Jamie's Food Revolution at Real Food For Real Kids (RFRK)...

An exciting day spent at Real Food For Real Kids' new facility talking real food, food waste and Jamie's Food Revolution! RFRK was founded in 2004 by Lulu Cohen-Farnell, an awe-inspiring woman and mother who revolutionized nutrition in school lunches and snacks with her popular children's catering company. Cooking fresh from scratch, they deliver healthy, delicious meals and snacks to 15,000 kids in the GTA every day at 30+ elementary schools and over 240 childcare centres. 

On-site Lunch Club Coaches are hired to serve the prepared food at each of the participating schools and impart food education as well as encourage the kids to try new foods. I am one of those lucky Lunch Club Coaches and I absolutely love engaging my young students on what they are about to eat. The monthly-changing menu offers an array of globally-inspired dishes that focus on whole grain products, in-season fruits, vegetables and products grown & produced locally. It's always deeply rewarding to see how happy these kids are when some of their favourites are being served and I am just thrilled when they come back for seconds :). See here for more on the lunch program.

New on the Spring Menu-- Clementines!

Enjoying lunch leftovers brought home-- Chili Chili Bang Bang over whole wheat couscous balls and Carrot Slaw with savoury sweet Samurai Sauce. And sliced oranges for dessert.

Nutritious and Delicious!

Jamie Oliver's 5th Annual Food Revolution Day (May 20th) is around the corner, and as an ambassador for Toronto, I was here to discuss combining our synergies to make the day and the days leading up a rally of social media support and other ideas for real food awareness, and also to have a tour at their bright expansive 32,000 square foot location just four months new. For my previous post on my visit at their original location, read here.

David Lutterman, RFRK's Communications Manager took me through the multi-room kitchen and production areas built on HACCP principles (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points - a preventative food safety system in which every step in the manufacture, storage and distribution of a food product is scientifically analyzed for cross-contamination, microbiological, physical and chemical hazards). The space is huge and separate rooms are designated for various tasks. Kitchen staff start their production day at 3 am. David takes utmost pride in walking clients through so they can see first-hand the day-to-day operations, hear about their suppliers of fresh ingredients and see some of their top-of-the-line quality equipment in action.

In this room, an in-house healthy snack mix blend is being bagged and weighed according to the required amounts for participating schools. "Snacktivities” are a Real Food Menu favourite! Each Snacktivity allows kids to be creative and play with their food - they like to call it "Fun Fooducation”. Bonus: these interactive snacks feature a mix of veggies, fruits, grains and house-made dips.

How much do I love the R&D Product Development department? This is where ideation takes place and creations originate. As a past product developer myself, I enjoy the science behind creating recipes on bench top that gets turned over into large scale production to feed the masses. Certainly, it is a thrilling challenge to mass produce a good tasting product that will also retain its quality and texture during the holding period as it gets delivered over to the schools and childcare centres, and ultimately happily feed small bellies. Since I am on the receiving end at my school getting the goods and having the leftovers for lunch, I can hands-down say I am very impressed with the quality and flavours!

With Jessica, RFRK’s Lead Development Chef

Bagged and weighed washed baby spinach and hand shredded 
rainbow veggies ready to be packed and delivered.

Real fruit puréed in house for smoothies to be used for childcare centres.

Food gets dropped off by the super drivers using a fleet of fuel-efficient vans. On the return trip dirty trays and serving utensils are picked up and get thoroughly sanitized (the bins too!) as soon as they enter the door, thanks to an amazingly efficient Hobart dishwasher.

With Executive Coordinator, Geri Soulliere
and Co-owner & CEO of RFRK, David Farnell

The importance of workplace health is evident here. The office area is equipped with many walking stations as desks, pilate balls as chairs and stationary bikes complete with desktop usability. 

RFRK’s Director of Finance and Talent & Training, Katie Gardon

Clowning around with this fabulous food production crew!

At RFRK, staff enjoy the same delicious meals that are served to kids and they love it! This day we had saucy chicken thighs over a brown rice and quinoa medley, steamed carrots and a lovely crunchy slaw. Delicious and nutritious!

Lunching it with David Lutterman

Ahh, RFRK's signature blue and green delivery vans! 

This proud man - Jay, a Super Driver tells me he used to weigh over 300 lbs. He is living proof of what cutting out sugar and eating right can do for you (thanks for going on the record, Jay). In order to get his health on track, he replaced soda and sweets with cookin’ up real food recipes (found on sites like RFRK and Jamie Oliver). BRAVO Jay!

