I Was The Little Seed That Could...

Recall this pretty papaya from my last post... I mean look at it! How rare of a sight, it has to metaphor something right? What could this germinating seed be trying to tell me? It took a while to make the connection, but when I did make sense of it, everything unfolded like a flower blooming 🌸- literally 😊.

First, a little about myself to give you a back story. The time I spoke in front of 1500 people at my largest event ever- a noteable 2015 Food Revolution cooking event with the entire Northview high school body with Mr.Jamie Oliver himself connecting in live...

You see presenting was one of my biggest fears 😬... All my life I shied away from speaking to any crowd if I could. At school, at work, I'd rehearse my lines over and over again, and I'll get super stressed out as presentation day nears. I was to kick-start this huge food event; even though I only had two paragraphs to sound off, I grew anxious as peeps trickled into the jam-packed cafeteria. It went without a hitch; it was that pivotal moment I knew I conquered my fear 🙂. I mean I was speaking in front of strangers- 1500 students, teachers, principals, VIP guests, the police and heck I was on live TV!! Our moment with Jamie was short and sweet. But OMG! I did it 🤗!!!

For all the event details, check out my Post.

Fast forward to the last two years... how blessed am I to have the opportunities to speak in front of crowds regularly, to let my passion for cooking, health & wellness and food education be my VoiCe! Because speaking from the heart is as authentic and un-rehearsed as you can get 😊. Times a-changed and the potential to grow and expand feels real and liberating. So finally back to the papaya... a couple days after new year I cut open the papaya to find this germinating seed. As a person who looks for meaning in everything, I pondered what this conveyed. I know I figured it out... it has to be... Bloom 🌸! 

Brings me back to the magazine Bloom- for women when I was Food Editor at the start of my food career 20 years ago. A reminder in #2020- I was the little seed that could! Nourished with love and passion for food, flourished and is still blooming. And if it can't get more symbolic... my birthdate is also a 20 😯❤. 2020 for a 20!

Grateful for moments experienced, lessons learnt, and the new opps that lay ahead. If we are not a little bit uncomfortable everyday, we're not growing. All the good stuff is outside our comfort zone. I see and hear acts of heroism, strength, courage and wisdom in women I encounter all the time! 

Let it be this year for us to shine and bloom together 🌸🌸!

Furthermore, somethings that never change. I said it then (at 30) and I say it again... 

Life is to be lived now. Live. Love. Learn. Be All You Can Be. Now. Not Later.

Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. 

"Each morning we are born again. 

What we do today is what matters most"-- Buddha

It really has been 360 for me- the seed that wants to help others suc-seed.

Truthfully, isn't that what we are all doing here, planting seeds? For our future? For the next generation?

G20 Summit Update: Food Revolution Petition...

Petition Update

Thank you! Together we can make a difference in the fight for food education.

                               Jamie Oliver

                               United Kingdom

23 Nov 2015 — Hi guys, Jamie Oliver here,

I wanted to give you an update on the Food Revolution Day petition which more than 1.6 million of you signed – that’s truly incredible; thank you again. Every single country on the planet was represented which, believe me, is no mean feat. Just to refresh your memory, the petition calls for compulsory food education for every child at school. At a time when diet-related disease is a major killer globally, I believe that this is every child’s human right.

So let me get you up to speed with developments. Since we started the petition my team and I have been working tirelessly to get it on the agenda at this year’s G20 summit, which took place over the past few days. I was really pleased to see in the communiqué that the G20 are committed to continuing to 'improve food security and nutrition', with youth being a named priority. So this is very much the beginning – not the end – of our fight. 

Progress with the G20 always requires patience – you work one year to try and get things properly discussed the next. We feel that we’re now really well positioned to continue working with the sherpas who communicate directly with prime ministers and presidents, and keep food education at the top of the agenda. Your support has allowed us to make the noise we need and demand that our voices are heard. You’ve given us the power to open up doors and speak to more and more governments, businesses and NGOs – the people that can help us in our fight to make food education compulsory for every child, and help us make 2016 a breakthrough year.  

