Chef's Tasting Table 2019 | Citrus Bonanza + A Cara Cara Jam Jar Dressing

This was the 2nd annual Citrus Chef's Tasting Table and I'm already looking forward to our 3rd next year. It's a BIG in-season fan favorite for all.

Pictured from the top:

Blood oranges

Cara Cara Naval oranges

Pummelo's (the large yellow grapefruits)

Naval oranges

I visited both Diamond Lake and West Oak back to back this week; Without a doubt, we have 750+ citrus lovers in our district!

Now that we have their attention, get your eaters to think outside of the orange-wedge-box and make your own jam jar salad dressing! You can thank me later for helping you to get your kids to eat their greens.

A Cara Cara Jam Jar Dressing

1-2 Cara Cara oranges juiced (about 1/4 cup. And type of orange will work here!)

2 Tbsp vinegar (any kind you have on hand - Apple cider vinegar, White vinegar, Red/White Wine vinegar, Balsamic vinegar all works)

1 Tbsp honey

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp iodized or sea salt

1/4 tsp pepper
1 garlic clove minced (optional)

Place all ingredients in a mason jam jar. Put the lid on and shake vigorously (a great job for kids!) until it's all mixed up. Enjoy on your favorite greens (my kids LOVE Gotham Greens), plus it would be delicious on fish too! Store in the refrigerator. 

To the mullies we go...

xoxoL

Chef's Tasting Table 2019 | A Tomato Tasting with Prairie Wind Family Farm

Now that's a lot of 2nd's and 3rd's boys! Way to EAT those tomatoes!!

Welcome to the 2019 Chef's Tasting Table School Year with Diamond Lake School District 76!

I am just thrilled to be writing this post, as it's my third year in the lunch room with the D76 students and staff. I am simply amazed by our evolution in food education together.

3 years ago:

• Most of the 8th grade students chose not to eat "lunch". Many tables would share candy and/or other processed snacks (like Takis Chips) brought from home. Very few participated in the school lunch program with Preferred Meals.
• The majority of 7th and 8th graders were very hesitant or declined to try the foods at our tastings. 
• It helped to "hide" the ingredients of a tasting table menu item as it helped students be more adventurous. Once I revealed the ingredients (like spinach!), they were more willing to try an unfamiliar or "weird" food the next time.
• The majority of the 5th and 6th graders were always up for a tasting. They were enthusiastic and excited every month.

Today:

• Virtually EVERY student in EVERY lunchroom (5th-8th) eats lunch whether it's a sack lunch from home or served from Preferred Meals.
• The majority of EVERY lunchroom participates in the tasting. And I don't even have to hide the ingredients anymore to get kids to try what I'm serving up!
• All grade levels exhibit enthusiasm for our Chef's Tasting Tables. WOW!

HUGE thank you's to Jennifer and Jeff Miller of Prairie Wind Family Farm for providing the beautiful and TASTY tomatoes for our very first tomato tasting. The kids asked for seconds and thirds more than every before. I simply love coming to the farm, talking to your staff, and picking up your organic produce (just 9 miles away from West Oak School)!

Each student received a boat of tomatoes that were sliced and prepared three ways:

• Plain
• Sprinkled with sea salt
• Sprinkled with organic sugar

Why the three options? To begin sharing the experience of how seasoning can effect taste with the students. 

• Why is tomato sauce and pizza sauce sometimes sweeter than eating a raw tomato? Well, the chef adds some sweetener to cut the acidity! 
• Can you believe how a little salt brings out more flavor? 
• Isn't it amazing how naturally sweet a grape tomato is all by itself!?

I was joined by a friend and fellow graduate from the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, Ms Erika Quezada-Sanchez of Lotus Life and Wellness. I am so grateful to be connected to her through our Mind Body Nutrition training and especially appreciative of her volunteering with me in the lunchroom! Thank you for sharing this awesome day with me and the students Erika, and I can't wait for you to join us again and spread more fun food education together!

More Guts More Glory - It all starts at hOMe plate!

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

Chef's Tasting Table Day 14 // Passion Fruit

What an incredible finish to the 2017-2018 school year! To the most fabulous school nurse & fellow wellness committee member, Sue Kruckman, I am so happy and honored to be your partner in crime in running these fabulous Chef's Tasting Table events!!

Dare I say it was one of my most favorite school lunch room tastings yet? I think this video tells it all! And thank you so much to the Jewel Produce Manager Jeff for helping me source these passion fruit beauties! Learn more about this fantastic fruit here.

Video: Chef's Tasting Table - Passion Fruit

Enormous thank you's to the District 76 administration and staff for supporting such fun food education for the students!

I cannot WAIT to be back in the lunchroom next year with all of YOU! Our 3rd year running!