This year's 5th Annual Food Revolution Day (FRD 2016) champions the Power of Cooking. Jamie Oliver has defined ten recipes which he will be asking people everywhere to join him and cook. This will be centred around ten delicious, nutritionally balanced recipes, which has been defined as the “Starter Pack of Cooking”, each covering a different skill and technique that can give anyone the confidence to cook good, real, healthy meals for themselves and their families, for now and the future. Jamie has spoken about the idea of ten recipes to save your life since his TED talk in 2010. 

At RFRK, we discussed incorporating some of these recipes into our collaborative plans leading up to FRD--  a "Cook For Your Life" themed week engaging food industry individuals about their favourite go-to recipes, rallying Lunch Club Coaches and RFRK staff to get kids excited about food, and providing Jamie's recipe resources for families and the community to get cooking on RFRK's site and social media shout outs.

Keepin' It Real-- everyday, all the way! Thank you David and Kaelan for the most wonderful time! Keep up the great work RFRK! And let's keep talking and working together to create a healthier and happier future for all!

David Lutterman, Communications Manager and Kaelan Karjalainen, Communications Coordinator

Gastropost-- It's All In the Technique...

One of the joys of cooking is all the many different ways there are to cook! From baking and blanching to fermentation and flambé, every technique has its distinct purpose to making a dish great. But when it comes down to it, what method is it that makes your favourite meal? Gastroposters spent a week showing off our skills in the kitchen by posting the cooking procedure we've perfected. Whether barbecuing or brining, dredging or deep-frying, grilling or chilling — it's all in the technique!

Yay! My submission made it in today's Gastropost- It's All In the Technique-- attempting to master the art of wrapping zong zi. Zong zi is a Chinese version of tamales-- bamboo leaves are wrapped around glutinous sweet sticky rice mixed with all sorts of filling- savoury or sweet and boiled until ready. The key is getting everything tightly bundled and tied with kitchen string, otherwise it will burst during cooking in the cooking vessel. 

See here for the Original Two-Page Spread

Zong Zi

Grilled Tofu Pita Sandwiches...

My eldest son came home with a cookbook this week. Library books at my twin's French school are borrowed at the beginning of each week, and it was the first food book I've seen brought back from their usual selection. I was ecstatic! Asking him which recipes he was interested in, he knowingly flipped to the pages for a filled pita and a dessert crumble (for Sunday). A grilled tofu pita sandwich in fact which peaked my curiosity as well. So what is a mom to do-- make it together of course! I had everything in the fridge (love that when it happens) and all it took was a quick trip to the store for pita, and Etienne was slicing, mixing and basting his way to deelish saucy protein-rich grilled tofu strips to fill hearty sandwiches for the family dinner. This simple recipe would be perfect for a meatless Monday, to tempt picky eaters for their first "tofu" attempt or to convert a "hater". Because, who doesn't love grilled foods? I also relished in having my son read out the ingredients to brush up on my French food language since my recipe development and cooking show days on a Quebec food platform eons ago.

Reiterating the same sentiments in my Kids Can Cook section-- Cooking together with your family is one of the most important factors to healthy eating. Making the change from cooking for your kids to cooking with your kids can feel like a leap but it's all about taking one small step at a time. Gradually your kids will be more proficient, independent, their confidence will grow and you will reap the rewards of building a stronger family connection and eating more healthily just by cooking together. Of course, it's easier and less messy if you just do it yourself, but if you allow your children to take part in some of the preparations, you will give them a sense of ownership and pride in the final results. And it can be a superb way to motivate fussy eaters to try new tastes and gain confidence with a variety of foods. Preparing meals can be educational; children quickly pick up new skills when they're having fun- they'll learn about weighing, measuring, mixing, spreading, pouring, chopping, organising and following instructions, as well as finding out how ingredients work together. This translates to everyday life- trying a new recipe is not unlike learning math or problem-solving skills. It takes persistence, resilience, patience and creative thinking- life lessons that is worthy of a messy kitchen!

The have fun cooking kid's French cookbook that inspired...

Grilled Tofu Pita Sandwiches
Makes 16 Strips (or use 1 pkg. (250 mL) firm tofu for half the recipe)

1 package (473 mL) firm tofu, drained
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 whole wheat pitas, halved
3 leaf lettuce, chopped
2 green onions, cut into long strips
alfalfa sprouts

1/4 cucumber, thinly sliced
red onion, thinly sliced
Marinade:
1 to 2 Tbsp. chili sauce (I used sriracha)
2 Tbsp. ketchup
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. ground cumin

See the cute Hello Kitty soy sauce bottle. So Kawaii (cute in Japanese).

