It was a delicious dinner. We also had some sunflower and flax bread with left over bruschetta and crumbled herb goat cheese.

Ok. I'm in need of a little blogging advice: to any of you fellow bloggers who are reading this... how do you find the time to blog, go to work, cook healthfully, get good workouts in, keep in touch with long distance friends and family AND have a social life? It's been a tough balancing act for me. Blogging seems to eat up a lot of free time, but all the blogs I follow make it look so easy!

Any words of wisdom?