There are some key events we’re going to focus on in 2016. The World Health Assembly meet in May. I’m delighted that they’re going to make child nutrition a top priority and hope that we can encourage every government to legislate and create robust strategies to combat the growing global child health crisis. 

It’s also the Olympics in Rio and we are working hard to look for opportunities to highlight the issues that surround this global event. This is especially important as food and drink companies are once again the main sponsors. 

So look guys, my most important point with this update is to thank you for your ongoing support. This is going to be a slow fight, but it’s one to which me and my organisation are 100% committed. Of course, there’s loads of exciting and positive stuff happening at a local and community level, and please do keep that up, but for me, seizing this opportunity to join together as one global voice, as we’ve done, is so significant. 

Thank you. Together we can – and will – make a difference in the fight for food education. http://www.foodrevolutionday.com/

Thank you,
Jamie O x 

For the original post, see here.

Herbs and Garlic Crown of Pork Roast...

A late big Thanksgiving dinner with my family and the past Friday`s World Food Day-- sharing good times over food #WFD2015 can only mean celebrating with a roast beast, where a gargantuan piece of meat is the show-stopping focal point of the meal (vegetarians excepted). This kind of meat whether it's beef, turkey, pork or game meat is not as important as its girth (size). You want something that turn heads and get people to clamour around the table in anticipation of that first bite. A crown roast of pork was our dinner's main attraction and what a beast of a feast it was with all the sides and fixings! The butcher at my neighbourhood Coppa's threw in a few more ribs even though I just asked for 15... I ended up with 20 and this baby was a whopping 14 pounds!

It’s the shape that gives crown roast its name. A bone-in pork loin is trimmed of excess fat and gristle so the bones protrude white and shining. Then the whole thing is tied into a ring which can be done by your butcher. Traditionally, crown roasts have been cooked with the bones standing up, which gave rise to the tradition of covering them with those frilly little paper toques to keep the tips from burning. However, as I've researched, roasting the meat upside down actually creates a juicier roast-- the juices that drip down from the pork keep the bones from blackening and the layer of fat on the bottom of the roast is exposed to the dry heat of the oven, giving it a chance to brown and crisp. You can use a rack to hold the teetering roast upside down, or, if it’s tied tightly enough, it might be able to balance on its own bones. And don't stuff so you can cook the roast evenly- rather add the cooked stuffing into the cavity afterwards, especially for that spectacular photo opp. before dissecting!

Herbs and Garlic Crown of Pork Roast
Makes 12 to 15 servings (this recipe uses a smaller roast than mine)

1 (10 pound) crown roast of pork (12 to 15 ribs), depending on how meaty the ribs, tied into a circular crown

1/2 bunch of fresh thyme, leaves plucked off stems
1/2 bunch of rosemary, pines chopped

5 garlic cloves, chopped

zest of one lemon
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

How Many Servings? Generally, it is suggested you plan 3/4 to 1lb. per person which is approximately one (1) rib bone per person. The average Crown Roast will serve about 8 to 10 people. If you are serving fewer people, ask you butcher to tie a smaller roast for you.

I just bought a cute little mortar and pestle, and was so happy breaking it in to make the roast paste. Combine all the ingredient in the mortar except olive oil and mash with the pestle. Add a little olive oil and continue mashing into a paste. Stir in remaining olive oil. TIP: Don't have a mortar and pestle-- use your food processor to whiz everything to a smooth liquid paste. 

Remove thyme leaves and rosemary pines by pulling them off their stems opposite of their growth.

Slice the membrane between each rib chop about an inch in. Rub the pork all over, in between chops and its crevices with the herb mixture. Use disposable plastic gloves to make it easy and mess-free. Marinate overnight covered in fridge for best results.

My son Sébastien helping to prepare a vegetable dip platter. Great job-- getting better at the knife skills-- practice, practice, practice!

Sides for the feast includes roasted thyme cauliflower and broccoli, mashed potatoes and gravy, steamed corn and Mixed Green Salad with Fennel and Avocado in a Burnt Almond Vinaigrette.

