‘Tweaking’

Right now we’re…

Working hard incorporating all the changes the pilot program kids want to see changed and also what we feel we need to ‘tweak.’

Today I started creating teacher notes on all 5 programs for our Teacher/Mentor program.

We worked on Gala details. We are working on fund gathering to get the incredible Jon Cleary out here from New Orleans. Listen to him and tell us you can’t see yourself grooving to his music as your sipping wine and eating incredible food.

https://www.rosebudus.com/cleary/

We need to raise $10,000 asap before he’s booked elsewhere! Help!…..

Lots of great meetings this week. More on that soon…

Success and Onward!

The DirectionFive programs are based on what the kids across the country told me they wanted and needed to learn to lead healthier lives, and the pilot program kids told us what they liked and didn’t like about the pilot program. We are now ‘tweaking’ the D5 program to incorporate the kid’s input. Based on this input, all nutrition information received will be interspersed with kitchen time and the program will be five full days and not ten days. Interestingly enough, this is how I taught when I had my cooking school, so why did I think we needed to reinvent the wheel? No idea.

The program can be taken all at once during school breaks, or a bit (or should I say bite?) at a time. We are also willing to customize D5 for your organization. The YMCA will be receiving a program that works for their members, as will the Boy’s and Girl’s Club. We are also incorporating continuing education classes where all the kids who have been through the program can come back and keep the health/culinary information coming! The kids have already told us they want a pie making class (we can talk about locally sourced apples while we use various flours and fats in the crusts) and a canning class-yes, canning. We will put food by, as they say. Isn’t that great? Perfect…

Today the teachers who were there during the pilot program-yours truly, Irema and Mackenzie-and our program director Tanya, are meeting with Susan Backer, our marketing director, to go over all of our notes and do a lot of cutting and pasting! We won’t finish today, but it will be a good start. We are also discussing ways to get the D5 name out there in the world and, of course, fundraising, so we can help many kids to obtain this important information.

The kids have spoken and listening to kids is what we do!

Roger and Chloe torching their creme brule.

Christopher making an omelette Julia Child style.
Great job!
Clare, Taylor and Chloe hand-mixing the veggies for the ratatouille we made in the Vita Clay.
The anatomical model, named Sidney, was used a lot!
Candler mixing the raw kale salad. So good!
Ready to eat
another great meal they prepared…..
O.K., fine…I’ll explain the firefighters….
So…the kids had spent the morning making homemade pizza dough, marinara sauce and chopping this and that for the toppings. They had rolled out their dough, prepared their own personal pizzas and I preheated the ovens to 450 degrees. Fine and dandy.
Well, some dark smoke was coming out of the one oven and I peaked in and it looked like perhaps baked a yam and it dripped. My best guess. The smoke kept coming out; fast forward a few minutes to the smoke alarms going off in the whole building, staff at Chop’s evacuating everyone (in less than a minute!) and the fire department showing up. The kids thought it was very exciting. Next time I will look in someone elses oven before I turn on the heat! Lesson learned.
Last day…..what a wonderful experience. What great kids!
We are all so thankful for the progress we have made thanks to so many of you. I am so proud of these kids as is everyone involved. So now, we set our sites on the group of kids!
We have educated the kids so as to empower them and now they have the skills and knowledge to lead healthier lives! We hope to see all of them again very soon!
With thanks,
Patty, Tanya, Irema and Mackenzie

Clay Pot Ratatouille

We used a VitaClay which is a rice and slow cooker made out of clay with no teflon and no aluminum. It was very kind of owner Michelle Lui to donate one for DirectionFive to use! Thanks so much!

Ratatouille

Serves 6

In class we made this in a VitaClay-a clay pot rice and slow cooker. Simply place all ingredients in the clay pot-after you have mixed them all together like Clare is doing- cover and press a button! You can also bake or cook this stove top.

Serving Ideas: Ratatouille can be served cold, warm or hot. Very nice served with crusty whole wheat French bread and baked halibut.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, diced into 1″ chunks

1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1″ squares

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1″ squares

3 small zucchini, sliced 1/2″ thick

4 medium tomatoes cut into 1″ chunks

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

5 cloves garlic

1/3 cup dry red wine

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon thyme, fresh or 1 teaspoon dried

1/4 cup basil leaves, fresh, chopped or 2 teaspoons dried

2 bay leaves, whole

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon , optional

 

If you don’t have a Vita Clay, heat olive oil in a large pot like a Dutch oven. Sauté onions until they are translucent. Add garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine, all the herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Add the eggplant, zucchini, red and green peppers and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, carefully stirring occasionally. Squeeze lemon juice in the Ratatouille if you like.

Very nice to hear…

Jennifer is Isabelle’s Mom and she very kindly sent us this testimonial today. More soon!

Thank YOU, Patty! I think my daughter learned a tremendous amount and the experience will stay with her for a lifetime. The concepts of good health, nutrition and cooking wholesome meals are ones we try to reinforce at home, but it really makes a difference when those messages come from a dynamic, fun and positive role model in the community. (And you can quote me on that.)

Best wishes on your new venture, and I look forward to hearing more.

Sincerely,

Jennifer

One more class!

First let’s start with some photos from Saturday’s class….

 

 

What happens at D5 stays at D5—-I will not explain the firetruck…:)

Tomorrow we will have the last class of the D5 pilot programs. It has been an incredible experience and I will tell you all about it on the next newsletter. If you want to receive it, just sign up for our newsletter-subscription on the home page.

More soon!

Patty

Photos of the Kids!

Yesterday the kids learned to make:

Homemade  Granola with plain yogurt and strawberries

Hummus with whole wheat pita chips

Burrito Bar, including:

Brown rice in homemade veggie stock

Pinto beans cooked in kombu

Chicken (from the previously made chicken stock)

Guacamole

Salsa

Fresh cilantro and lettuce

Cheddar Cheese

A side salad with mustard vinaigrette

Chocolate Chip cookies made with whole grain flour, unrefined sugar and applesauce

 

The kids cemented in the 11 body systems, macronutrients, antioxidants and free-radicals and we also discussed stress, which was really interesting. We worked more on their knife skills. They all did an exceptional job cutting up their onions! Impressive…

Another big day tomorrow! Omelettes and fried potatoes, ratatouille and crostini, Caesar salad and creme brule to name a few! We will work on the anatomical model and food labels and begin on the Body/Earth Program.

Here are the kids-one child was missing yesterday…

 

 

All the kids have been very forthright about how they want permanent programs to be. They have had some insightful suggestions and we look forward to creating the permanent programs, By the Kids, For the Kids!

 

 

Ready to teach 10 kids to cook!

Tomorrow the culinary program begins. I have pinto beans soaking in kombu right now (they’ll learn why) the sourdough starter smells really sour, and all staple ingredients have been purchased. Tomorrow at 7:30, I’ll be at the grocery store to load up on veggies, herbs, organic chicken and so much more! The kids arrive at 9:30, put on their brand new D5 aprons, wash their hands and we’ll get cooking.

I am soooo excited!!!

 

 

Flour-check; Seeds for sprouting, check, etc…

Happy Saturday everyone!

Monday Culinary begins and we are so excited!The sourdough starter is smelling really good and the kids are going to love making homemade sourdough bread on Monday, along with everything else…fun.

Tanya and I had a long meeting yesterday and have hashed out where we are thus far in the Pilot Program. We are sitting back this next few days of classes and listening to kids and parents. There will be some major tweaks to the Pilot Programs. We’ll share more soon!