Guest Chef for Prairie Farm Corps 2017

It was such an honor to guest chef with the Prairie Farm Corps team last week and help them set the farm crew's lunch table! It's my favorite food education location to teach and learn in Lake County!

Introducing this Summer's PFC Kitchen Lead, Chef Aleks Semova (there she is instructing with measuring cup in hand!) She taught us all how to make vegan mayo and a 6 ingredient quick bread. I cannot wait to make them for my home plates!!!

Stay tuned... Her recipes are coming soon:)

I taught the kitchen team how to make my "I Lime You Very Much Tuna Salad" and "Sriracha Egg Salad".  I decided not to bring in the recipes to look at and copy. We simply eyeballed, taste tested and followed our instincts. These two salads are pretty fun to free-wheel (I like to call it "gumption" cooking) and it was really fun to watch them taste, add more and make it their own!

Sriracha = YES PLEASE!

Aleks: "How in the world shall we cut this beautiful loaf!?"

We looked at each other and said almost simultaneously, "ANYWAY WE WANT!"

Before serving the guests and PFC crew, the kitchen team introduces the lunch. They take turns explaining the ingredients, fun facts about the food, how they prepped it all, and perhaps some tid bits on what they learned in the kitchen for that day. Each kitchen team spends two weeks in the kitchen over two months. The rest of the time is spent in the fields learning how to cultivate and grow food seed to farmer's market + plate!

A quick snap shot of my PFC lunch plate.

We also whipped up a simple Radish Butter recipe from Mardi Michel, one of our Food Revolution Super Ambassadors from Canada! A MUST TRY!

Needless to say, there was no bread or radish butter left. Just a little egg salad for leftovers the next day:)

After lunch, Jen and Jeff Miller, the owners and farmers of Prairie Wind Family Farm, presented to the PFC team about their journey into becoming organic farmers. I think I jumped up and down when I found out their team were our lunch guests!

Cheers to becoming a little more food savvy (inside + outside) every day! 

I love everything about you PFC! Thanks so much for having me for the third year running; Time sure flies when you're working hard and having fun. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

It all starts at home plate!

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

Food Revolution Day Week KICK OFF with Chef Jared Batson!

HUGE thanks and love go out Chef Jared Batson of The Nomad Food Company for donating the proceeds from his "Smash it pizza" (inspired from our Food Revolution Day "Squash it Sandwich") to our Local Lake County Food Revolution and to Chicago's Pilot Light Chefs Organization. Together we are fighting for food this year along with the rest of the globe.

If you haven't been to the Green City Market you.need.to.go. It's open on Saturdays and Wednesdays in Lincoln Park,perfectly placed right next to the zoo. Hopefully, the line won't be too long to get your hands on one of Chef Jared's pies = hot commodity!

UPCOMING LOCAL FOOD REVOLUTION DAY EVENTS:

In the schools:
This Thursday, Chef Jared might be joining me at Mundelein's Fairhaven School to lead a Food Revolution Day's "Squash-it Salad" activity along with Pilot Light's homemade bread in a bag lesson (which I have lovingly dubbed "Shake and Bake" - the kids love it!). Two kindergarten classes will take home their bread in a bag to bake at home and EAT on Food Revolution Day Friday! Whether they choose to make "Squash it" sandwiches, a big salad OR simply enjoy the loaf all by itself, it's going to make for one smashing good food celebration! It makes the very best toast you know:)

On FOOD REVOLUTION DAY FRIDAY I'll be headed down to a Chicago Public School with Pilot Light Chefs and Ambassador Sarvin (Chicago) to squash up some more sandwiches with Jamie Oliver's online cooking lesson! Two third grade classrooms will be cooking it up with us on Food Revolution Day. Ambassador Christina (Lake County) and her co-workers will be leading the Food Revolution Day cooking lesson with the foods classes at Stevenson High School. In addition, Ambassador Colleen (Chicago) will be helping her son's 2nd grade classrooms cook up the "Squash it Sandwiches" and is also hosting a workshop at a client site this week!

Find out how you can celebrate with your school HERE. I'm so excited that 100s of students spanning Kindergarten through High School will be participating with us this year to celebrate our global day of action. Getting food education into our schools has never been more important.

In the community:
Saturday, Christina and I will be at Liberty Prairie Crossing Farm's FREE Annual Plant sale and Farm Open house! Come visit our booth and be inspired by the Lake County Food Revolution, fill up your gardens with organic plants and seedlings, visit with local CSA farmers and go on tours of the beautiful farm! Learning and connecting with our Lake County farmers to #eatlocal has never been easier!!

On the "line":
Add your voice to the Food Revolution Day chatter: I'm asking YOU - What's your #foodtruth? Why do you support Food Education? Share your thoughts on twitter, instagram or facebook with the hashtag #foodrevolutionday. We can't wait to celebrate with you!

I know YOU have signed Jamie Oliver's petition on Change.org/jamieoliver but have you SHARED it yet? Join your social media force to ours - I just know we can smash that 1 million mark together!

xoxoL

52tries | Week 18 + Food Revolution Day in Chicagoland

Lots of pics to go with my week 18 52tries post - read all about my family table meal planning + cooking here.

You can find all of the delicious Food Revolution Day Recipes (including the ones I cooked up for this week) here.

Find Elyse Wagner's New Smoothie Secrets Revealed Cookbook here.

Find the 52 New Foods Challenge Cookbook here.


Can you believe we have just over one.week.to.go before Food Revolution Day 2015 hits!?

Follow our Lake County Food Revolution Facebook page here and keep up with us!

Find Chicago's Green City Market information here and start salivating over Jared's awesome wood fired pizza. Our "squash-it" pizzas are gonna be amazeballs!!!

Find Liberty Prairie Crossing Plant Sale and Farm Open House information here.

Learn more about Chicago's successful Pilot Light Chefs Food Education Organization here.

I am ridiculously excited to hit PLAY - I need a sweet new song to jam out to in my kitchen:)


xoxoL