Posted by Jennifer Lee on June 17, 2012 0 Comments
Inspired by Michelle Obama’s healthy lunchtime challenge, my
8 year old daughter created this simple recipe that brings together garden
fresh veggies and good friends for an afternoon of kid-style cookin’!
Invite
your friends to bring a favorite vegetable from their garden (or local farmers’
market). This recipe is wonderfully flexible; it can accommodate pretty much
anything you can throw at it! Just be sure to have at least onions, celery and
carrots as your base. The best
part of this recipe is that each person adds something unique to the pot, in
the same way that each friend brings something unique and special to your life.
Enjoy cooking and eating healthy together!
Friendship Garden Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Servings: 6 to 8
Ingredients:
2 cups cauliflower, diced (see our tips for how to prepare
cauliflower)
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup rainbow carrots, diced (use regular carrots if you can’t find the
multi-colored variety)
1 cup fresh English peas, removed from the pods
½ medium onion, diced
1 handful fresh oregano
1 bay leaf
1 cup cooked chicken, cut into ¼” cubes
2 32oz boxes of low sodium chicken broth (use homemade broth if you have it)
2 cups cooked pasta (macaroni or penne work the best)
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1)
Wash and prepare the vegetables. Give each child
one vegetable to prepare.
Peel and dice the carrots and celery...
and the cauliflower. Here's a quick tip for how to prepare cauliflower.
Remove the peas from the pods.
Dice the onions (remember to light a votive to stop the tears!).
2)
Heat a large stockpot, add the olive oil, then
add the onions. Sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes.
3)
Add the cauliflower, celery and carrots. Cook an
additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the veggies are slightly browned.
4)
Add the chicken broth, cooked chicken, a few
handfuls of oregano, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil.
5)
Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
6)
Add the fresh peas. Simmer 2 minutes more.
7)
Add the cooked pasta. Sprinkle with salt and
pepper to taste before serving.
8)
Enjoy with friends and family!
“I brought oregano,
which grows wild in my garden. My family planted seeds a few years ago and now
it just keeps growing. The oregano added familial flavor. My family grew up
eating lots of Italian food and oregano is in all of it, so it reminds me of my
Grandma, who makes the best pasta sauce.” – Elli, age 10
“Celery is one of my
favorite vegetables. I like it cooked in many different ways, including soup.”
– Carissa, age 8
"I brought rainbow carrots and peas. I chose them because they are really good in soups and the colors were so pretty." - Marina, age 8
"I put a 'magic leaf' in because it makes soup taste good." - James, age 5
Have you hosted a cooking party with your friends? What did you prepare? Share your comments!
About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom
of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color™ -- the
award-winning game that makes healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she
struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to
make it into a healthy eating game and she’s
giving back to support non-profit children’s nutrition programs including Jamie
Oliver’s Food Revolution and FoodCorps. Watch her picky eaters tell the story of how they turned into healthy eaters playing the game.
Follow @crunchacolor on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to tune into Crunch a Color's healthy eating
adventure and Jennifer’s tips and kid-friendly, easy recipes.
Read More
Posted by Jennifer Lee on June 09, 2012 0 Comments
Farmers’ market
tables are filled with fava beans! What do they taste like? How do we prepare
them? Can we grow them? Our new food adventure takes us on a journey up the
bean stalk as we explore fava beans.
The local farmers’ market has been a wonderful inspiration
for getting my picky eaters to try new foods. Fresh crisp air, bustling
crowds, and overflowing tables of colorful fruits and veggies come together to
set the perfect stage for exploring. Some mornings my kids eat an
entire meal just sampling from each table. Recently, a new veggie has been making
regular appearances at our market: fava beans. New to me, and my kids, we
thought we’d give them a try.
How to Prepare Fava
Beans
Big, broad fava beans seem to be made for tiny fingers. Like
a sweet pea, but even easier to unfurl, my kids enjoyed peeling open each
bright green pod to reveal the treasure inside. But before you dig in, there’s
one extra step: remove the waxy outer coating. Here's how:
Prep time: 8 to 10 min
Cook time: 1 to 2 min
Ready in: 9 to 12 min
Step 1: Shell the Beans. Pull the stem,
unzipping the pod on both sides.
Step 2: Boil the
Beans. Boil the shelled beans in water for about 1 to 2 minutes.
Step 3: Bathe the
Beans. Give the beans a cool bath in ice water before peeling off the waxy
outer covering.
