I realize that the school year is ending soon but here are some inventive ideas on how to raise money for schools! This post is also on the Super Kids Nutrition blog - it’s a great site, check it out! www.superkidsnutrition.com.

Help Schools Raise Money

I have lots of good memories of bake sales and school fundraisers at my elementary school. Every year, they had a cake walk. I played it so many times that I won cakes two years in row. But, times have changed. Recently, there was a heated battle about bake sales. New York City banned schools from selling homemade baked goods in order to prevent foodborne illnesses. School officials said it was also to fight obesity. Yet, Pop Tarts were on the list of approved products.

Schools need to raise money. This is indisputable. Instead of banning things - why don’t we come up with new ideas that are beneficial to the community AND raise money for schools? You don’t need to be a parent in order to make a difference at your local school. Perhaps you have a small business that you could promote at a school fundraisier while also providing goods or services at a discounted rate.  It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

By initiating fundraisers that do not involve selling sugary baked goods, we are sending an important nutrition message to kids as well as teaching them how to think outside the box and be creative business entrepreneurs.

Here are some inventive fundraising ideas. I included links at the bottom that include even more options.

Create a cookbook with healthy recipes from the community. With Mac computers and online publishers like Lulu.com and Blurb.com, it’s an easy and fun way to collaborate with members of the community and create a useful product to sell.

Sell items with the school logo on it. The site Vistaprint.com allows you to upload logos that can be printed on calendars, coffee mugs, or pens. It’s inexpensive, easy, and quick.

Help families go green. Sell BPA-free water bottles and eco-friendly lunch boxes.

Sell gardening kits or composting kits. Any time you make it easy for people to start a new eco-habit, you are doing a good deed!

Create T-shirts for a fundraising activity that helps the community. Start an annual school walk-a-thon or offer to build a garden at a local community center. By selling the T-shirts with an artsy logo, you’re promoting a good cause while also raising funds.

Hold your own farmer’s market. Enlist local farmer’s or grocery stores to get involved. Create your own farmer’s market at the school by having the kids build little stands with signs. Ask parents who are confident cooks to hold cooking demos.  One parent sold scripts from her local Farmers’ Markets. The market sold tokens at a 10% discount, then the parents sold them at full price. According to the Florida Fruit Association, fruit fundraisers can raise $8,000-$10,000 in as few as one to two weeks.

Sell local food products. You’ll be supporting local businesses and raising funds for the school at the same time. In 2009, schools in southern Wisconsin collectively sold more than $50,000 of local and fairly-traded products.

Cater a dinner cooked by kids. One of my colleagues runs a wonderful nutrition and cooking program within Children’s AID Society in New York City. Some of her high school students started cooking for school staff meetings and they loved the food so much that it’s now a side business where teens learn how to cook and run a catering business.

Sell flowers! You make the sales, Flower Power gets 50%, and your school gets the rest. The company will mail plants directly to each person who orders so that the parents and the school don’t have to do anything after the sale.

Hold an Iron Chef event. Find a local celebrity chef to be the judge and have different members of the community participate.  Charge each person per head and invite the press for media coverage. It’s fun, inventive and you can hold an auction - or silent auction - at the event in order to raise additional funds.

There are lots of options out there besides selling baked goods! For more ideas and information, check out the following links:

http://www.cspinet.org/schoolfundraising.pdf

Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Seattle Public Schools - scroll to PTA healthy fundraising for links

School Nutrition Association - Scroll to fundraising

Michelle Obama is my heroine.

In one short year, she has done more to enlighten government officials and mainstream America about the plight of our kids than any other person. On Tuesday, she kicked off her new initiative to end childhood obesity, called Let’s Move! which was featured on Good Morning America and CNN’s Larry King.

When she speaks of her own family, she mentions that it didn’t take many changes to start seeing significant differences in her kid’s health. Some of the changes she mentioned during her speech on whitehouse.gov included basic tips that aren’t hard to implement:

Ms. Obama: Water Instead of Soda. Me:  Americans, especially kids, have gotten in the habit of drinking a lot of their daily calories. In addition to limiting soda, I also think kids should cut back on juice, sports drinks, etc. Most store-bought juice is very refined so there are few nutrients and fiber left - and it ends up just being sugar water. I think that non-water drinks should be considered more of a treat than a reliable source of nutrients. I’m not big on calorie counting but it’s worth noting that one cup of o.j. has roughly 100 calories. Our bodies are made of mostly water so what kids need is: water, water, water!