Remove marinating roast from fridge and leave in room temperature for two hours-- this will bring the roast out of the cold and give you better results. Bake 20 minutes, uncovered, at 450 F. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F. and continue to roast until the internal temperature reaches the desired temperature of 140° to 145°F on a meat thermometer, approximately 2-1/2 hours. Allow about 20 minutes per pound for roasting. Rotate roasting pan halfway through cooking time. Remove from the oven, loosely cover with foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes before cutting. Before serving, pour off the fat juices from the pan-- skim off the excess oil and use the pan juices and scraps for gravy.

Cooked at 145 F internal temp. but would have prefer a moister
roast at 140 F. Next time...

A simple prepared stuffing goes inside and WOW voila!! 

The ultimate salad! Toasting almonds to just short of being burnt gives an interesting slightly bitter dimension to this unique salad dressing. Every time I've served it or brought to a potluck, it is never short of rave reviews. The results are gloriously addictive- full of flavour and textures, and easily a side star at any gathering!

Mixed Green Salad with Fennel and Avocado in a Burnt Almond Vinaigrette

Slice between the chops and serve on a platter. Garnish with rosemary sprigs for presentation!

Served the rib chops with my sis-in-law Yoko's homemade pear jam.

Now let's chow!!

Nothing beats sharing good times over good food! What's your beast for your next big feast?

Happy World Food Day....

Today is World Food Day! Care to share your pictures of how food matters to you and to your country, whether it is a regional dish, or an image of your family coming together to share good times over food. ‪#‎WFD2015‬. I am hosting a delayed Thanksgiving Day dinner at my place with the extended family tomorrow night, and that will be my tribute to the event (recipes and photos to come). So how are you sharing good times over food? Click here to read more about World Food Day.

Here is a message from Jamie Oliver:

"First of all, happy World Food Day everyone! World Food Day was set up to mark the creation of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which has done great things in granting people regular access to good, fresh, healthy food. It’s also exactly five months since my global day of action, Food Revolution Day, campaigning for food education for every child. My Food Revolution Day petition to get practical food education on every school curriculum has had an overwhelming response – 1.6 million of you signed up, with supporters from every country in the world. It’s truly incredible."  See Jamie's short video here. 

Click here to hear more from Jamie.

#‎FoodRevolutionDay‬ Food Revolution Anthem...

It's been six weeks since ‪#‎FoodRevolutionDay‬ but the campaign lives on! Check out the latest version of @JamieOliver's & @EdSheeran's Food Revolution anthem-- it's interactive (how cool is that?) and help fight for food education. Now it's your turn to be DJ! www.foodrevolutionday.com/song

www.foodrevolutionday.com/song

To date, Jamie's global petition to get food education into the classrooms around the world has garnered over 1.5 million signatures, and we still have until October to round up much, much more. Jamie will take his remarkable petition in November to the G20 summit in Turkey urging our world leaders to get food literacy into our school curriculums. The more signatures we get, the more pressure we can put on them to make a stronger call-for-action for a healthier, better tomorrow. 

www.foodrevolutionday.com

Food Revolution Day 2015 Wrap Up... Here and Around the World...

It's been a little over one week-- Food Revolution Day May 15th came and went... And I am still getting inspired catching up on my fellow ambassadors' amazing commitment, effort and energy organizing their events around the world; I thought what better way than to ask some of them to share with us how they celebrated the day in their home towns and communities. In summary, at the school level, we had an incredible 8,198 schools across 95 countries register to take part in Jamie’s Squash-it Sandwich lesson, from a whopping 3,170 schools in the UK to two brilliant schools in Zimbabwe. As well, countless other kinds of activities and events took part around the world.To date, Jamie's global petition has garnered over 1.5 million signatures, and we still have until October to round up much, much more. Jamie will take his remarkable petition in November to the G20 summit in Turkey urging our world leaders to embrace food literacy in all school systems. 

Here is just a short-list round up of amazing activities and events happening on Food Revolution Day capturing local Toronto ambassadors in action, and our friends abroad in Argentina, Dubai, Nairobi, Netherlands, Oregon U.S.A, Singapore, Taiwan and Uruguay.

