The iLearn Fair sponsored by Sonoma Life Magazine was really great today. We had a booth and so many people stopped by to see what we are all about and to sign up for upcoming classes. It was really good for D5! We truly enjoyed our day.

Check out our Facebook page to watch a couple videos. ‘Like’ us while you’re there. You can get to us on the Home page.

So careful carrying their knives!
Washing their hands. They love using Mortar and Pestles! Happy Kids!

We are thrilled to say that our after school classes at Proctor Terrace School have been extended!

How about this menu for Super Bowl Sunday? Kids are more than able to make this! One note though, Jicama is difficult to peel, so be extra careful as potato peelers can be as dangerous as knives.

Fruit Salad, perhaps even skewered, like fruit shish-kabobs.

Jicama cut into slices and served with fresh salsa

Gucamole with veggies and chips. Try cutting corn chips into wedges and baking until crispy. Yum!

Meatballs (turkey, tofu, beef-your choice) with Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce.

Chocolate Chip Cookies or Chocolate Beet Cake (you won’t believe how good this is!)

Guacamole
How easy is this?
Serves 4

2 ripe avocados
Juice of one lemon, or lime
1/2 small red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, diced*
Sea salt to taste
Hot pepper sauce, to taste
Cilantro, chopped, optional

Mash the avocados, add the other ingredients, and mix.

*We don’t purchase tomatoes in the winter generally, so I use salsa-about ¼ cup -instead of the fresh tomato.

Honey-Dijon Meatballs

Prepare your favorite meatball recipe and while they are baking in the oven, prepare the sauce.

Honey-Dijon Sauce:

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1-1/4 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
2 tablespoons honey

In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch and onion powder. Slowly whisk in
pineapple juice until smooth. Add red pepper and honey. Bring to a boil;
cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in
the mustard until smooth.

The last 10 minutes of baking the meatballs, brush meatballs with about 1/4 cup sauce. Serve with remaining dipping sauce.

Chocolate Beet Cake

Serves 10

2 cups beets, cooked and pureed
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9X13″ pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the beets, applesauce, sugar, butter and yogurt. Using an electric mixer (or a whisk if you want the exercise!) mix well for 3 minutes. Add the eggs, and mix well again for 1 minute.

Mix together the dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients. Stir until combined. Stir in the walnuts. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Frost if you like, though we don’t think it really needs it.

Per Serving:: 379 Calories; 16g Fat (35.1% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 56g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 82mg Cholesterol; 331mg Sodium.

How to…
To make beet puree, roast beets or boil until soft but not mushy. Remove skin and puree in food processor.

Serving suggestion…portions.
You can easily cut this cake into smaller pieces. As Mary Poppins said, “Enough is as good as a feast.”

We are so excited to be able to purchase new knives for ‘our’ kids! They love to use knives and we desperately needed more knives. Thank you to Linda Sinkay who sponsored our request, thank you to Ken Brandt, Chair of Community Services, and thank you to all members of Sebastopol’s Sunrise Rotary Club for funding our request. We appreciate it so much!

They’re right…a picture does say 1,000 words! The kids are having a blast while they learn to cook. Yesterday they didn’t actually ‘cook’-Springs Rolls in Peanut Dipping Sauce. They learned about dietary fiber, food-miles, and phytonutrients. They also learned new knife skills, which they love to do.

We can hardly wait for the next class!

Last week we made Brown Rice Sushi with the kids at Hidden Valley School and Salads and Salad Dressings at Proctor Terrace. The kids at Proctor Terrace ate two huge bowls of Salad choke full of raw veggies, that they had cut. If kids have an ownership interest in the food, they are more likely to eat the food. This is proven time after time!

This week, we’re making Pasta Primavera at Hidden Valley and Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce at Proctor Terrace. It’s going to be a fantastic week!

We like to do pre and post tests to make sure the kids are learning. It can be a hectic (but fun!) time in these one and a half hour after school classes.

Results from the Hidden Valley Class December 7^th, 2011

Please circle one answer for each question:

 1.     What is gluten?

a.       allergy to wheat

b.       grains

c.        mixture of plant proteins found in cereal grains such as wheat, rye, and barley

 2.     What is a food mile?

a.       food grown mile away from your home

b.       the distance food travels from the farm to the your table

c.        a mile of land where food is grown

 3.        What is a phytonutrient?

 a.        plant based nutrients that promote health

 b.        the smallest particles of vitamins

 c.        toxic nutrients found in mushrooms

 All I can say is Woo Hoo!!!

Well, Christmas is over and we at D5 hope your was very merry! We wish you now a very happy New Year! We know it is going to be a fantastic year!

You have 5 business days left in 2011. If you are thinking about year-end deductions, then please consider helping us help kids. Your donation will do just that! We have many classes coming up in January and February and your donation will be to scholarship a child who might no otherwise have the opportunity to attend.

Any amount will help! Simply click the Donate button on the Home page or send a check-information on the Contact page.

Thank you so much and all the best in 2012!

Our D5 team had such a great time teaching the kids at Hidden Valley School in Santa Rosa to make Gingerbread Pancakes with warm fruit along with a nice cup of spiced cider. As always we weave in points from the five directions- they learned about food miles and eating locally, various types of ‘milk,’ and even how much sleep they need a night!

We’re looking forward to seeing many-if not all!- of these kids in January when we begin the next series of after school classes.

We are so excited about a full class at Hidden Valley School this coming Wednesday, December 7th! We’re teaching the kids to make Gingerbread Pancakes with warm sauteed apples and cranberries and warm spiced apple cider.

We’ll use organic ingredients, unrefined sugar, and whole-wheat pastry flour. The recipe notes how to make changes if they are vegetarian and vegan, or can not have gluten or wheat. They will also not endlessly pour some junky pancake syrup on their pancakes! We’ll stop them with our warm fruit with a little real maple syrup.

We all know that pancakes are not a healthy breakfast, but kids do love them-as do most people-so they will learn how to make them a little healthier. They’ll also learn some nutrition basics as they stir batter and slice apples!

See you then!