Advocate Condell Cooks for Life with the Lake County Food Revolution

OOOOPS. Life got so busy this Spring and Summer, that I forgot to post this incredible recap of our Condell Cooks for Life event! 

Thank you Advocate Condell Medical Center Public Affairs team for hosting and organizing this incredible community gathering on Monday, May 8th. It was a SOLD OUT, inspiring success! 

The Lake County Food Revolution is honored and proud to partner with the like-minded to help inspire fun, practical food education in our homes, schools, workplaces and community! It was so FUN to plan this first time event with the hospital's PA team! Our local Food Rev team is a part of the global Food Revolution Community, led by head campaigner, Chef Jamie Oliver, whose aim is to inspire every generation to get cooking more often around good, clean food and to improve nutrition policy combatting childhood obesity. 

The planning of this event was inspired by my visit last year to Amsterdam with Chef Terri Salminen who hosted a Food Revolution Day Cooking event with an army of chefs and bloggers at Fifteen Restaurant - All of whom volunteered their time to inspire the participants to cook for life! Go back in time to watch this incredible pop up cooking event here. 

I just can't stop looking back at all the pictures! Thank you Prairie Wind Family Farm, Chef Lee Kuebler (Milwalky Trace + Milwalky Taco), Chef Robert Collins (Youthage Culinary), Chef John Durning (Pizzeria DeVille), Chef Aleks Semova (Prairie Farm Corps), and Chef Shulames Rouzaud (Pilot Light Chefs Organization) for WOWING over 200 guests with their own take of a Food Revolution recipe and passing down their tips, tricks and cooking skills to the participants.  

Find the Condell Cooks for Life chef recipes here: 

Find all of the 17 Food Revolution recipes here.

Each chef utilized fresh Spring produce ingredients from Prairie Wind Family Farm who sold fresh, organic spring produce + a very special Food Revolution inspired meal kit "Asparagus Soldiers." 

Last but not least, PLEASE SHARE your experiences in the kitchen me, Advocate Condell and the Lake County Food Revolution team over social media! Use the hashtags #CondellCooksforLife + #FoodRevolution on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

SHOW OFF your home plate with us!

You never know who YOU will inspire to cook...

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

who wants to play ball for #FRD2014?

my three super power identities are colliding...

mom + food ambassador + pitching coach = a real troublemaker

there are so many reasons to make a food change in your family... the main reason i did it was to see if a diet change would help alleviate my daughter's ADHD/sensory processing/social issues and function better in school.

helllllllllers it worked.

when i start working with a pitcher, i look at what she does well and what we need to fix.  i celebrate her correct habits and i teach her how to fix her bad habits.  we make new muscle memory patterns. at first, the right way feels so wrong;  it's uncomfortable to change.  so, we do video feedback & mirror work, i demonstrate, we copy each other, we practice A LOT.  there are so many elements to pitching: posture, snap, leg drive, arm circle, balance, spacing, foot work... yikes.  it can be overwhelming!

if becoming a great pitcher is a priority, she will persevere through practice to reach her goals.

when i decided that real food was going to be my priority as a mom, i applied that same mentality of athletic perseverance which continues to help me everyday.

it is rough in the beginning... at 15 yrs old, i cried after my first few lessons cuz i was so afraid i'd fail and let my team down... at 35 years old, i cried a week into my food change because i was so afraid i was wasting my time when another path could probably fix abbie quick.

alas, there is no crystal ball.  will all this hard work and change be worth it?!

no matter what is driving you here, this food revolution team has no tryouts.  we have a jersey waiting for you.  your reason for joining the team may be a different reason than mine, but we're all in the same dugout... working together in the same direction.

i have spring training fever for the 3rd annual world series event:

FOOD REVOLUTION DAY - MAY 16th 2014

there are no negative side effects when you talk about adding more real food to your diet while removing the fake stuff.

it's time to lead your team and "pitch out" some/most/all of the "food like substances" from your pantry, fridge and freezer.

you pick your pace - it's not a race.  

1.  have a team meeting - inspire and explain why you are going to make some changes.  go on, check out this amazing real food video contest together over some homemade popcorn!  make some family goals together!  challenge each other!

2.  get.your.kids.involved.  we gotta train the rookies if they are gonna make it to the big leagues!!!

3.  meal plan and start practicing to cook more dinners from scratch - 1 meal... 2 meals...3 meals a week!  (my goal is 3-4 meals from scratch a week).

4.  harness your consumer power & be picky with your patronage.  my family votes with our $$$ to create and reward the american food system we want to live in - become a food patriot and join the food revolution!

5.  athletic/academic perseverance = cooking perseverance.  they are one and the same!  so apply your bad ass to the challenges of feeding your family more real food and don't.ever.give.up.

