Chef's Tasting Table Day 9 // Citrus + Fennel

Today's diary recap of our last Chef's Tasting Table starts on the day before, as I was picking up the produce at my Jewel Osco grocery store! In my hand, you can see my very first taste of the mouth watering apple-pears (aka Asian Pears - Thanks to the suggestion of Dan, the amazing produce manager!) And I bumped into West Oak School's very own Mrs Piland! Did you know that she and I also went to Mundelein High School together back in 1995? It's such a small school foodie ed world...

Our last Chef's Tasting Table consisted of the following: One mandarine orange for all, a few chunks of an apple pear, and a small scoopful of that gorgeous citrus and fennel salad. As the school year is running out of time, so is citrus season = Good tasting timing!

A Citrus and Fennel Salad

5 navel oranges

3 grape fruits

1 small fennel bulb sliced thin

sea salt to taste

1 tbsp chopped fresh fennel fronds

1 tbsp minced fresh parsley

2 tbsp honey

Cut off the rinds and pith's of the citrus using this awesome technique. Add the citrus, sliced fennel, parsley and fronds to the bowl and mix. Season to taste with sea salt and honey. Enjoy!

These kids have so much energy and smiles were abundant! Click here for some 8th graders reactions, and click back to my home Instagram page for the 5th grade school lunch room interview I posted today. 

Afterwards, the entire school went outside to walk after lunch as it was ACES Day (All Children Exercise Simultaneously) - What a fabulous "food and move day" combo!!

SO many things to celebrate in this wrap-up post:

1. School lunch participation went UP - You can't pull apart the impact of 2 important things:

• A new school lunch service coordinator - KIM! She brought so much more organization, enthusiasm and love into the lunch room.
• The addition of our 9 Chef's Tasting Table events.

You could say it was a perfect storm.

According to Kim, her West Oak School average daily school lunch tally grew from:
140 meals a day (October)
to
170 meals a day (December/January)
to
200 meals a day (April/May)

WOW

2. Overall, the Chef's Tasting Table participation and enthusiasm went UP every week, especially in the 7th and 8th grades.

3. We're doing it again next year! Perhaps into Diamond Lake School too! Stay tuned...

4. Greater school food "player" connection. Yesterday was our first meeting of the minds to connect Illinois Farm To School Network + Preferred Meals. May the 4th was with us - We're gonna start small and dream BIG.

Enthusiastic good food education inspires everyone at the table! I am learning so much about how school food works in Illinois and I'm constantly inspired by the people who are working to improve it.



Sue Kruckman = One superbly-amazing school wellness coordinator and school nurse. We could not have done this year's tastings without each other's partnership, vision and leadership. I love you girl.

Here is the equation that came together for a year of fun food education in the lunchroom:

Inside buy-in: Diamond Lake School District 76 administration and teachers who want and support it
+ A passionate outside volunteer (like me)
+ An incredible real school food education program grant from The Chef Ann Foundation | Healthy Skoop --> Project Produce = $2500 of funding!
+ Support from D76's school service provider Preferred Meals
+ A local farm (Jen and Jeff from Prairie Wind Family Farm)
+ A local grocery store produce manager (Dan from Jewel Osco on Maple/Midlothian)

= FOOD EDUCATION SUCCESS

THANK YOU from the bottom of my Food Revolution heart!


To the Mullies we go...
xoxoL

ps

You can catch up to the previous 8 "Chef's Tasting Table" events by scrolling down on the left hand side of my blog's home page under "Topics in the Mullies."

Chef's Tasting Table Day 8 // Real Shamrock Shakes

Jump UP! It was a really good day in the lunchroom (here is the video link if you can't see it above).

We had near 100% participation in the tasting and the blender was cleaned out! The majority of the students enjoyed it, which was awesome too.

The luck of the Irish was with us:)

At the last tasting event, a few 7th grade girls had a suggestion for me. "Why don't you try hiding the ingredients from us so we'll be more likely to try it?"

So that's exactly what we did. When the students came up to grab a cup, the ingredients were under a tent. (No pretty vege arrangement, it was a very bare table!). This tactic effected the 7th and 8th grader participation dramatically. And I noticed some of kids come through the line that had not in the past in all of the grade levels.

Now that was super great idea. Thanks girls!!!!

After everyone tasted, the lunchroom tried to guess what was in the smoothie. There was a ton of good guessing and it was fantastic to talk about the spinach (from our 1st tasting event) and the avocado (from our 3rd tasting event) and use them in an entirely different way.

Minds blown. Minds opened. Minds a little & a lot more excited to try new foods thanks to the Chef Ann Foundation Project Produce Grant funding!

Bring that luck HOME today and blend up some of this liquid gold:

D76 Diamonds Real Shamrock Shakes
Inspired by this recipe

1 ripe avocado
1 ripe banana
1 big handful of spinach
15 fresh mint leaves
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
1 cup milk of choice (I used rice milk)
1 cup ice
honey to taste (at least 2-3 tbsp for kids' palattes)

Blend until smooth. Add a few tablespoons of honey at a time until you've hit your sweet spot. You can also add more milk or ice to thin it out. Add a squirt of real chocolate syrup and enjoy!

To the mullies we go...
xoxoL

ps

I warmed up some shake making skills in Tommy's 2nd grade classroom on Thursday.  We were onto to something good if over half of the kids wanted seconds! Thank you for having me Ms Duffy!!

Chefs Tasting Table Day 5 // Cabbage + Apple + Carrot Slaw

With Superbowl Sunday coming up this weekend (hollah chili, hotdogs, pulled barbeque chicken and pork, sausages, fried chicken, corned beef...well really, any grilled meat will do!), what better way to get some VEGE in than by eating and learning about COLESLAW!