Jamie with a mouthful of Super Ambassadors Jamie's Food Tube Channel covering Food Rev Day. 

First, recapping my three school events in Toronto on Food Revolution Day. One with a massive hands-on cooking lesson making Jamie's Squash-It Sandwich in a Northwest-end high school. It was a high energy day that began with racked nerves on May 15th cooking up with 1250 students- a majority of Northview Heights Secondary School (1500 student body)... and Jamie himself making a special live video appearance!! In addition, 200 eight graders came for a tour in the morning and enjoyed Jamie's oatmeal cookie tweaked into breakfast bars, which is baked up every morning by the staff in the baking class in fact- the school's best seller! With teachers, 30 third graders from their family school Wilmington and other guests invited to participate, there were about 1500 people taking part here on Food Revolution Day! A successful day indeed! See here for more.

Photos reposted from Happy Revolution Day post (read more for details).

A second school event was held at Henry Kelsey's Middle School in Scarborough. My elementary schoolmate Ming Won, a grade seven teacher championed getting his school involved; he was able to bring together three teachers (including himself) and their classes to join in the hands-on session making the Squash-It Sandwich, with a total of 84 students, cooking while watching Jamie's on-line lesson. He tells me the program was great and the kids enjoyed both the group activities (students worked in teams germinating alfalfa sprouts in sprouting glass jars donated from A. Vogel Canada) and eating the sandwich! Speaking to the school principal pre-event, he was encouraged to review the success of the day to consider participating at a broader level with more classes in 2016. With the great feedback, that potential is promising!

Photo Credits: Ming Won

At the third school, Forest Grove Montessori attended by my youngest son Matias', two classes- 40 students participated (this was their second year getting involved). The children donned Food Revolution Day tattoos, ate cookies I baked up-- Susan's Crispy Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies and learned about germination and photosynthesis by growing sprouts with sprouting jars generously donated by A Vogel to Canadian-wide ambassadors. Their goal, through the Food Revolution ambassadors, was to encourage food literacy and consumption of nutrient dense fresh foods, by teaching 1000 kids and their families to sprout. When I went to pick up my son at the end of the long day, I was swarmed with his classmates showing off their tattoos, telling me my cookies were yummy and that they had a fun day! My heart glowed and made me smile ear to ear.

Photo Credits: Tammy Ghajar

No rest for the wicked-- The next day after Food Revolution Day, I assisted fellow Toronto Ambassador Linda Matarasso at her successful public Veggie Cooking Demo venue at Hendrix Restaurant Supplies & Equipment's brand new showroom in North York. Her menu consisted of homemade pita flatbreads, Mediterranean grilled veggie flatbread sandwiches and spicy carrot soup. With Linda's thorough demo, participants taking part in dough rolling, savouring delicious food and great prizes at the end, everyone had a fantastic time! To read more, see my account of the day's activities and Linda's post @starvingfoodie.

Photo Credits: Alex @hypebelly

Mardi Michels, fellow Super Ambassador for Canada and Food Revolution Toronto had a super busy week. She tells us, "I’ve done large in-school events to celebrate getting kids and their parents cooking for Food Revolution Day in 2012, 2013 and 2014 – it’s been amazing to see the larger school community join me in standing up for real food!  This year, I wanted to go a different route, though. Since Jamie Oliver’s push was all about getting food education onto the curriculum, I wanted to see if I couldn’t work some Food Revolution activities into my own – to make it a little more organic, less “one big one-off event” and more activities that will spark conversation at home and school about eating better and cooking. 

