Cooking in September

(to the tune of Dancing in September by Earth, Wind & Fire)

Do you remember what your kids all ate in September?

Lunch was changing the minds of preschoolers

While chasing their doubts away

Their hearts were ringing

While the lunch lady had spinach steaming

As she salted the chicken 

Remember, how her food made them all behave

AahhhAahhhAahhh ba de ya- say do you remember

Ba de ya- cooking in September

Ba de ya- never was a frowny face!

--------------

Hey family, that's right, incase my karaoke song of choice didn't give it away, it's time for September re-cap! Rest assured your kids ate well... better than I karaoke, which is saying a lot... I'm kind of a big deal... or am I? 

Okay, okay, so perhaps I'm not the best at karaoke, but that doesn't stop me from belting it out in the kitchen while prepping lunch for your kiddos. I like to put a little extra TLC into the food I serve and that often involves a good bit of prayer and a lot of singing... sometimes even dancing, depends on what spices I'm using.

Speaking of spices, let's talk about...

Crunchy Thai Quinoa Salad.

How is this possible at a nut free school when Thai dishes often, if not always, require peanut sauce, you ask... easy. Just sub the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter, hold the nuts and sprinkle with pumpkin or sunflower seeds. 

Here is my allergen free ever so slightly adapted version of the original recipe from Ambitious Kitchen (a great resource):

Ingredients

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1-2 cups shredded red cabbage, depending on how much crunch you like
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• ½ red onion, diced
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup diced green onions
• ½ cup cashew halves or peanuts (honey-roasted is good)
• Optional: 1 cup chickpeas
• Fresh lime, for a bit of tang
• For the dressing:
• ¼ cup sunflower seed butter
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce, gluten-free if desired, or use coconut aminos!!
• 1 tablespoon honey (or agave or maple syrup)
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp coconut oil (can use 2 tsp instead of olive oil)
• Water to thin, if necessary

Instructions

1. To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa with cold water in mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.
2. To make dressing: Add peanut butter and honey or agave to a medium microwave safe bowl; heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Add in ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and both sesame and olive oil and stir until mixture is smooth and creamy. If you want a thinner dressing, simply stir in a teaspoon or two of water or olive oil.
3. Add as much or as little dressing as you’d like to the quinoa. I always start out with a little bit of dressing and usually add more to suit my taste preferences. Alternatively you can save the dressing for later and add when you are ready to eat; however the flavors of the dressing usually soak into the salad so I love adding it to the quinoa first.
4. Next fold in red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Garnish with cashews and green onions. Serve chilled or at room temperature with lime wedges if desired.

annnnnd...

BOOM!!

Homemade Chips and Croutons!

Soup season is upon us, and we're well into football season (Go Bears!), so you know what that means... all things crunchy are an absolute must for your fall soups and game time dips. Why settle for buying a spendy bag of high sodium chips when you can easily (seriously, I promise, EASILY) semi-make your own. 

Cinnamon chips with yogurt dip.

The kids love when this is served as an afternoon snack. Simply brush flour or corn tortillas with butter or coconut oil, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, cut into wedges and bake at 350 for at least 10 minutes and BOOM goes the dynamite! For the yogurt dip I mixed raspberry yogurt with some cream cheese and cinnamon and it made for a perfect sweet dip. The chips can be made sweet or savory. Sprinkle with lime and salt, or olive oil and rosemary... the possibilities are endless!

Croutons with Tomato soup.

The same rule applies above, just cut into shapes (the kids were learning numbers 1-3 that week so I made them put their lessons where their mouth is), or use cookie cutters to cut out your teams' mascot to show team spirit on game day (Go Bears!). 

You say Tomato, I say Tomato

I guess that sentence doesn't quite have the same effect when written out. I've never written it out so I just learned something new. Another reminder that tone is everything (I used to say that to my mom when she was trying to get me to clean my room), and that there is power in the spoken word... or at least emphasis.

We spent a week experimenting with tomatoes and to ease into it I re-used this recipe that the kids just love, which I love because of the vast amounts of spinach...