Slice the tofu block across the centre to make two halves. Slice each half into eight strips. (A paring knife is perfect for a little hand, and sharp so kids feel they are handling an actual knife).

Mix the marinade ingredients together. Add the tofu and coat evenly. Let sit for one hour before grilling.

Heat grill pan on medium-high, add oil to coat pan and place the tofu vertically against the pan grill marks. Grill for a few minutes before turning over once to cook the other side. Handle tofu gently as they can stick and are soft to lift. (This required my close supervision, to ensure no one gets burned and a warning not to get too close to the pan in case of grill spitting-- is that a term?)

Etienne's twin brother Sebastien checking out other recipes in the cookbook.

Let the family fill their own pita half with their favourite ingredients. Go crazy in offering other toppings your family may enjoy. For a more saucier experience, offer more chilli-ketchup sauce at the table for dolloping. 

Grilled sweet and spicy, with a hint of earthy cumin takes tofu to a whole new level!

Nothing beats digging in the fruits of your labour! NOM NOM!

Go to the local library with your kids and check out the children's cookbook stack or food magazines. Ask your child to choose a few books to discover and "cook out of" together! Make it a frequent or an occasional fun weekend activity to do, be it breakfast, lunch, snack, dessert-- soon you will find that creating something tasty together, will increase their appreciation for a variety of food, confidence in the kitchen and strengthen the bond of eating together and healthier as a family.

From Words to Wok Book Club-- Ruth Reichl's Lemon Panna Cotta...

From Words to Wok is an online community of cookbook and food memoir enthusiasts founded by my friend Prachi Grover in Dubai. We are people who have a huge collection of cookbooks and don’t know how to stop adding more to our book shelves. Since we don’t have any intentions of controlling this habit we decided to do the next best thing: become a part of this group where we can legitimize this kind of behaviour. 

On my first post to announce the launch of From Words to Wok, members were being asked to select from the 16 Piglet finalists, and happily Ruth Reichl's My Kitchen Year was voted as the first cookbook to review. We have been cooking, eating and reading our way through this book; part cookbook and part memoir. Not everyone has this book on their shelves, and while purchasing the book is an option, borrowing from our local library as well as material and recipes we find online are other feasible ways to enjoy the book and be part of the discussion. I am waiting in queue for my book at the library so at the moment, I have been watching over the community posts from fellow book clubbers, and was inspired by Ruth's simple but decadent recipe for Lemon Panna Cotta. Lemons are my absolute favourite in desserts-- what a perky fresh flavour to bring in Spring :). 

Ruth Reichl's My Kitchen Year

I have to admit that I was amazed at the amount of whipping cream in the recipe at first (two pints is four cups). I wanted to see if I could `healthify`it by replacing some of the cream with table cream or milk. However, without adding an extra ingredient like gelatin, which is not preferred, it would likely not stabilize enough to set. So fellow member Julie Cockburn suggested, as it was her post that inspired me to make this, half the recipe and make the portions smaller, and see it as an occasional special treat. So I did just that. Here is Ruth`s recipe, and I halved all the ingredients to yield six servings. 

Thank you for the screenshot Julie Cockburn! :)

A carton of 473mL whipping cream equals to two cups (1 pint).

Catch the lemon seeds when squeezing in a strainer over a bowl OR squeeze, then remove from bowl with a spoon.

Pour into ramekins or other small vessels. I had these cute shallow tapas bowls to fill.

After chilling in the fridge for at least four hours as instructed.. lovely soft set lemon panna cotta emerges-- surprisingly delicate rich, smooth with balanced sweetness to counter the tang and insanely refreshing lemon-y! For contrasting colour and presentation, add raspberries or mint for garnish. Prachi Grover exchanged a comment that she made a lemony mint sugar syrup to pour on top. Yummmm!

Looking forward to sharing more recipes from My Kitchen Year with you!

Getting Creative with Leftovers... No Waste!