Ms. Obama: Desserts were on once-a-week when she was a child. Me: Recently, I asked my 8 year old nephew if he wanted a treat and he responded with, “Nahhh.” Can you remember ever turning down a sweet when  you were a kid? I can’t! His response is not unusual though. Kids are so used to getting “treats” and desserts these days that it’s not even considered fun anymore! If you’ve read even a few of my blog posts,  you know that I’m a big believer in homemade goodies and treating ourselves on occasion. The problem is that kids are getting treats every single day. If we offer desserts to children after every meal, they will become adults that feel the urge to eat sweets after every meal. I think Ms. Obama’s once-a-week dessert idea is a great one - unless, of course, it’s fresh fruit, popcorn, or some other healthy option.

Ms. Obama: Kids need at least 60 minutes of exercise a day. Me: YES. She astutely pointed out that 1 hour may sound like a lot but that the average child sits in front of a screen (computer, TV, or video games) on average 7.5 hours PER DAY. It’s rough these days since it’s not safe for kids to play in the woods or ride bikes by themselves  anymore and there are fewer P.E. classes. We have to find inventive ways around it - even if it means buying a used treadmill for each family member to walk on while they watch their favorite shows (I watch Netflix movies while I run). Families can also invest in some inexpensive jump ropes, exercise DVDs, or the more pricey Wii. All of these activities can take place indoors. When it is nice outside, exercising, hiking, or going to the park as a family will set kids up with healthy habits for life.

Ms. Obama: Kids are not in charge of deciding what’s for dinner. Me: DITTO. I saw a Burger King commercial awhile ago (check out the video of it) where the parents are whining to the kids and asking the KIDS to go out for dinner! Sure, it’s an exaggeration but I think it’s representative of a current trend. I understand that it’s challenging when everyone is exhausted and there are whiny kids that refuse their dinner. But I remind parents that all it takes is once: if they whine, cry, or throw a fit and someone prepares them a separate meal or takes them out to eat, they tuck that information away for next time when they know they will get what they want if they complain enough. It’s not easy to stay tough and consistently enforce this rule but it’s worth it in the end: less whining, less cooking, better meals, saving money, and healthier habits for the entire family.

I’m grateful that Michelle Obama is giving this extremely important topic such a strong and brilliant voice as hers. We have a long way to go - but I think that it’s possible to turn things around. The future of our kids depends on it.

The organizations now involved in the First Lady’s mission:

Let’s Move! www.letsmove.gov

Partnership for a Healthier America www.ahealthieramerica.org

Over the last decade, or more, snacking has almost become it’s own meal. In an article about Dietary Trends in America, it states:

“Sixty percent of Americans eat snack food regularly, consuming about 20 percent of their  calories  from snacks. Because half of young adults skip breakfast, and one-fourth skip lunch, between-meal eating contributes significantly to the daily  nutrient  intakes of Americans. Children, in particular, require several small meals per day, as their stomachs cannot hold large amounts of food at one time. Carefully chosen snacks can add to good dietary habits. Most Americans, however, do not snack wisely.”

Ahhh, the last sentence says it all. It’s not necessarily how much snacking we are doing - it’s what we are snacking on. With that said, the question remains: how much do kids really need to snack on during the day?

It’s not such an easy question to answer - it’s a delicate balance - finding a way to keep children well-fed so that they can concentrate at school but also making sure that they don’t eat too much.  Clearly, we have not found that balance in America….

Every child is different - some kids don’t need to eat frequently while others get low-blood sugar easily and need to space their meals and snacks accordingly.

So, here are some tips for every kind of eater on how to snack wisely:

1) As kids get older, their stomachs get bigger - so, they don’t need to eat every 30 minutes like when they were infants. By the time they are toddlers and able to go to school several days a week, they will benefit from a structured eating pattern. One mid-morning snack and another in the afternoon - and that’s it.

2) While we are on the topic of structured eating patterns - I want to reiterate how important this is for small children. A random feeding schedule makes it hard for the parents to determine if the children is actually hungry. It’s much easier for the parents to assess how much food the kids really need and how much they are eating, if they are sitting down for a snack at the same time every day. I’m pretty aware of my intake but even I can’t figure out how much I’ve eaten if I graze all day   - so, it’s important to prevent kids from picking up this habit.