I’m lucky to have a little wiggle room in my curriculum around about now and the week of Food Revolution Day I was able to insert a few lessons based on Jamie’s official Food Revolution sandwich – the Squash It Sandwich – into all my classes from Grades 3-6. We all started out by watching the Mr Bean episode where he makes a strange sandwich on a park bench We talked about his ingredients, the boys drew his sandwich and labelled it and the older guys talked about the odd utensils he used (scissors to cut the bread, credit card to spread the butter etc…). Then we brainstormed sandwich ingredients and the boys then drew their dream sandwich – they had to choose a spread, a meat/ cheese or fish and some vegetables (oh and yes, Nutella and jam totally made it into the “spreads” column!). We grew the sprouts (using the ‪#‎BioSnackySprouts kits generously donated by A.Vogel Canada!) and then we got cooking with our sprouts – making Jamie’s Squash it Sandwich – as much en français as we could! In the lesson after our cooking session we wrapped up by drawing and talking about our version of the sandwich aux légumes écrasés!  Read more about my in-school Food Revolution Week activities, here and my public events here."

Photo Credits: Mardi Michels

Registered Dietitian and fellow Food Revolution Toronto Ambassador Carol Harrison took an opportunity during a cooking with kids TV segment on the Rogers Daytime Show to highlight Food Revolution Day and encourage folks to sign the petition. The segment airs three times a day each reaching 600,000 viewers. Parents' barriers and concerns about cooking with kids were addressed while providing concrete ideas for how to involve children at different ages including making the themed squashed sandwich. These one through three graders in Toronto's east end lost no time jumping right in to make a 20 item salad bar with Carol.  All the while, the children learned how to wash, peel, grate and chop vegetables safely as well as make a home made salad dressing. Their plates were practically licked clean, proof that if children are involved in preparing food and have choice in what and how much they eat, they are much more likely to eat well. 

Photo Credits: Carol Harrison

Julie Cockburn, Super Ambassador from Bend Oregon, details her special day growing with the community locals: "I loved being able to offer real, practical support to a garden project here in Central Oregon. With the assistance of Central Oregon Seed Exchange, we were able to source donations for seeds and soil that were delivered to Crawmer’s in April. During the morning of May 15th, a handful of Food Revolution volunteers cleaned up their garden, and helped the kids get their seed starts into the ground.

Savory Spice Shop Bend generously supported the campaign by donating a portion of their proceeds from May 15th to the project, allowing us to give Crawmer’s a gift of over $200 to go toward their garden. The little kiddos, whose garden we helped plant on May 15th, are off to a great start – learning where their food comes from, and getting excited about growing it themselves! Our public outreach at Savory Spice Shop Bend was a huge success! Several hundred people visited with us, tasted REAL food samples, chatted with some of our amazing local producers, purchased seeds, learned about a local CSA, grabbed a free copy of the 2015 Food & Farm directory for Central Oregon from the High Desert Food & Farm Alliance, got a chair massage from Hands Of Healing Bend, and generally got excited about growing and eating REAL food!

In the first two hours, we gave out 100 free, local, non-gmo veggie seed packs provided by Central Oregon Seed Exchange, and sold many more throughout the day. A highlight was the beautiful enclosed viewing bee hive from Bend Bee Company. Young and old alike loved seeing the bees, while tasting a bite of their high desert honey.

I personally loved handing out pieces of Bloomsdale spinach harvested fresh the day before from one of our local farms - Juniper Jungle. I would have never thought samples of spinach would be a hit, but this spinach was so seriously tasty! Almost everyone who tasted it said it was the best spinach they ever tried – just one more reason to eat fresh, local produce! I’m already looking ahead to making the 2016 Food Revolution Day even better!" Read more on Julie's event.

Photo Credits: Julie Cockburn

Prachi Grover, Super Ambassador in Dubai had this to tell us: "A little more than a week since the Food Revolution Day and though a part of me is happy and content that everything went off well (finally I can put up my legs on the coffee table and ponder about the beautiful memories we created together); if you were to ask me to be really really honest I am terribly missing all those days (read the last five months).Endless planning, organizing, exchanging hundreds of emails, eating up each other heads, agreeing, disagreeing, sleepless nights because I was too excited to sleep before each of the events, those wonderfully generous people who came together to make this happen and those happy faces of all the little ones who made Food Revolution Day 2015 so very special.