I had a very special guest with me today - Meet Charlotte, the Assistant Farm Manager from Prairie Wind Family Farms! She spoke to the kids about how much fun her crew team has together when they harvest cabbage from the fields. It was certainly some "catchy" food education to pair up with Superbowl food conversation... Sign us up for some cabbage football!

The kids are getting pretty excited to talk about the new food adventures we're going on!

This is one delicious, sweet slaw folks - Get your kids in the kitchen! What could you have them do? For older kids, teach them safe knife skills and have them help you chop up the vege. Younger kids can be taught to safely cut with a pairing knife. It's ok to have vege that's different sizes! All ages love to measure and whisk up the wet ingredients in a bowl - Pump up those math skills!

Skoop and the Chef Ann Foundation Organization teamed up to launch the Project Produce Grant Program which awarded Diamond Lake District 76's West Oak School $2500 in funds to help give all students access to more fresh produce and food education during the school day.

The students were inspired to pair it up with their chili today in the lunchroom; Many had never thought to combine the two before and it was really fun to watch some of the students taste test! Thanks Preferred Meals - What a perfect pairing!

Cabbage, Apple and Carrot Slaw 

(divide in half for a smaller football crowd)

1 head of green cabbage

2 carrots

4-5 apples

1/4 c apple cider vinegar 

1 c mayo (I used egg-free Just Mayo brand for school allergy concerns)

1/3 c honey

1 Tbsp sea salt

1/2 Tbsp pepper

Finely slice (using a knife or food processor) the cabbage, carrots and apples. In a separate bowl combine the vinegar, mayo, honey salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl until fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Refrigerate for at least an hour and serve.

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

Chef's Tasting Table Day 4 // Cucumbers and Kiwi

Cucumber and Kiwi's!!!!!!!!

Wash cut and serve. It was that easy. The students couldn't get enough.

Not many teachers or students knew that one could eat the peels of the kiwi's. I didn't know myself until a few years ago... I'll never forget when my Mom told me... Really? Hairy, brown skin = edible!?

NO WAY.

YES WAY.

Here's a few more fun food facts we shared in the lunchroom:

Did you know the Kiwi Fruit originated from China 600 years ago and was named "Yangtao"?

Did you know that the Yangtao was then imported to New Zealand and renamed "Chinese Gooseberry"? In 1962 it was finally imported to America and renamed the "Kiwi Fruit" in honor of New Zealand's national bird, the "Kiwi".

Crazy right? The kids thought so too:)

We're having so much fun with these Chef's Tasting Table Days! Skoop and the Chef Ann Foundation Organization teamed up to launch the Project Produce Grant Program which awarded Diamond Lake District 76's West Oak School $2500 in funds to help give all students access to more fresh produce and food education during the school day.

It's so fun to experience the growing excitement in the lunchroom with every visit.

To the Mullies we go...
xoxoL

Chef's Tasting Table Day 3 // Chocolate Avocado Pudding with Berries

Let's dive into our 3rd Chef's Tasting Table at West Oak School! 

Skoop and the Chef Ann Foundation Organization teamed up to launch the Project Produce Grant Program which awarded Diamond Lake District 76's West Oak School $2500 in funds to help give all students access to more fresh produce and food education during the school day.

Principle Chris Williford had a raised eye brow as he grabbed a cup. He was quite skeptical of the avocados we put in his pudding:) After a cautious and thoughtful first bite, he commented, "It tastes earthy!" ...And he finished the bowl!

Now THOSE are some crazy good berries Eric!!! The texture of tiny seeds had kept our Director of Finance and Operations away from berries. But on Tuesday, he tried them ALL and enjoyed them! WOW! Trying something new is what the Chef's Tasting Table is all about!!! 

As you can imagine, I was practically jumping up and down...

Our Superintendent Dr Bhavna Sharma-Lewis joined our lunchroom event and helped me serve berries to students who could simply not get enough! Our berries were completely GONE by the end of the last lunch period.

My BIGGEST and warmest thank you's to the incredible West Oak School administration team for supporting this wonderful food education initiative! 

Let's BLEND + EAT!

Chocolate Avocado and Banana Pudding

Inspired by 52 New Foods Challenge Chocolate Pudding

1 ripe avocado

2 ripe bananas (the browner the better!)

1/4 cup raw cacao (Click here to learn the difference between cocoa and cacao!) 

1/4 rice milk (or any milk of your choosing)

2-3 Tbsp maple syrup (or coconut sugar or 1/8 tsp organic stevia powder)

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pinch of sea salt

dash of cinnamon (optional - I did not add this in for the recipe)

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Pair with fruit and granola for a perfect breakfast or snack. Be creative and make a layered holiday dessert with crushed peppermint, dark chocolate and whipped cream! 

We added the following to the students' cups of pudding - Many had never tasted blackberries before! Score!

Strawberries

Raspberries

Blackberries

Blueberries

Serving a crowd? Here is the recipe increased for about 20 people:

5 avocados

10 bananas

1 1/4 cup raw cacao

1 1/4 cup rice milk

3/4 c maple syrup

2.5 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

I am so very grateful to Teacher & Ambassador Sara Lohrmann for rallying the Stevenson High School Foods students to help make the pudding! 

80 avocados and 160 bananas later... We gathered to inspire awesome #realschoolfood education! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

...For my food processor surely would have conked out!

Vroom vroom!!

2017 will bring 8 more tasting days to the West Oak lunchroom and we can't hardly WAIT!

Cheers and good holiday tastings to you and yours! 

May your family table 

be warm 

and bright
with perhaps a bowl

of delicious 

chocolate pudding 

to savor 

a jolly good night!

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL