Monthly Archives: October 2015

Teens Turning Green

Of course, whenever I hear of a mother-daughter team accomplishing something, I am all ears. Especially when they’re tackling big stuff like Judi Shils and Erin Schrode are. Mother-daughter team Judi and Erin founded Teens Turning Green in 2005 to educate local teens (and anyone else who would listen) about the harmful ingredients in cosmetics and personal-care items. Turns out, lots of teens were concerned about this issue and their campaign was a huge success. They realized their message was reaching far beyond cosmetics and into many other aspects of eco-responsible lifestyles. Teens Turning Green has an impressive resume: They developed a small collection of body- and skin-care products; launched a school platform to investigate the safety of the food, janitorial, and landscape products being used around children; developed an online toolkit called Project Green Prom to highlight ecological beauty, fashion, décor, and transportation options; and took on back-to-school with Project Green Dorm.

Project participants via teensturninggreen.org

The list is long, but the project that especially caught our eye here at the farm is the organization’s Conscious Kitchen Project, which is dedicated to a complete transformation of our nation’s school-lunch programs.

students via teensturninggreen.org

They launched a pilot program in Marin City, California, in August 2013 at a school in which 95% of the 150 students qualified for free- and reduced-meal programs. This provided a unique and significant demographic, as it was representative of so many underserved school children all around the country who are receiving processed, over-packaged meals that provide little nutrition. Teens Turning Green partnered with Executive Chef Justin Everett of Cavallo Point Lodge and Good Earth Natural Foods and raised enough money to transition this school kitchen from heat-and-serve to one where the head chef and his team cook 300 nutritious meals a day from scratch.

Chef Justin and students via teensturninggreen.org

This elementary school has seen a 70% decline in behavioral issues since the program began, as well as measured increases in attention span, on-time arrival, and overall attendance. And Chef Justin is inspiring some would-be chefs by offering mentoring in his kitchen on Friday nights. I love everything about this project. Nice work, Teens Turning Green!

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Feeding Children Everywhere

In a recent post, I briefly touched on a volunteer effort at our local Lentil Festival involving Feeding Children Everywhere and wanted to share with you a little more on their efforts.

Their mission states that “Feeding Children Everywhere is a social charity that empowers and mobilizes people to assemble healthy meals for hungry children.” And I would say that’s delightfully true; our local team of volunteers packed 25,386 meals in 3 hours. Talk about empowerment and mobilization! Each one of these meals includes lentils, dehydrated vegetables, pink Himalayan salt, and rice, providing an all-natural, soy-free, gluten-free, preservative-free, kosher-certified and vegan meal.

Meal pie chart via feedingchildreneverywhere.com

All of this goodness was started in 2010 by Don Campbell, a Florida resident who made a big difference on a personal level by inviting children in need to share a meal at his table. Since those days, 32 million meals have been delivered to 30 countries by 198,000 volunteers, and that impressive number continues to grow. For every dollar received, Feeding Children Everywhere packages and ships out four meals to a hungry child somewhere in the world.

child and box of meals via feedingchildreneverywhere.com

And anyone can host or join a “hunger project,” the term FCE uses to refer to any group of people coming together to stop hunger, and they make it easy to sign up right on their website. The website also provides a calendar of all the hunger projects and open events available to volunteers.

child and meal via feedingchildreneverywhere.com

Check out a few of their beautiful videos for more in-depth conversations about the impact of this program.

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Unprocessed Kitchen Merit Badge, Expert Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,691 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—9,460 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life   

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Unprocessed Kitchen Expert Level Merit Badge, my plan was simple: My girlfriends and I were going to get our significant others (not to mention small ankle biters … ahem, I mean, children) to eat more salad.

You know. Bunny food.

Amid the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the menfolk, we concocted a plan: Come up with some super-yummy, homemade, DIY, organic salad dressings that would make our muscle men, our Hercules, our testosterone-laden overgrown boys swoon for vegetables.

We spent weeks preparing. The men piped down and slowly stopped peering suspiciously in the fridge (probably due to their lack of energy from eating too much red meat and not enough lettuce). Our logic was simple: Swamp ‘em with flavor. Drown ‘em in deliciousness. Spoon them swirls of ranch-flavored goodness, and they’d never even notice the absence of animal flesh.