We began with the 100 children coming together at the Indian High School, followed by another 100 along with their parents at Jamie’s Italian and 120 of them with parents at Lafayette Gourmet. Subscribers of dinnertime service also cooked with us and there was a virtual event on the blog. When so many of these little chefs took a pledge together it gave me Goosebumps. We cooked, tasted and tested. Played and Pledged. Danced and Sang. What a memorable month it has been. Much thanks to all the partners, media, parents and little ones who made this happen. 

At the last event one little girl came and told me she really really had fun today and when would be the next Food Revolution Day. I whispered in her ear, guess what it is tomorrow! That’s right. Every day is a Food Revolution Day!" Read here for more.

I told Prachi I absolutely loved this photo (one of her favourites)-- she sums it up beautifully, by saying, "Isn't it just like everyone is rising together and going out hand in hand to accomplish something meaningful?"

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much-- Helen Keller. Photo Credit: Prachi Grover.

Netherlands' Super Ambassador Terri Salminen took part in a multitude of events leading up to FRD, on FRD and beyond. "This year was my second time organizing a FRD event. My first event took place at the beautiful NeighbourFood Market in Amsterdam on April 19th. Amidst more than 50 local chefs and organic food entrepreneurs, I demonstrated the “Squash It” sandwich, gave tastings of the main ingredients of the theme recipe and engaged hundreds of market visitors in discussions about real food, the importance of sharing food knowledge and spoke avidly about the food education petition! It was a very fulfilling day, full of promise. Next year, I envision organizing cooking lessons for children and at the NeighbourFood Market to celebrate a new year of Food Revolution.

From May 8th through May 13th I executed a Food Revolution Line-up, visiting three diverse corporate restaurants of renowned international companies. I asked head chefs Damien Taylor, Joris Hendriks, Fong Yee Wong and Edwin Kwakernaak to cook from the heart and to share a favorite recipe with their guests by demonstrating easily imitated cooking techniques during lunch services. My goal was to inspire a wave of home cooking from scratch. In a little less than a week, with the passionate assistance of participating chefs I was able to reach more than 700 people.

During the week prior to Food Revolution Day, Hutten Business Catering made the “Squash It” sandwich, showing their support for the mission of FRD in more than 100 corporate restaurant locations. Although a few events were cancelled at the last minute, on Friday May 15th, I was invited to assist in a Food Revolution event at the Alkmaar soccer stadium, where 70 youth athletes took part in a taste testing and cooking lesson making a healthy vegetable wraps.

With Food Revolution Day at a close, I am posting the participating chefs’ stories and recipes through social media — working on my plan for next year. Meanwhile, my next “Food Revolution” event will take place this summer in Grayslake, Illinois where I am teaming up with Super ambassador Lindsey Shifley to teach cooking to a group of teenaged students at the working organic farm of the Liberty Prairie Foundation. My weeks will be filled up until my flight to the U.S. on Independence Day (July 4th) with the writing of a book of cooking basics where ingredients will be interchangeable and sharing essential cooking techniques will be our main purpose." Incredible work Terri!

"My dream is to make a difference. My passion is to inspire others to love good food made from their own hands." 
Photo Credits: Terri Salminen

Sandra Mukidza, Super Ambassador in Nairobi, Kenya shares these wonderful smiley photos cooking up Jamie's champion sandwich. Follow her pictorial post to see more smiles on her incredible FR day.

“Tell me what you eat and I’ll tell you who you are.” Photo Credits: Sandra Mukidza

In Argentina, several FRD events took place. Starting with a public awareness presentation in Buenos Aires, Super Ambassador Maria Elena Ledesma gave a cooking demonstration along with a tasting. She emphasized the importance of using healthy foods and local ingredients, consistent with Jamie Oliver's message to promote local cuisine with sustainable and healthy foods. Maria delighted the audience by cooking a recipe with the ancient seed quinoa that contains powerful nutritional properties harvested from north western Argentina. 

In late May, post FRD, her work also unified efforts with another Ambassador, the renowned chef Perla Buenos Herro, where both shared an outdoor program in an important organic market with families and children. All those who came with their recyclable cups shared a delicious vegetable soup in a friendly and festive atmosphere, accompanied with the radiance of the sun. Maria Elena Ledesma also gave interviews and appeared in articles of important newspapers, magazines and on radio in Argentina, bringing awareness to Food Revolution Day, and Jamie Oliver's global petition on food education. This commitment will continue throughout the year, with more planned actions to support the message of the Food Revolution campaign.