Spinach, Tomato and Pasta Pie.

Topped with fresh parmesan makes it extra grate!

Homemade Tomato Soup

Like I said, homemade tomato soup, quoted as brilliant by a brilliant little blonde. Topped with Italian seasoned numbers. 

Bruschetta Quinoa Salad.

Okay, this was a little bit harder to get them to eat, but part of that is my fault... I overcooked the quinoa in vegetable broth making it much too soggy. Unwilling to admit it that day, I feel it's safe to admit it here... on the world wide web (I know, it doesn't make sense to me either)... I messed up. Also, the intimidation factor for a three year old involved in trying to pronounce the name of this dish probably didn't help... but it did give me a chuckle. 

Done right, this is a superb dish, especially with the homemade bruschetta topping. 

Will It Go Round' In Circles?

Circle week played itself out in the lunch room as well, mostly with sandwiches...

I called these SURPRISE circle sandwiches because I filled the holes with dried fruit and covered them back up with the bread. When the kids lifted the bread, SURPRISE!!! Even if you don't like apricots, I bet you love a surprise, making the apricots just the slightest bit more appealing, don't ya think? My favorite response to these: "I got fruit in my pothole!"

And, you know, just another example of how a ham and cheese sandwich can be more than just a ham and cheese sandwich! Many of your kids love olives, by the way, in case you didn't know. But then you are their parents, so you might.

These little bitty circles are Pizza Crackers, another afternoon snack favorite. Top crackers with marinara sauce and cheddar cheese, pop them in the oven for a couple of minutes at 350 and BOOM! Way better than pizza Doritos. 

Butterscotch Muffins. 

Oh man, and woman, laugh with me on this one because when these got served not only were they gobbled up, but while trying to figure out what was in them, one little guy guessed, "I think these are hopscotch!"

And the runaway chocolate chip muffins! 

Despite their attempt to escape, their lives were short lived. 

Seeds and Oats

We all know Sunshine School is a nut free school, which I would have to say is probably harder on me than anyone... have I mentioned my deep, deep affection for peanut butter and all that is nutty... my family included. Well, my love for nuts gets put on hold when I walk through those school doors, but that doesn't mean things like granola bars and yummy crunchy snacks have to get put on hold too. 

Lo and behold, God made seeds!

Homemade Granola Bars

These are a school wide favorite yielding no leftovers, at least not for long. With no baking necessary they are an easy and delicious snack for kids of any age, young at heart included, as opposed to over processed, sugary store bought granola bars. 

Here is my school sized recipe, so feel free to cut in half when making at home, or make in bulk and stick em' in the freezer to have on hand anytime!

7 1/2 cups oats

1 1/2 cups craisins

1 1/2 cups choc chips

1 1/2 cups honey

2 cups sunflower seed butter

Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the wet, using a kitchen aid with paddle attachment is super helpful. Combine the two really well and press into pan... refrigerate for 3-4 hours or freeze. You can add anything to these to enhance flavor or nutrition... flax seeds, chia seeds, shredded coconut, etc. Sometimes I have to play with how much honey to use, you don't want it too dry or too sticky. The great thing about no-bake "cooking" is that you can be less rigid and more flexible. Perhaps I should apply the physics of no-bake "cooking" to my life... less rigid, more flexible. I'll save that thought for therapy. 

Onward.

and BOOM!

No Bake Energy Balls

Sounds like the same thing as granola bars just rolled into balls, and sure, one could argue that, but with slightly different ingredients, these little guys are actually my personal favorite. Toasting coconut flakes before adding in the other ingredients and including vanilla extract give these such an incredible flavor! Adding ground flax seed or wheat germ not only helps the consistency to form into balls, but adds great nutritional value... and fiber. You're welcome! My favorite response to these: "SNOWMEN OATMEAL!" (But these are way better than oatmeal... my pride wanted to clarify that)

Fruit and seed bars

Using dried fruit, seeds of all kinds: sesame, flax, pumpkin, sunflower, coconut... did you know coconut is really a seed?, honey and of course, sunflower seed butter, these baked bars are a hearty and nut-less way to start your day, which means you can begin your day feeling semi-normal! You're on your own come afternoon, unless of course you grab another for a pick-me-up.

