Lentils have a mild, nutty, earthy flavor and will give any dish a boost of fiber and nutrients. Because of their hearty texture and protein content, lentils are sometimes used as an alternative for meat. Available dried or canned, lentils are highly versatile & make a great shelf-stable food. INGREDIENTS: 3.5 cups crushed tomatoes (canned) […]
Fruit and Oatmeal Bars
Miss Alice made her version of this week’s recipe using steel cut oats, dried cranberries, peanut butter and maple syrup. “I’d recommend using rolled or quick oats instead of steel cut oats. My oat & fruit bars turned out a bit crumbly & more granola-like, but they were still delicious & made a great topping […]
Kale and Tomato Pasta
Pantry substitutions & a BIG “Hello!” from Miss Missy! 😊 I didn’t have all the ingredients for The Recipe of the Week in my pantry this week and that’s OK! More than ever, we don’t want anyone leaving the house during quarantine for ingredients if there are substitutions right in your pantry. We’d prefer that you […]
Spring Market has us excited for Summer!
TBAISD Farm to School and Taste the Local Difference hosted a Spring Pop-Up Market at Mill Creek Elementary to kick off the summer season. Vendors from our fall pop-up markets joined by a few new faces set up stands outside the school. Kids shopped around with their class and sampled tomatoes, cucumbers, chutney, bagel bites, […]
Vegetarian Chorizo Tacos
Earlier this month, we partnered with Chef Becky Tranchell of Rose and Fern Cafe to host a cooking class for Big Brothers Big Sisters Northwest MI. Kids attended with their mentors and learned skills on how to use kitchen tools properly and prepare a vegetarian version of Chorizo Tacos using cauliflower! Kids also learned about […]
Last taste test of the year
This past week we wrapped up our school lunchroom taste tests for the year! We tasted 11 different vegetables and recipes this year with the students. This month our featured vegetable was Asparagus for Spring. We taste tested a fresh asparagus and carrot coleslaw with mint, green onion, and vinaigrette dressing. Recipe available on the […]
Family Cooking Nights
Early April we partnered with Chef Loghan Call of Planted Cuisine to hold cooking classes with the families at Courtade and Westwoods, focusing on ways to incorporate more vegetables onto the dinner plate! We made vegetable tacos with cajun black lentils, turmeric amaranth rice, roasted butternut sauce and pea shoots! We engaged the whole family […]
Stay warm with Bean Chili
This February we got record snow and chilling temps but kept our students toasty with our Michigan Dry Bean Chili taste test! Did you know that Michigan is the top producer for black beans and the second top producer of other dry beans in the country? Dry beans are a great affordable option to get […]
Rainbow Potato Salad and Veggie Roll-Ups
We brought in lots of colorful vegetables into the schools this January. Our taste tests featured Rainbow Potato Salad with purple and yellow fingerling potatoes from Lakeview Hill Farm. It was the first time many kids had tried purple potatoes as well as trying a vinegar based one! Getting creative with new recipes helps kids […]
Beet Hummus
This December, we taste tested Beet Hummus in our school cafeterias and asked our students what they thought. 70% of the students who tried it voted they LOVED IT! We partnered with Lakeview Hill Farm to source our beets, that helped turn our hummus a beautiful shade of pink. From the color to the taste […]