And the rugrats? What kind of child could resist a poppy seed and strawberry salad? Or a blueberry honey dressing? Or a barbeque chicken chopped salad? They would be powerless to resist the lure of our potluck.

Each farmgirl brought their A game, so to speak. We brought only the best concoctions to our get-together. And the menfolk? Fat Slim and happy.

Photo by jeffreyw via Wikimedia Commons

But that could be partially due to my homemade bacon bits, I don’t know.

Homemade Bacon Bits

Thinly slice bacon (I like to use kitchen shears), Cook until crisp and drain on paper towels. Flash freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes. Place in jar or a ziplock bag and keep in freezer. They’ll defrost quickly, and you can pull them out whenever you need a shake on your salad or baked potato. Or whenever you’re jonesin’ for bacon.


Asian Dressing
(perfect for regular salad, but even better on pasta salad, with plenty of colorful veggies mixed in)

  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • juice of 1 lime
  • a handful of poppy seeds and a handful of sesame seeds
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 2 small shallots, finely minced (can substitute red onion)
  • 1 t honey
  • 1 t minced fresh ginger
  • a splash of rice vinegar or apple-cider vinegar (more if you like it tangy, or if you’re omitting the lime)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Photo by Takeaway via Wikimedia Commons

Summer Rolls (they’re like salad, to go!)

  • rice-paper sheets (If your grocery store doesn’t stock them, try an Asian market. They’re less than $2 for a large package.)
  • thinly sliced vegetables of your choice (Good options are: purple and green cabbage, green onions, carrots, edamame, chiffonade-style spinach or kale (roll up, then slice the rolls), any and all types of lettuce, sugar-snap peas, fresh asparagus, julienned cucumbers, or zucchini.)
  • fresh mint and/or cilantro
  • shrimp or chicken (optional)
  • homemade Asian dressing (see above)
  • cooked Asian noodles or crunchy ones (optional)
  • peanuts (optional)

Soak rice paper in hot water, one at a time, until pliable (around 30 seconds). Lay flat on a kitchen towel (it will stick to your counter, so a towel works well). Lay your ingredients in the middle, drizzle with dressing, and roll as you would a burrito (sides in first). Roll tightly! This takes some practice. If your rice paper tears, just toss it and try again. The fillings for these are practically endless: try a Buffalo Chicken one with blue cheese and celery, or a Mexican-flavored roll with a taco salad filling. Perfect for lunches and great for little hands, too. Not to mention, they look amazing and you just might get the cover of your favorite foodie magazine …


Bloody Mary Chopped Salad

  • very ripe tomatoes (halved cherry tomatoes are the prettiest)
  • celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
  • red onion, thinly sliced
  • your best dill pickles (homemade if you’ve got ‘em), chopped (could also use capers)
  • 1 T celery seed
  • shrimp (optional)
  • 1/3 cup clam juice, vegetable juice, or tomato juice
  • splash of Tabasco (adjust to taste)
  • 4 T Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 T horseradish (adjust to taste)
  • 1 T Dijon mustard
  • black pepper and salt, to taste
  • wedge of lime for each serving

Toss together and let marinate for an hour or so. All ingredients are “eye-balled,” depending on how spicy and flavorful you like it. And of course, if the kiddies aren’t partaking, you could always soak your tomatoes in vodka before chopping …

Photo by anders pearson via Wikimedia Commons

Pink Strawberry and Poppy Seed Dressing

  • 1 cup fresh strawberries
  • 1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
  • 2 T coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, or avocado oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 T poppy seeds
  • a drizzle of honey (depending on the sweetness of your strawberries)

Combine in blender. Store in fridge. If using coconut oil, you’ll want to bring to room temperature before pouring. This makes a beautiful pink dressing, perfect for the pretty princesses in your life.

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Denise Christiansen!!!

Denise Christiansen (#5509) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Aprons Merit Badge!

“I made the clothespin apron from the Farmgirl Jubilee. Its a fun apron and I use it around the house. I have also made several tea towel aprons for gifts.

I think the clothespin apron turned out really cute, especially since it’s out of one of MaryJane’s Milk Cow Kitchen fabrics.”

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