I have been talking about food waste these days-- and YEH, letting edible food go to waste is never ideal but it happens-- it happens a lot! I passionately believe food waste from households could be alleviated with cooking skills. That is the P.O.W.E.R of cooking combined with Food Education! People who lack the skills would throw out wilted produce and slightly bruised fruit. And not know what to do with bits of leftover ingredients. That's why we need everyone to learn the basic cooking skills, because you'll be able to look into your fridge and quickly know the ingredients' shelf-life and limits, what goes with what, and how to cook up something decent. No waste. Tonight, shredded raw rainbow vegetables (beets & coloured carrots) for a spinach salad leftover from serving lunch at my elementary school (with Real Food For Real Kids) gets the creative treatment! Cooked up in a home-style Japanese comfort dish-- Simmered Beef and Tofu! The sweet flavours complimented the savoury and sweet dish very well. Delish and no waste!! 

Bagged and weighed washed baby spinach and hand shredded rainbow veggies at
 Real Food For Real Kids (RFRK) ready to be packed and delivered to the schools.  

This satisfying dish features a richly flavoured beef and onion topping nestled in soft pillowy tofu cubes with earthy shiitake mushrooms. The delicious light sweet and savoury sauce combining sugar, sake and mirin is a definitive characteristic of home-style Japanese cuisine. Served over hot rice, the beautiful flavours is soaked up and instantly becomes more irresistible and full-filling with each bite. The leftover rainbow veggies add extra nutrition! Yay!

Japanese Simmered Beef and Tofu

I love this infographic! How we must preserve and respect the very food that fuels us. 

Caring about our economy of food is patriotism!

Gastropost-- Showing Leftovers Some Love...

It's a bloody shame to let good food go to waste. So Gastroposters have spent the week showing how to transform and create delicious dishes out of our unused foods. Whether it's a big batch we're cooking to see us through a work week's worth of lunches, a supper surplus we purposely keep to repurpose for another dish or using whatever's in the fridge to make a meal, we got to show what we do with leftovers when left to our own devices.

Yay! My submission made it in today's Gastropost- Showing Leftovers Some Love-- a night of nutritious and tasty Chilli Con Veggie turned into Chili Con Patties the next day with homemade pastry.

See here for the Original Two-Page Spread

Creative Leftover Chili Con Veggie

Food for thought: Staggering. Shocking. How does a nation obsessed with eating, eating out, food shows, cookbooks and food sites/blogs waste billions of dollars of good food every year (31 million pounds in Canada which is mainly 50% household waste-- what we buy, not eat, and throw out)?

Waste occurs at various points of the food supply system. There are lots of gaps, according to experts, but the biggest source of waste are households. Consumers can actually make a significant difference just by changing some of the things we do on a daily basis: 

Make a list before you go shopping and sticking to it. 

Do not go shopping if you’re hungry or you'll impulse buy. 

Check your cupboards and refrigerator – what do you have and what do you really need? 
Eat up what you have first rather than what you're in the mood for. 

Be creative and re-purpose leftovers. 

Donate too much food, or if you know you won’t use it. 

Imperfect perfectly edible foods-- just eat it already! Check out this great film on Food Waste: http://www.foodwastemovie.com/about/

 With Toronto Registered Dietician Carol Harrison and Culinary Consultant Cathy Ireland. 

Just Eat It. A Food Waste Story.

Life In Japan-- Ganbare Nippon!

If you are like me who is a lover of all things Japanese-- a Japanese culture, food and cuisine enthusiast, then please join me on Life In Japan, a Facebook page I manage with my dear artist brother Marten Go (Preserved Dragons) who has returned home after a decade overseas in Japan. A page he started in April 2011 to dedicate to the suffering from the earthquake that rocked Japan... Five years later... nothing has been too big to overcome!

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

I am dedicating this illustration to the suffering, as well to Nippon / Japan, and all the helping hands and voices around the world that have come together as one to overcome this hardship.

And specifically to the military, rescue and recovery teams, fire and policemen, hospitals, seniors, evacuation shelters, nuclear workers, family and children, fishing and farming industries, pets, housing and construction workers, businesses, spiritual ones, schools, and the newborns, keep on going! We can do it together! Nothing is too big to overcome!

I’m looking forward to a new Nippon / Japan! Arrigato...Thank you!

Ganbare Nippon (Hang In There)!

Marten Go (& Susan Ng)
April 25th, 2011

Life In Japan

DIY Sushi Rolls and All That Japanese Jazz (✿˘艸˘✿) ...

Ahhh, my nephew Jerome's 8th birthday party and what a feast it was! An assortment of sorts but predominantly Japanese home-style eats with a fun hearty DIY sushi rolls as the main attraction. Just the smorgasbord of fresh and vibrant colours on the table alone was stunning! Add a variety of flavour and textures, and we got an E.P.I.C. evening of eating! 