Non-Dairy Chocolate "Milkshakes"

Using coconut milk, frozen bananas, honey (or maple syrup), cocoa powder and vanilla extract, serve this up instead of dairy queen for a quilt free dessert or snack. Literally, the kids screamed "CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKES!" and I felt loved and much better about myself than I ever did in middle school (did anyone else hate middle school?) Anyway, your awkward middle school years have a chance of being redeemed if you serve this to your kids (statement not approved by the FDA).

Baked Oatmeal

Two words: EASY. PEASY.

Use any add-ins, blueberries, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc... You could have fruit themes at your own house, trying a different fruit in the oatmeal each week or month or year or whatever your schedule allows (no assumptions or judgements made here). The possibilities are endless for diversifying this dish while maintaining simplicity with the basics of oatmeal. It's more fun than just a bowl of microwaved oatmeal and makes you feel much more productive. As one of my favorite comedians has said, "When I wake up in the morning I make myself a bowl of instant oatmeal, then I don't do anything for an hour... which makes me wonder why I need the instant oatmeal! I could get the regular oatmeal and feel productive."

Veggie Love

What can I say, I love my veggies and I love finding new ways to feed them to your kids. Count on the fact that while I like experimenting with healthy sweet treats and things kids like, I will never stop serving them veggies. And it never hurts to let kids know they are loved, even if you have to spell it out...

... and what kid doesn't love coloring!? I say color with food!

Apple Week!

I love all the time we had devoted to apples, there is so much to be done with them, sweet and savory alike. It was a week or two of explosive flavor.

Easy Apple Crisp

Cut em' up and bake em' up! An incredibly easy dessert perfect for fall weather. The apple festival is going on this weekend so be sure to head over to the Portland Nursery and sample over fifty different kinds of apples... fo free! The stomach ache is free as well, so pace yourself when sampling that many apples... and bring your own cheese, or peanut butter.

A+ Sandwiches

As the kids mastered the letter A, I set about with an edible lesson plan. A is apples, apricots, and ants. As the teachers explained and showed the kids what A stood for, one smart and practical boy responded, "those aren't ants, those are raisins!" 

Touché, kid, touché.

Also, BOOM...

Apricot and Apple Chicken Salad

The apricots added a little tang to this dish with an overwhelmingly positive response, one of my favorites being, "thank you for the fruity chicken, Ms. JJ!"

You're welcome, kid, you are welcome.

And BOOM...

Vanilla Apple Bread Pudding

Is it annoying to repeat "positive response"? Yea, I didn't think so. Plus, if you can't tell by my shorter descriptions and lack of story line, I'm currently too distracted by the Cosby Show to say anything other than...

BOOM.

Apple Barbecue Chicken Pizza

This quickly became a school wide favorite, but then again, how could it not...

Layers of barbecue sauce, chicken, sweet onions, apples, cheddar and cilantro on flatbread, baked at 350 for 10 minutes...

One word:

Apple Sandwiches

Just getting a little help from my friends, no big deal...

I find it important to note that apple placement is key. Tilted ever so slightly and what was meant to resemble a funny face could end up looking more like a gremlin...

A lot of work went into these guys and gals...

... as well as minor modifications. 

Before and after lip injections... lunch lady style...

But... as I started to make some of them look like each other, I decided to celebrate their differences instead. 

I value and appreciate the vast differences in all of your kids, and while it might be a different way than most to express it, I often express my care for them through sandwiches. God works in mysterious ways, and so does the lunch lady. 

Well, if you've made it this far then you've made it through September... congratulations! Oh, and I almost forgot, the lunch lady is now on facebook so you can follow along or share with friends as we work our way eating through lesson plans. For now, more Cosby is calling my name. Until next time... lunch lady out.