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

Chef's Tasting Table Day 13 // Cherries + Cacao

With the Winter Olympics opening ceremony tonight and Valentine's Day around the corner, our Chef's Tasting Table landed with perfect timing yesterday!

I love how it all came together: Sue - my school nurse sidekick - inspired me a few weeks ago when she forwarded me a yogurt and cherry smoothie drink recipe. Then, I remembered how Northwestern Performance Nutrition posted about using tart cherry concentrate with their athletes and also how the Olympic athletes are using tart cherry (and beetroot) concentrate and their performance training (article). Here is a recent instagram post where a Mackenzie Wilson, an NU cross country student athlete topped yogurt and bananas with a drizzle of the tart cherry concentrate - YUM! 

Want to learn more? Here is another great article about cherries and the science behind why tart cherry concentrate has risen to "super endurance food" status (article). We also talked about cherries natural melatonin levels and I was pleasantly surprised how a few students knew about melatonin and how it helps you to sleep! 

In honor of Valentine's Day, I added a little raw cacao powder to the drink and garnished with some cacao nibs. Many students remembered the chocolate avocado pudding I made last year with the cacao powder and I knew I had to bring it back in a different taste context. I wanted them to experience the true bitter and pure dark chocolate taste along with the tart/sour and sweet taste of the cherries. 

A Tart Cherry + Cacao Booster Drink

2 cups milk of choice (I used organic rice milk) or water

1 cup frozen black cherries

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 Tbsp Tart Cherry Concentrate

1-2 dried pitted dates

1-2 Tbsp raw cacao powder (optional)

1 tsp white chia powder (optional - I did not use this in the school tasting but put it in my drink yesterday!)

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender. Garnish: Fresh Cherries + raw cacao nibs. 

SO GOOD!!!

I'll see you back in the lunchroom in March for a super fun, GREEN taste:)

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

ps
All ingredients were found at Jewel. Thank you Dan for your help sourcing the large amount of cherries!

Chef's Tasting Table Day 12 // A First Citrus Tasting

All smiles from our awesome Principle, Mr Willeford!! I love when he walks in and asks, "So what so we have going on today Mrs Shifley!?"

Big volunteering love out to my Mom, Mrs Prezell (a retired Kindergarten teacher of over 30 years who won't be staying out of the classroom anytime soon); It was her second time out to help inspire fun food education with me! Thank you so much!!

Speaking of love, I channeled my friends from Slow Food Canada by wearing this lovely handmade apron from the Eating Heritage Festival in Moncton I attended last May. Aprons hold the most wonderful food + friend memories, don't you think?!

Seconds please Mrs Kruckman! 

The naval Cara Cara variety is darker in flesh, almost a dark pink. A delicious and surprising difference to the other varieties. Slightly sweeter, less acidic with almost a hint of a blackberry or raspberry to it. SO good and NO SEEDS!!

The blood orange is simply gorgeous inside. In all four of the lunches, several kids commented, "There's not really blood in this, right!?" Hahahaha, no my sweet darlings, no:)

I explained how the dark red flesh speckles was due to special antioxidant pigments found in other flowers and fruit but very uncommon in citrus. This dark red color develops at night during low temperatures and sometimes it can even show up on the outside rind!

The Minneola is a cross between the tangerine and the pomelo and some people call it the "honeybell" because of it's characteristic knob at one end of the rind. Who knew!? It is the juiciest of the four varieties, the sweetest and the truest "orange" in color. Some kids thought it was the most tart out of all of the oranges. This was the variety that many tasted first as it was the most common looking; I believe it was probably less "risky" for them to try before the new ones. 

The Pomelo, a member of the grapefruit family, was a first taste for almost everyone, including myself. Some pomelos can grow to be the size of a watermelon and how cool for the rind to be greenish! The thick pith was very spongy and its surprising texture was a frequent comment and question thrown out by the students. Also, many kids who admitted to not normally enjoying grapefruit were pleasantly surprised that the Pumelo was sweeter. Many students shared that they liked it "the best" which was so cool and some even commented, "I don't even need sugar sprinkled on top!"

Fist pump.

WOW what a ridiculous Chef's Tasting Table success!!!! We have decided to make this theme a yearly tasting every January; What a wonderful way to bring the sweet tropics to the lunchroom in the middle of a cold new year!

The students LOVED comparing and contrasting the differences in the citrus varieties. The color and taste was so vibrantly different between the four varieties. I have to give huge props to Dan the produce manager at Jewel Osco on Maple Ave who helped me choose these beautiful varieties. Thank you so much for your help! 

And last but not least, thank you Sarah for helping me lift all of these heavy boxes in my swagger van!!! Don't forget to say hello to Dan and Sarah if you stop by to grab some citrus from them!

I have never seen so many kids "run around the bases and jump on home plate" - I LOVE when real school food scores lunchroom home runs!!!

See you in February my little love bugs:) 

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

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."