Step 4: Enjoy!
Now those tasty fava beans are ready for eating!
Fava beans have a buttery texture, and a mild, nutty
flavor. Simply delicious on their
own, they made a perfect snack and lunchbox companion. We also discovered a simple recipe
for grilling fava beans, from Sunset Magazine, which we’ll give a try this
weekend. Sounds like a tasty and fun weekend activity!
A note of caution:
Some people may experience allergic reactions to fava beans, according to NPR.
Be sure to consult your doctor if you are concerned.
What inspired you at your local farmers’ market this
weekend? Share your comments!
Craving more new recipes to try? Catch up on last
week’s new food adventure: How to pick your own strawberries.
Jennifer Tyler Lee is a
mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color™ -- the
award-winning game that makes healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she
struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to
make it into a healthy eating game. Watch her picky eaters tell the story of how they turned into healthy eaters playing the
game. Follow @crunchacolor on Facebook , Twitter and Pinterest to
tune into Crunch a Color's healthy eating adventure and Jennifer’s tips and
kid-friendly, easy recipes. Crunch a Color is a proud supporter of non-profit children’s
nutrition programs including Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and FoodCorps.
Available online at www.crunchacolor.com
and in stores nationwide at Pottery Barn Kids.
Read More
Posted by Jennifer Lee on June 06, 2012 0 Comments
Imagine the giddy
laughter heard from kids picking and eating their way through an open farm
field covered with fresh, ripe strawberries. Pure joy. This week our new food
adventure takes us to a coastal farm where you can pick your own strawberries.
Our new food adventure took on a different flavor this week.
We were traveling, so cooking wasn’t top on our list. But we found a new food
inspiration at a local farm. Nestled in a sun-drenched field along the
California coast, my kids discovered the joy of picking your own strawberries.
How and Where Pick
Your Own Strawberries
There is something thrilling about venturing into a
wide-open field, little pails in hand, to find and pick your own bounty of
summer fruit. Maybe it’s the simple pleasure of eating fruit straight from the
vine, or the excitement of standing face to face with thousands of sweet buds
lining the carefully laid rows of strawberry plants. Whatever the reason, this
adventure provided a jam-packed morning for the whole family. It’s a food
adventure we’d highly recommend adding to your list of summer activities. A few tips to get you started:
1)
Find a local pick-your-own farm. Pick Your Own is a great resource for finding farms in your area, as well as what’s in season.
2)
Choose organic. Seek out farms that are
certified organic. When grown conventionally, strawberries are considered part
of the dirty dozen,
which means they can be laden with pesticides.
3)
Bring two pails. One for perfectly ripe fruit,
the other for just-past-ripe fruit. Farmers will often give you the
just-past-ripe fruit for free (as they did in our case this week), and the
fruit is perfect for making jam!
4)
Save a portion of your bounty for freezing.
You’ll appreciate those sweet summer berries in smoothies when the winter blues
hit.
5)
Use your just-past-ripe strawberries to make
jam. The Naptime Chef has a wonderfully easy and tasty recipe for Strawberry
Vanilla Jam – yum!
6)
Enjoy with friends. Upon returning to our hotel,
the resident chef was kind enough to wash and prepare the several pounds of berries
that we picked. The most fun part: enjoying an overflowing bowl of fresh local strawberries,
and the stories of our adventure, with friends and family.
Jennifer Tyler Lee is a
mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color™ -- the
award-winning game that makes healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she
struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to
make it into a healthy eating game. Watch her picky eaters tell the story of how they turned into healthy eaters playing the
game. Follow @crunchacolor on Facebook , Twitter and Pinterest to
tune into Crunch a Color's healthy eating adventure and Jennifer’s tips and
kid-friendly, easy recipes. Crunch a Color is a proud supporter of non-profit children’s
nutrition programs including Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and FoodCorps. Available
online at www.crunchacolor.com and in
stores nationwide at Pottery Barn Kids.
Read More
Posted by Jennifer Lee on May 28, 2012 0 Comments
A visit to our school garden ignited our new food
adventure this week: how to prepare cauliflower.
A school garden is a true
treasure. At its best, it is a wonderfully integrated classroom. Children
experience the full life cycle of our food, planting-growing-harvesting-cooking-eating-composting-planting,
and they literally step inside the world of living math, science and
literature. It surrounds them. For
our family, the school garden has an additional benefit – an opportunity to try
new foods.
