Set the Table 2017 | Week 19

Happy Mother's Day Sunday from CANADA! 

I am sorry to be so far away from you today... I LOVE YOU MOM!! Thanks for watching the kids while I have been away!! Boy did we enjoy this salad together at the Condell Cooks for Life Event last Monday night! 

I just had to share it today as I hope it makes it your family table this week, especially now that asparagus is in season!

Chef Alek's Simple Asparagus Salad

Prairie Farm Corps, Grayslake - Kitchen Lead

Aleks’ spin on Jamie’s Boiled Eggs and Aspargus Soilders recipe

1 lb Asparagus

4 oz Parmesan cheese (block)

2 shallots

¼ c Balsamic vinegar

½ c extra virgin olive oil

2 oz Kalamata olives (3-4 per plate)

Sea salt & pepper to taste

1. Prepare a pot with boiling water. Add a generous amount of sea salt to the water. You can also grill or roast your asparagus.
2. Trim the asparagus and peel if needed.
3. Make the dressing by mixing the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the finely chopped shallots.
4. Boil the asparagus for 2-3 minutes, until tender but still crisp. Remove the asparagus from the water and transfer them to serving plates.
5. Cut the olives into halves and arrange on the plates.
6. Spoon over some of the dressing. Use a vegetable peeler to cut thin strips of the cheese and lay them on top each plate.

DEEEEEEE-LLLLIIIIIIIISH

• Each #SettheTable2017 post begins with a featured recipe(s) + upcoming week's game plan followed by a picture diary of last week's chaos. I sign off every post with a handy reference list of my favorite foodie articles. 
• #CatchmyGrit on my Instagram throughout the week to capture the fun, the food and the family table reactions (good and bad). C'est la vie, I selfy-ishly light it UP in pics and videos to keep truckin! 
• New to this series? Here's the STORY behind my #SettheTable2017 food adventures with Pure Barre Kildeer.
• My two go to's for meal planning organization (the grocery list app features are rad): 1. Jamie Oliver online recipes or his Ultimate Recipes App (J) 2. Sarah Britton - My New Roots Blog or Naturally Nourished Cookbook or her RecipeApp (S)

Week 19's Game plan:

• Sticky Chicken with Sweet Tomatoes + Beans

• Taco Day (I'm coming back Tuesday night... so Gonna have to move that badboy...)

• Salmon Fish Fingers (Video link)

• Sweet and Spicy Barbeque Sauce - Jessica Levin (courtesy of Slow Food USA)

• Chef Alek's Simple Asparagus Salad

Wrap it UP with last week's community & family table action (in the USA + CANADA!):

Here are the fresh Prairie Wind Family Farms Spring Produce baskets we raffled off!

And Prairie Wind Family Farm's also debuted their new local meal kits!

It's was a sold out, PACKED (200+) hospital house!

 Chef Rob of Youthage Culinary School with Wauconda High School Health Club student volunteers.

Jackeline of Reprise Coffee Roasters discussing sustainable and fair trade coffee + brewing tips.

Chef Aleks of Prairie Farm Corps.

Chef Lee of Milwalky Trace + Taco.

Chef Shulames from Pilot Light Chefs Organization in Chicago.

Chef John of Pizzaria Deville.

And the next morning at 4:30am... We were off to Canada for the Eating Heritage Festival in Moncton, New Bruswick (just a stone's throw from Nova Scotia!).

Thanks for the pick up Max! Meet the President of Slow Food Cocagne Acadie which hosted the Eating Heritage Festival, Slow Food Canada National Summit.

The seafood chowder is epic at Tide & Boar Brewing.

I had the honor of moderating a multi-generational School Food Panel of heroes who are changing school food game and increasing food security in New Brunswick.

Those are fiddleheads! SO SO GOOD! If you see them at your local farmer's market, you MUST try them:)

A preserved skin of Sturgeon. WOAH.

Now this was FUN! We all marched through town in a Tintamarre which "is an Acadian tradition of marching through one's community making noise with improvised instruments and other noisemakers, usually in celebration of National Acadian Day. The term originates from the Acadian French word meaning "clangour" or "din"."

For opening night, we feasted on roasted and grilled sturgeon!

By far, the most exciting activity I participated in was Disco Soup. Get ready Lake County... We are going to have so much fun together doing this!

Crazy ridiculously good = Macaroon + Mayo + Lobster.

I conquered the 55 ton Shediac Lobster!

Prepping for the FREE Kids' Tasting Event.

We went through a journey of bitter, sour and sweet! Broccoli cress, snow peas, pea shoots, brussel sprouts, sorrel, rainbow carrots, Gage Town apples, dried apples, apple cider (sparkling & regular), chocolate coconut macaroons, tarts, sauerkraut (juice too!), and 4 flavors of hummus (garlic, dill pickle, cilantro & jalapeño, curry) with from scratch pita chips. It was INCREDIBLE!!

And then it was time to sample some tiny bubbles:) I will now be buying Canadian sparkling wines thank you very much!

This is what over 500 pounds of fresh, local seafood looks like.

Amazing work chefs!!

Meet Alison Bell, the first delegate I met off the plane (She is a member of the Columbia Valley Chapter which hosted the Summit last year).  I just low your slow food snail dress - Thank you for inspiring me this week! 