Photo Credits: Maria Elena Ledesma

Photo Credit: Way Ling Wiesser, Singapore

Singapore Ambassador, Way Ling Wiesser spent some time in school, speaking to a class of 24 about making healthier choices and opening their eyes to the shocking reality of processed foods.

The school also switched their normal sweet treats on Feast Friday to a whole spread of fruits and vegetables, and Way introduced them to freshly roasted kale chips - which some called grass, but all loved! Jamie's Food Revolution Day song was well enjoyed.








Diego Ruete is Montevideo, Uruguay's Super Ambassador living and breathing Food Revolution 365 days a year with his Petit Gourmet cooking school and advocacy work with Fooducation. Diego says, "our #FoodRevolution goes on, we are having three actions cooking with parents and children in a hospital. On Monday, we are going to a public high school 60km away from the capital city to share our kitchen skills with 80 students. That's our short term schedule-- our aim is to reach 800 kids before the end of the year. Hope we can reach more!" I believe and know you can-- go Diego go!

Photo Credit: Diego Ruete

Kate Chou, Ambassador in Taiwan had loads of fun engaging kids in creative food educational games. I'm inspired to adapt similar activities in future events with my own community!

Another year of Jamie Oliver's Annual Food Revolution Day is over but indeed not our spirit of committing to keep the momentum going and keeping cooking skills alive to help drive increased food education across schools around the world. If you haven't sign the petition, it runs until October! 

A HUGE thank you to everyone here who shared their incredible accomplishments and for giving me continued inspiration as a member of our ambassador family.  I feel lucky to have the opportunity to round up such an amazing compilation of your special activities here and around the globe.  Let's keep our candles burning for our great cause as we all know food Revolution day is not just one day, but everyday!

Super Ambassadors from around the world.

For more on what happened in your country and around the world, check out Food Revolution Day.

Food Revolution Day Cooking Demo Community Event... Mediterranean Grilled Veggie Flatbreads...

Saturday, the day after Food Revolution Day was another happening event for me! I was assisting my fellow ambassador Linda Matarasso at her public Wonky Veg Cooking Demo venue at Hendrix Restaurant Supplies & Equipment's brand new showroom in North York. Linda had a team of friends to support her- she had two people assisting her with greeting attendees at the door and handling ballots for draws, and in the kitchen with me and her friend Jenny Roger. There were a lot to prepare in the kitchen before Linda started her presentation at noon. Her menu consisted of homemade pita flatbreads, Mediterranean grilled veggie flatbread sandwiches and spicy carrot soup. We had enough ingredients to prepare food for a hundred!

Photo Credit: Alex @hypebelly Alissa from Hendrix with sandwich 

Excited to work in Hendrix's brand-spanking kitchen space.
Photo Credit: Jenny Roger @jenny_roger

In charge of the dough-making for the flatbreads, I managed to whip up nine batches using two Kitchenaid mixers in the nick of time to give them an hour to rise in room temperature.

There's Linda looking smashin' before getting ready to rock and roll. She poses with sponsor Richa Gupta's Good Food For Good Sauces which she used to add flavour in her Spicy Carrot Soup.

Linda working her charm and humour throughout her demo presentation to engage the crowd. Her thorough instructions were nicely injected with personal stories and tips. It was great she had an entourage of friends there to support her! So sweet!

Linda shows how easy and quickly a mandoline does the job of giving veggies a consistent slice.

As Linda' s right hand woman, I was committed to make sure her demo went smoothly. Photo credit: Alex @hypebelly

Participants rolling out dough that have risen and cut into pieces to get their hands in the action!

This was the first time I made homemade flatbread (and nine batches on my first try)! Super easy! Click here to download and print all the recipes including the deelish spicy carrot soup.