3) While we don’t want kids to graze all day, we want to make sure that their blood sugar stays balanced (which I wrote about in a previous post). The trick is to rely on protein to keep blood sugar even-keel.  Most kids are carb junkies - fruit, noodles, crackers - which can cause blood sugar to spike and then drop. But by adding in some protein, they will feel satiated and can go 2-3 hours in between snacks and meals. And the bonus from this strategy is that by letting them get a little hungry, you’ll have much less of a battle at dinner time since they will be than ready to gobble down their meal! And the second best bonus? Less whining, crying, and outbursts.

4) No snacks right before meal time - this includes beverages such as smoothies, sodas, and drinks. Their little tummies fill up fast - and drinks right before a meal will shut off their hunger.

5) Of course, there are many days where snacks will be served in the car and on-the-go but when possible, try to sit the kids down at a table and treat snack time as a proper meal - with no TV! Children who eat in front of the television eat more calories - it’s never too early to teach them good eating habits.

6) And the most obvious tip to snacking wisely is to provide snacks that are nutritious and beneficial to growing bodies! Just because we are eating in between meals doesn’t mean we should reach for the chips and cookies. Again, we are teaching kids how to eat for life - the earlier they learn these simple lessons, the healthier they will be.

Here are some snack ideas - remember, try to include a little bit of protein in each snack (and meal!):

High-protein foods: yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese, cubed tofu, hard-boiled eggs, nuts or nut butters, (if they are allergic to nuts, try sunflower seed butter or soy butter), sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, tuna (just a little per week because of the mercury), kidney or black beans served as finger foods, turkey or chicken, hummus.

High-quality carbohydrate snacks: dried cherries, mangoes or pineapple, black olives, apple or banana chips, fruit smoothies, low-sugar granola or cereals, trail-mix, sliced fresh fruit, popcorn (not for tiny kids - it’s a choking hazard), vegetables with dip, apple butter on whole grain bread, honey-banana sandwiches (with peanut butter if possible), frozen grapes or blueberries.

I will end with TWO rules of thumb:

• Make sure they are not grazing all day but are sitting down for a proper snack that is actually in the middle of two meals.
• Make sure that the snack is high-quality.

It can sound like a lot of work to change the family snack habit but it will be worth it in the end - kids and adults will benefit from having healthier food in the house!

This past weekend was a major family event – we gathered together to celebrate the birth of my two new nephews. All three of my siblings and three of my cousins (who are like siblings) were in town with their respective families. As usual, every gathering revolves around a meal. This time it was at my Auntie Janet’s house – who, like most of my family members, is a wonderful cook.

After we stampeded the buffet table and piled our plates high with my aunt’s homemade delicacies, I noticed that my 5 year old nephew - who makes most picky eaters look like serious gourmands - gobbled up his borecas (Sephardic potato and cheese pastries - they are in left corner of photo). Even this little guy who could live on just French fries and pizza, already shared the family love of home cooking: at age 5, his palate was already being “trained” to eat the real deal.

Observing my nephew made me think about how we often hear about the importance of introducing new foods to children - but rarely do we talk about refining their palates. Because the truth is, the more refined our palates are, the less likely we will indulge in an unworthy food.

When we regularly consume really scrumptious, superb meals, we are much less likely to reach for a carefully engineered “item,” otherwise, known as processed foods. It can be hard to figure out how to teach kids to be healthful with the rise of childhood obesity – but simply exposing them to quality meals (which happens to be fun for everyone) will minimize their preference for processed foods and set up good eating habits for life.

Turn them into food snobs (without spending a fortune):

1) Many children are naturally picky, which is normal, and will eventually  outgrow it. But if the child continues to be treated as a picky eater and never offered anything new, then their meal repertoire will never expand. I was out to dinner with my 6 year old niece - who is actually a very adventurous eater - but when I offered her soy sauce for her rice, my brother started to say she didn’t like it.  She stopped him and said she tried it at school and liked it. Keep offering new foods - they will often surprise you.

2) When you eat in a restaurant, disregard the kids menu (which is often not as healthful) and instead have them pick something from the main menu. If you don’t see many dishes that are kid-friendly, check out which vegetables and proteins are on the menu – and create your own meal. Many chefs want happy customers and are more than willing to prepare simple dishes like steamed broccoli and cauliflower or plain grilled chicken. Discuss the menu options with the kids and ask them to be creative in coming up with a meal. I’ve spoken to many people whose kids are sophisticated eaters - and a lot of that is because they keep the food conversation going.