Note: This post is dedicated to my friend and mentor Chef Frederick Bowden in Tokyo who passed away suddenly April 4th, 2016. When the physical being is gone... the spirit lives on.... Because we will always have fond memories of those who pass, when we tap into that locket, they become more alive than ever! Thank you brother Dan for your wise words of comfort. So here's my feast from us to you... The way my larger than life Fred would want his friends and family to carry on.... Eat, Drink, Be Merry, Be Happy! Ꮭσνєஐ(๑´ლ`๑)♡

A party with my artist brother Dan and wife Yoko is never complete without some hand-crafted art to cater the occasion-- their birthday boy's favourite Zootopia characters :).

Dessert first-- why not? Our family birthday gatherings always wind up late, and cake can be reluctantly squeezed in after a belly full of food and kids well entrenched in their play. So my clever brother suggested we do the reverse-- sing the birthday song first. Instead of cake or cupcakes, we got flan in pudding cups from Mon K Patisserie- a Japanese sweets and bakery shop. A choice of crème caramel or hojicha (roasted green tea) flavours-- creamy light with a smooth texture and balanced sweetness. Yumm!

Birthday candles placed in clay molded into pebbles set on a wooden board to blow out! 

o(★´∀｀★)o☆*:;;:*★ＨДРРЧ ВＩЯтＨＤДЧ★*:;;:*☆o(☆´∀｀☆)o Jerome!

The cooking begins.... homemade pizza appetizer and a big batch spaghetti and meatballs for dinner!

Preparing Japanese Chicken Karaage-- lightly battered chicken pieces that are typically deep-fried to crispy (they decided to make it easy and oven-bake) with a gingery marinade and succulent on the inside.

The Japanese version of korokke or croquette is chopped-up meat, vegetables or seafood, formed into a patty or log, coated in airy panko crumbs and deep-fried until golden brown. My sis-in-law made potato korokke with mashed potato and ground beef. Here is my version of Curry Beef and Rice Korokke.

 

The table was completely covered... Ready to dig in...

Other offerings include deep-fried vegetable spring rolls and a simple salad of broccoli and tomato with Japanese onion & sesame vinaigrette.

But it was the customize-your-own sushi rolls that took centre stage! The spread included meat ingredients of cooked jumbo shrimps, shredded crab meat and sliced cooked barbecued eel, vegetables of cucumber sticks, shredded white onion (soaked in water for several hours to remove bitterness), shredded snow peas and carrots. Sushi nori sheets were cut into quarters or use roasted seaweed, top with some cooked cooled short-grain rice tossed with a bit of sugar and rice vinegar to create sushi rice (see Onigiri Rice Ball post for rice recipe), your favourite toppings and roll up or serve taco-style. Serve soy sauce and wasabi at the table for dipping or spooning over.

I love this sushi concept! The kids were all over it... my sister and I agreed this will be a dinner idea we will definitely do with our own families! I.N.S.P.I.R.A.T.I.O.N-- Yay!

Going for first, seconds and thirds...

NOM NOM NOM!

Note excerpt: I have two dear Chef Freds in my life (we're a trio)-- one in Toronto, one in Tokyo. With a heavy broken heart, I learned of my Tokyo Fred's passing this morning  April 5th :(. He passed away suddenly yesterday. He was my first culinary sensei, a mentor, my friend-- the one who I owe my leap of faith into culinary waters 15 years ago and I'm still swimming with a bright smile. Moving to Tokyo with his wife Yuko, struggling as a "gaijin" (foreigner) to make his mark at first-- Chef by day, Rock star by night, he helmed kitchens in high end hotels, brought jamming to Tokyo's music scene (he's a guitar legend) and proudly last year, finally opened his own brunch restaurant. He was larger than life and no matter how busy, he would always find time to say hello. He just msged me he was going to start making his own deli in-house :( . I am seeing the legacy he is leaving behind-- a bounty of Thank Yous for all he has done for musicians and food lovers in Tokyo! My condolences to lovely Yuko, his daughter, his family and all his friends and fans....

My dearest TBor, you will always live in me... I am where I am today because of you... Thank You Forever for your belief in me, support and love. I will miss you but know that we are marked together for life and thereafter. The Japanese tattoos we share from the same artist, will always etch the memories of our great friendship, laughters and good times. 🌸

Keep on Rockin' TBor... and I'll be cookin' with you later. RIP! XOX

💞 💞 💞