Vegetables is always a smart offering at any venue due to various restrictions in people's diets. And the Mediterranean-style fits the bill harmoniously in these grilled sandwiches.

And then the grilling begins.... I hustled and bustled the large hot grills and griddle alongside Jenny, flipping countless sliced coloured bell peppers, zucchinis and eggplants to blister with grill marks. Richa joined in and assisted in seasoning the grilled veggies with Linda's spice mix and garlic oil. To prevent the garlic from burning during cooking, this was added at the end. Next to hit the hot grills were the flatbreads. The dough was sectioned into eight pieces, and we helped knead and stretch while Linda carried on, telling her audience how simple they are to really make and I concur! They puffed up nicely with some air pockets and blistered nicely. It was the first time these grills were used at the store, and we completely broke them in on Food Rev Day!

This cool hand blender was an apparatus in itself. Huge and quite powerful I'm sure but just in case we kept the bad boy buzzing at a moderate level. Wouldn't want to be splattered all over with hot orange carrot soup.

Look at that beautiful vegetable spread! YUM!

We served the flatbreads and grilled vegetables as a DIY where the participants could customize to their own tastes. Each taking a flatbread and their choice of veggies, homemade pickled onions along with a tahini sauce, mint yoghurt sauce, Parmesan cheese and crumbled feta and fresh chopped mint were offered as toppings and condiments.

The verdict? OMG!!! The most delicious pretty vegetable sandwich I ever sunk my teeth in! Delectable, hearty and delicious! The pita was soft, pliable and chewy! And popping with colours and textures! The juicy vegetables burst with natural sweetness and the garlic-infused oil- mmmm!! The homemade pickled onions added a nice sweet and sour crunch and the tahini and yogurt sauce the slight creaminess.... Heaven in my mouth I say!...

Okay, is this the most gorgeous shot or what? Photo Credit: Alex @hypebelly

And another with Spicy Carrot Soup.  Alex @hypebelly, you're killing me...

After everyone had a chance to sample the sandwiches and soup, prize draws were awarded that included two gift baskets containing a Jamie Oliver cookbook, Sobeys gift card, apron, pens and note pads, Aroma Espresso Gift Card, Uber Card, and a free bag of food from Fresh City Farms. Although, most of us were quite tired after a busy day with Linda and I barely able to stand anymore, we knew it was a fun-filled successful venue where everyone who came out had a great time and supported a great cause on Food Revolution Day!

The amazing team supporting Linda and two little lovely ladies joining in the fun! Credit: @hypebelly

Flexing and posing for Fighting For Food Education!

Photo Credit: Alex @hypebelly

To see Linda Matarasso's personal account of the day's event, check it out here on her blog Starving Foodie.

So....... Seriously, I have been dreaming about Linda's delectable and healthy sandwich since and with cooking back in full swing at home after all my food revolution activities, I was super inspired to make it tonight with my family. 

I don't own a mixer, so I made up a batch of Linda's flatbread recipe, kneading the dough for 10 minutes with both hands. I will tell you that the dough did not double in size. The water I used to dissolve the yeast was too hot, it needs to be very warm (not hot) for the yeast to bloom, and so the dough did not rise properly. You'd think I'd get it right after making nine batches at the event.... However, all was not lost, we worked with them and grilled them up anyway, and they were indeed flat flatbreads. Thin, crispy, very chewy and still pliable enough to fold!

My boys helping to knead and stretch the dough pieces to ready for the grill.

Very thin right? But still tasted good!

I also put out oven-roasted turkey deli meat as a protein option since it was dinner. As for condiments, I had a few ripe avocados that I easily turned into a guacamole, tahini-lime dressing and creamy sweet and tangy Japanese kewpie mayonnaise! Sliced onions and cilantro added crunch and added flavour! Hearty, healthy and delicious!

Yep, my boys agreed, they liked it too, nodding, savouring and smiling between bites!

Here's the thumbs up to you Linda! Husband loved it too! Thank you for inspiring our dinner tonight- it's a recipe that I will make over and over again! A fantastic way to get your kids to eat their veggies- grilled is definitely a way to go!