Heather Pritchard, Slow Food Canada President says thank you to this years organizing team, Sarah Short and Maxime Gouvine.

My Slow Food hat and dancing shoes are off to YOU!

And for one last lovely shoutout, it was lovely to meet you Dennis the Prescott - I LOVE your message and your delicious food stories.

It's not about perfection.

It's about the journey.

It's about gathering, cooking and eating.

Nice and slow.

Canada I will never be the same. 

Thank you for your grit. 

It's in my mitt. 

Now let's keep eating and dancing till the sun don't shine.

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

ps

My Top 7 #SettheTable2017 Topics:

1. "Why We Need To Be Weirdos To Be Healthy" (My goal: 80% weird. Daily reality = 20-100%)
2. How to Cook With Oils
3. Buy Antibiotic Free and Know the Source of Your Family's Meat
4. The EWG "Clean Fifteen + Dirty Dozen produce guidelines helps you save money + reduce the pesticides and herbicides (Antibiotics harmful to our gut microbiome + mycobiome) at home. 
5. Avoid artificial colors and preservatives to keep your gut-brain happy + healthy
6. Why, When and How to Eat Wheat
7. 50 Years Ago, the Sugar Industry Quietly Paid Scientists to Point Blame at Fat

Set the Table | Week 18

Happy Sunday Fun Day!

I just prepped this little ditty and I can't decide if I am going pour this over my roast my broccoli tonight or smother some roasted, smashed potatoes with it. Oh, and homemade french fries would be ridiculously good too...

...Corn on the cob... chicken... vegetables... What endless Summer grilling possibilities!

Lemon and Herbes de Provence Summer Grilling Seasoning

1 handful of fresh parsley leaves

1 lemon's zest

1/2 tsp dried Herbes de Provence (thyme, rosemary, basil, tarragon, lavender)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

2 small garlic cloves minced

3 heaping tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese 

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and spread on pretty much anything your Summery heart desires. 

I can't wait to eat this tonight!!! And don't you just love that marble trivet? Birthday present love - Find it here.

• Each #SettheTable2017 post begins with a featured recipe(s) + upcoming week's game plan followed by a picture diary of http://themullies.blogspot.com/2017/04/set-table-2017-week-17.html. I sign off every post with a handy reference list of my favorite foodie articles. 
• #CatchmyGrit on my Instagram throughout the week to capture the fun, the food and the family table reactions (good and bad). C'est la vie, I selfy-ishly light it UP in pics and videos to keep truckin! 
• New to this series? Here's the STORY behind my #SettheTable2017 food adventures with Pure Barre Kildeer.
• My two go to's for meal planning organization (the grocery list app features are rad): 1. Jamie Oliver online recipes or his Ultimate Recipes App (J) 2. Sarah Britton - My New Roots Blog or Naturally Nourished Cookbook or her RecipeApp (S)

Week 18's Game Plan:

I'm setting the table in CANADA this week! I am just thrilled to participate in the Eating Heritage Festival - Slow Food National Summit in Moncton, New Brunswick!!! (Holy cow, I'll be right next to Nova Scotia)!

What's on my festival plate?

• School Food Lunch & Panel Moderator - Wednesday, 12:30pm Marché Moncton Market  "School food is good food? We think it should be! Let's share a lunch together and listen to a panel of local food heroes talk about their school food successes and challenges".

• Kids Flavour Tent Coordinator - Saturday - TBA - Let's get tasting! I'll be leading kids in food tastings and talking about their mouth watering sensory experiences!

I'll be documenting my trip on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter - I can't WAIT to share my Eating Heritage Festival experiences with YOU next week!

Wrap it UP with last week's family table action:

Here's an easy throw-together organic chicken-in-milk meal: 

6 assorted chicken thighs & breasts

rice milk (enough to almost cover the chicken)

lemon zest & fresh juice

sliced onion

sea salt & pepper

oregano

Just throw it all in a shallow dutch oven. Cover it and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Boom. The sauce is crazy good.

Open face sloppy joes! And I totally pigged out on leftovers:) 

The kids got home as I was taking a picture. They were so annoyed at me for making them wait. My girlfriend Terri suggested after school snack platters to me last year and I haven't been making them. The kids were so happy I did! Last week's platter really inspired me to keep it up! Whatever they didn't finish off, I added to our dinner spread.

I diced up the leftover chicken in milk, and mixed it into some fresh pasta. So good!

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

ps

My Top 7 #SettheTable2017 Topics:

1. "Why We Need To Be Weirdos To Be Healthy" (My goal: 80% weird. Daily reality = 20-100%)
2. How to Cook With Oils
3. Buy Antibiotic Free and Know the Source of Your Family's Meat
4. The EWG "Clean Fifteen + Dirty Dozen produce guidelines helps you save money + reduce the pesticides and herbicides (Antibiotics harmful to our gut microbiome + mycobiome) at home. 
5. Avoid artificial colors and preservatives to keep your gut-brain happy + healthy
6. Why, When and How to Eat Wheat
7. 50 Years Ago, the Sugar Industry Quietly Paid Scientists to Point Blame at Fat

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."