3) Find eateries that have naturally healthful cuisines like Asian or Mediterranean restaurants. The Seattle restaurant, Boom Noodle, has wonderful bento boxes for kids that include a protein entrée, edamame, fruit and rice – all “real” food and I watched kids all over the restaurant chow down on them.

4) While cooking at home (or eating out), if your kids still opt for the usual wheat-and-dairy fare, try offering a few side dishes that will provide some extra nutrients like black beans, raw or cooked vegetables, fruit, brown rice, cubed tofu, corn, olives, sliced avocados, or any other healthful ingredients. Offer the most nutritious foods first, while they are hungry, and after they’ve had a few bites, then bring out the rest of the meal.

5) Try to use high-quality ingredients as much as possible and help them learn how to pay attention to how food tastes and smells – to enjoy and savor each bite. Ask them to describe what it tastes like - they are very imaginative. Set up a taste test between a tomato shipped in from far away and a tomato from someone’s garden. And of course, my usual advice: get them cooking!

If we put delicious, “real” food in front of children, they will eat it. And likewise, if we keep putting processed foods in front of them, they will eat that too – so let’s get them hooked on real food that’s full of nutrients as young as possible!

Read this article to find out how it’s never to early to expose children to strong flavors!

Stay tuned for the next post where I will share my family recipe (and photos) on how to prepare borecas.

My brothers, cousins, and the kids eating together.

I’m far from being the first person to write about Amanda Hesser’s New York Times op-Ed article that gave Michelle Obama a hard time for not promoting cooking. Lettuce Eat Kale wrote a thoughtful post about it and ended the entry asking a valid question: how important is it that the First Couple cook meals for their children? Gastropoda and Eat Me Daily were a little more direct and dished it right back to Hesser, pointing out that there are plenty of people cooking on TV already and that it’s a bit of a throwback to suggest that the First Lady spend time in the kitchen.

I admit, as a cooking teacher, my first instinct upon reading Hesser’s piece was that I was glad that someone brought up the importance of cooking, which is a natural partner of gardening but often gets lost in the discussion. However, after a lively online conversation with two colleagues, Lauren Slayton, (nutritionist and owner of Foodtrainers) and Sarah Abrams (chef and cooking teacher), we all decided that Hesser’s message could have been more tactful and offered more realistic, positive suggestions for Michelle Obama and others who don’t like to cook.

Everyone’s reactions were very understandable - it’s easy to feel protective of Michelle Obama and the incredible work she has done by promoting organic, local, and seasonal food by starting a garden AND having local elementary kids work on it. It’s easy for someone like Amanda Hesser, or even myself, who love cooking so much that we made a career out of it to point fingers, but what if cooking does NOT make you happy? How important is it for parents to provide home cooked meals for their children if they can still find a way to feed them well?

With childhood obesity on the rise – is it really the job of our First Lady to provide a retro role model? Perhaps the USDA and the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act that’s up for re-signing this year could shoulder some of the responsibility. Maybe there could be more funding for schools to have gardens and kids to learn how to cook at school - instead of continuously slashing education budgets and keeping vending machines and junk foods in schools. I would hope that some other people and agencies within our government besides Michelle Obama could take this on.

When all is said and done, I think we are very lucky to have her on “our side.” She has legitimized the work of many of my colleagues by simply planting a pesticide-free garden. For someone who doesn’t like to cook, she has done a phenomenal job of promoting healthy living by her regular workouts and making a point of feeding her children nutritious foods. If parents are able to find a way to provide healthy meals for their children, with or without a White House staff, that should be enough.

So, for those parents who like being in the kitchen the same way I like to clean bathtubs, here are some tips on how to keep your families healthy without turning on the stove:

Sign Your Kids Up for Cooking Classes. If it’s economically feasible for your family, find cooking classes that focus on dishes with healthy ingredients (not just muffins and cookies) which can be a great way to expose kids to the world of cooking and nutritious foods without actually doing it with them. (I couldn’t help putting this suggestion first!)

Create Your Own Cooking Class, for Free. Find a family member or another parent who likes to cook and have cooking play dates.

Take Your Kids to the Farmer’s Market. Explore the market together and allow each child to buy a new fruit or vegetable and if they can read, have them find a recipe online that doesn’t entail much preparation like fruit salad. They can prepare the food while you supervise - this pays off as they get older and can cook full meals for you…

Explore New Cuisines while Eating Out. When eating in restaurants, forgo the kiddie menus and encourage your kids to try new dishes with unique and nutritious ingredients off of the main menu.