“Today we tried cauliflower
from the garden! I loved it!” my daughter declared with
pride. My heart smiled a big smile. I had been trying to get her to try
cauliflower for months, to no avail. “How did you prepare the cauliflower?” I
inquired. “We just picked it and ate it!” she replied, enthusiastically. In
that spirit, this week we focused on the simple ways to enjoy cauliflower. I
taught my daughter how to prepare cauliflower after it is harvested and we
enjoyed it both raw and lightly roasted – simple pleasures.
How to Prepare Cauliflower
Step 1: Pull off the outer
leaves and trim the stem.
Step 2: Turn the cauliflower
upside down, stem facing up. Using a paring knife, cut around the core to
remove it. Remind kids to always cut away from themselves and down.
Step 3: Cut the florets from
the inner stem.
Step 4: Cut the florets in
half.
Step 5: Enjoy raw or lightly
roasted.
To roast
cauliflower, simply toss in a little olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and
pepper. You can do this right on the baking pan. Bake in a 400 degree oven for
about 15 minutes, tossing frequently to ensure even roasting. Remove from the
oven and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Enjoy!
What we liked: The simple preparation of this garden fresh veggie was our favorite
part of this week’s adventure.
How do you like to prepare cauliflower? Share your
tips and recipes!
Next up: Heirloom
tomatoes caught our eye at the market this week. We’re experimenting with a few
different recipes. Tune in next week when we share our favorite!
Craving more new recipes to try? Catch up on last
week’s recipe: Simple cherry compote.
About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom
of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color™ -- the
award-winning game that makes healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she
struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to
make it into a healthy eating game and she’s
giving back to support non-profit children’s nutrition programs including Jamie
Oliver’s Food Revolution and FoodCorps. Watch her picky eaters tell the story of how they turned into healthy eaters playing the game.
Follow @crunchacolor on Facebook and Twitter to tune into Crunch a Color's healthy eating
adventure and Jennifer’s tips and kid-friendly, easy recipes.
Read More
Posted by Jennifer Lee on May 21, 2012 1 Comment
Life’s a bowl of cherries – especially when you’re
enjoying the simple pleasures of homemade cherry compote.
On an early morning stroll
my daughter spotted a cherry tree. Gazing at the
branches, hanging heavy with bright red beauties, she wondered, “Can we try
cherries this week?”
Feature Recipe: Simple Cherry Compote
It is impossible for me to
resist a summer roadside stand calling out, “Fresh, local cherries!” Faced with
an overflowing basket of beautiful, bright red gems, we had ample opportunity to
experiment with this simple summer fruit. One of our favorite treats is to
drizzle warm berry compote over homemade vanilla ice cream or yogurt. Why not
give it a whirl with cherry compote?
Homemade Cherry Compote
Adapted from Small Kitchen College
Prep time: 10
minutes
Cook time:
about 12 minutes
Makes 4 to 6
servings
Ingredients:
1-pint fresh
cherries
1 Tbsp honey
½ cup water
Directions:
1)
Wash and pit the
cherries. See this easy trick for how to pit cherries without a pitter. This
part is a little messy, but great fun for the kids!
2)
Add the water
and honey to small saucepan. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium
and simmer until thin syrup forms. About 7 minutes.
3)
Add the
cherries. Cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook longer for
a more jam-like texture.
4)
Serve warm over
homemade vanilla ice cream, or cool completely and add to your favorite yogurt
parfait.
Crunch a Color Kids Vote: Sweet!
What we liked: Pitting the cherries was the best (and messiest) part of this
adventure. Be sure to wear clothes that can handle a stain or two! We also reserved
a portion of our cherries for the freezer. Cherry frozen yogurt, anyone?
What is your favorite way to prepare cherries? Share
your tips and recipes!
Next up: Our
local farmers’ market is back in full swing! Can’t wait to see what our friends
have in store for us this week. Stay tuned!
Craving more new recipes to try? Catch up on last
week’s recipe: Steamed artichokes.
About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom
of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color™ -- the
award-winning game that makes healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she
struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to
make it into a healthy eating game and she’s
giving back to support non-profit children’s nutrition programs including Jamie
Oliver’s Food Revolution and FoodCorps. Watch her picky eaters tell the story of how they turned into healthy eaters playing the game.
Follow @crunchacolor on Facebook and Twitter to tune into Crunch a Color's healthy eating
adventure and Jennifer’s tips and kid-friendly, easy recipes.
Read More