6.  need some training?  connect up with your local nutritionist to help ramp up your food regime and fill in the gaps.

we're gonna win some and lose some...
we're gonna cook our little fanny's off...
we're gonna work to get food education back into our schools...
we're going balls out for real food!

let's gather and light.it.up!

xoxo



ps

here's some food for thought:

learning seed's food additive guide

foodcorps educational resources on pinterest 

dr joel fuhrman explains the ideal diet for athletes & highly active people

dr mercola - does your child have ADHD symptoms? stop feeding them this...

infographic - the shocking effects of artificial food dyes

today is food day - let's get cooking with our KIDS!

the mullies get's cooking with kids! Food Day 2013

happy food day 2013 party people!!  let's celebrate and have some fun in our kitchens tonight!!

me and my friendly imovie-loverpad put this little ditty together.  i'm just warming up folks!

i invited two amazing families over to cook together in honor of food day today and it never ceases to amaze me how fun it is when we cook.with.our.kids.  yup, this stuff is not getting old...  but you know what is getting crusty?  the horrifying statistic that says my kids' generation is going live a shorter life span than my generation.  sob.  and how about the fact that more people are going to die from obesity than hunger today...  and then there is the lovely news that our grand USofA ranks 50th globally in life expectancy. but i digress... teaching my kids about real food and how to cook is the only way i can help make sure they won't be shackled to "take out" for every meal when they fly fly away from me.

unleash your inner-cook you wild stallion you!  i was navigating around the foodday.org site and found a free cooking class link here.  i was floored to find it available to all and will definitely be checking it out.

needless to say, dinner was a slam DUNK.  below i have included my gluten and dairy free recipe adaptations from the amazing food day cookbook (that is where you'll find the three original recipes we chose to whip up - i have not included the recipe directions as the interweb is running out of ink and i really want you to see the cookbook.  HA!).

i hope you like cooking and eating the recipes as much as we did.

**warning** before embarking on any cooking tonight, please fasten your aprons securely and play this music immediately.  feel free to show the children how to dance properly (running man please).  pump up your jams and let the cooking partay begin.

quick tostados
(we doubled this recipe!)

1 T coconut oil
2 cloves garlic
2 cartons black beans
1/4 tsp salt
2 c cooked shredded organic chicken breast
6 c shredded romaine
1/4 c sheeps milk yogurt (sweet arse replacement for sour cream... not dairy free, only cow free)
gf tortilla chips/tostados/tortillas
3 avocado diced (we love to eat these pupppies)
1/2 c organic shredded cheese (we also served vegan "daiya" cheese)
1/2 c chopped cilantro

carrot, sweet potato & ginger soup 
(the surprise recipe star of the evening)

2 T coconut oil
1 lb carrots
1 lb sweet potatoes
1 bunch scallions sliced
1/2 c chopped celery
1 garlic clove minced/grated
1 T chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp sea salt
4 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 T fresh lime juice
6 oz baby bok choy, stem ends trimmed, cut into 1/2 in slices

apple crisp
(this was completely prepared by our two 7th grade cooks, sarah and thea!)

toppings
1/3 c gf old fashioned oats
1/2 c gf flour
1/4 c chopped almonds
2 T almond flour
1/4 c coconut palm sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 T cold coconut oil, cut into pieces
2 T melted coconut oil
1 -2 T cold water

filling
9 apples
1/4 c fresh organic lemon juice
3 T maple syrup
2 T gf flour


that's.where.the.party's.at.and.you'll.find.out.if.you.cook.that.

wish me luck, i'm off to pass out 1300 apples to the students here in district 76 for our big apple crunch!  i wonder how many loose front teeth will be lost today in apples... or if my swagger van will ever lose the sweet smell... :)

CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH


xoxo



ps

need more food day inspo!?  go back in time with our first mullies cooking class and then to our suit and tie party.  so what if you get your kitchen messy.  i don't have a fruit fly problem at all.  nope.

mexican lucky burrito babies

Mexican Lucky Burrito Groovin

now that i've got you in the mood to make some burrito babies, here is how we made em real nice!

mexican lucky burritos
(i try to use organic ingredients whenever my budget allows)

1 pint cherry tomatoes (or about 2 cups blended tomatoes of any sort)
3 c mushrooms finely chopped
3 c kale finely chopped (spinach or chard would rock here too)
1 onion finely chopped
1 T ghee
1 can/box black beans
2 c leftover quinoa (or brown rice would be nice)
1 T chili pepper
2 tsp cumin
3 tsp oregano
2 T coconut palm sugar (sucanat or brown sugar would work well too!)
1/2 c nutritional yeast (add more to taste - this gives it a zesty cheesy flavor)
1 can enchilada sauce
1 package paleo wraps (or whatever type of tortilla floats your boat.  paleo wraps=coconut meat/coconut water and they don't taste like coconuts!!!! YES!!!!)
grated imported sheep's cheese (omit this if you want dairy free)

toppings:
whole plain sheep's milk yogurt (plain yogurt=best sour cream e.v.e.r)
diced avocado
salsa
go crazy cuz your gonna get lucky.

preheat oven to 350 degrees. melt ghee and sauté onion until translucent.  add mushrooms and cook until moisture has released and begins to brown/carmelize.  add kale and cook down until wilted.  puree tomatoes in a food processor or blender and add to pan.  drain and rinse black beans - add to pan.  mix in s&p, spices, sugar and nutritional yeast - i actually eyeballed all of these ingredients to taste, so feel free to do the same... it's so fun to do it that way!   wrap up your "burrito babies" and place in your casserole.  pour enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle with grated cheese.  place uncovered into the oven and cook for 25 minutes or until cheese is melty and bubbly.

thanks for the inspo daft punk!!

i hope it makes your mexican lucky day:)

xoxo