Keep it Raw. My mom always kept sliced fruit and vegetables on the lowest shelf in the fridge making it easy for us to nibble on melon, strawberries, carrots and celery after school. A lot of produce can be safely cut with a butter knife, so have the kids help out.

Hire a Chef. I know this isn’t possible for many families, especially these days, but perhaps there is a culinary student who will take a reduced fee or a college student in the area who could cook in exchange for housing or meals. I have a friend who offers a low rent to a grad student who, in return, helps prepare dinner and take care of her son. In times like this, there are lots of barter scenarios that are a win-win for everyone!

I can’t believe it’s been a year since the filming of the Sesame Street segment! It was last spring when I received a phone call from a location scout that they wanted to film a kids cooking class and asked if they could do it in the JCC in Manhattan kitchen where I worked. I was planning on leaving my job as culinary arts director just a few months later so the timing was extraordinary. I had spent over five years building and developing the kids cooking program so being asked to be on Sesame Street with my adorable students was the perfect send off from a great job.

It was an intense experience - I’m used to working long days on my feet but filming what ended up being a 2+ minute segment took 12 hectic hours. I found kids from past classes who loved to cook (and always made me laugh!) and decided on a Mexican themed menu. Two of my wonderful teachers (and friends), Jacquie and Maggie were filmed as well. Jacquie is a native of Mexico City and Maggie’s husband is from Oaxaca, where she once lived so we all worked on the menu and coordinated the kitchen set up together. The kids did a fantastic job - they were well-behaved, sweet, and funny.

My favorite quote is from Tabitha, who, at the time, was 5 (going on 40). When Murray asked her what it’s like to eat her own cooking, she said, “It feels good because you’re tasting the food that you made, instead of tasting somebody else’s.”

I now have a link to the video - check it out! (Note: it takes a little while to load.)

Here are the recipes we made with Murray:

Stuffed Mexican Corn Cakes
This recipe is very creative and kids love to prepare it. You can use any ingredient as the filling as long as it’s cut very small. And it’s great for entertaining – serve it as a sophisticated appetizer for adults and as a main entrée for children.

1½ cups masa harina (which is corn flour - found at any major grocery store, a common brand is Maseca)
1 cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon olive oil, for dough
¼ cup cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup black beans
¼ cup canned corn
1 tablespoon olive oil, for pan

In medium sized bowl, combine masa harina, water, salt and 1 teaspoon olive oil. If mixture is too dry, add a few drops of water and press together by hand until it’s a firm ball of dough.

Break off small pieces of dough and roll into the size of a ping pong ball – continue until dough is gone. Flatten each ball into a flat patty, four-inches in diameter, on a non-stick surface like parchment paper.

Put your thumb directly into the center of each patty to form a wide, shallow indent. In this indent, add just a teaspoon of ingredients of your choice—cheese, beans, corn, or anything else. Then fold dough over the indentation and re-shape into patty. Make sure it’s not too thick so that it will cook through.

Bring skillet (iron skillets work best) to medium high heat and add enough oil to coat bottom of pan. Add a few corn pancakes to pan but don’t crowd. After 3-4 minutes, flip each one over and cook the other side. Each side should be just a bit browned but still mostly light yellow. Serve hot with guacamole, salsa or sour cream.

Yields 6 - 8 corn pancakes
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Recipe by Julie Negrin and Jacquie Grinberg © 2005

Creamy Guacamole

The key to great guacamole is finding the right avocadoes. Look for ones that are dark green and indent just a little when squeezed. (I only buy them from April - November since I live in the north.) If they are unripe - hard and bright green - just store them in a paper bag for a couple of days and they’ll be ready for eating. Even small children can help make this dish.

2 ripe avocados
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lime juice
1 plum or on-the-vine tomato, gutted and diced
¼ cup red onion, diced (optional for kids)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic (or a dash of kid-friendly garlic powder)
Optional: 1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely minced

Cut avocados in half and remove pit. Scoop out avocado into a medium sized bowl. Mash with a fork and mix in lime juice until creamy consistency. Add salt, pepper, onions, and garlic, if desired. Gently fold in tomatoes and stir briefly.

Serve immediately or, for best results, chill for 30 minutes before eating with chips, quesadillas or Stuffed Mexican Corn Pancakes.

Preparation time: 10 minutes (plus chilling time)
Serves 2-4
Recipe by Julie Negrin © 2000