Imagine guarding that $3.78 so you could make an extra trip to the grocery store.

What am I asking you to imagine? I’m asking you to imagine that you’re running out of food and you can’t buy more food. Not because you don’t have time to go to the store, but because you don’t have the money to go to the store. You don’t have the option of grabbing something to eat at a cafe or a fast food restaurant. You won’t be able to eat until you receive credit on your EBT card (this has replaced paper food stamps) or until you are allowed to get food at a food pantry (eat pantry has a policy about how often one may get food). What would you do? Educating individuals how to better spend the money they do have is part of the answer, but it’s not the whole answer.

During class on Tuesday I asked a student if she was familiar with this particular grocery store. She replied no, that she did not go to the grocery store because she could not afford it. In Operation Frontline classes each student is give a challenge to prepare a healthy meal with food from 4 of the 5 food groups for under $10. If they meet this challenge they receive a $10 gift card to the grocery store to purchase that food. This particular student managed to spend only $6.22. I encouraged her to go back for more. She wanted to save the extra money and use it another time. Imagine guarding that $3.78 so you could make an extra trip to the grocery store. In this moment I realized that I still considered being able to shop at a grocery store as a right. It’s not a right for many, it’s a privilege – one that I won’t be taking for granted any time soon.

Here’s a look at life in the office. The Capital Area Food Bank recently acquired a Flip Camera. Next week we’ll be bringing the camera to the classroom so that you can get a closer look of the fun we have while cooking. Stay tuned!

1.Donate by text.

Text “SHARE” to 20222 on your mobile device to donate $5. AT&T will match all text donations up to $100,000. Help us meet this challenge grant! Find out more here .

2.Hold a food drive:

Beginning January 19th, a national day of community service, help feed those in need by holding your own community food drive. Contact Molly McGlinchy (mcglinchym@cfoodbank.org) at the Capital Area Food Bank to organize a food drive. Additional information can be found here about the Capital Area Food Bank’s most wanted food items.

3. Donate food:

Extinguish Hunger Fire House Food Drive

Serve DC, with the Mayor’s office, is hosting a city-wide food drive from Saturday, January 17 through Monday, January 19 that benefits the Capital Area Food Bank. Donors may drop off non-perishable food to any fire station in the District on those days from 10a – 2p.

For more information about “Operation No Kid Hungry” and how you can help end childhood hunger, visit Share Our Strength’s website: http://strength.org.

Kris Woodson, the site coordinator, is fabulous and full of energy. She not only found the volunteers to teach the program, she also received a grant to purchase all the food for the course. Our volunteers include: Angel Marchman, a personal chef who owns Thyme Savory; Anna Arrowsmith, a dietitian for Maryland’s Department of Education; and Jennifer Mayer, a community health advocate for Priority Partners. As you can see, the expertise provided by these volunteers is making a huge impact on the participants.

Now, I’m sure you are wondering about the classes! We decided to go with the Side by Side curriculum to promote quality kitchen time between parents and their children. We have seven groups, and I’m thrilled to say that the graduation rate is going to be close to 100%.

If there is any surefire way to get kids to eat new foods, it’s having them participate in the meal-making process. Angel has some great tips for kids in the kitchen. Purchase a lettuce knife, so children can help prepare produce. Use a pizza cutter for cutting fresh herbs. Allow kids to do the mixing, pouring and measuring. You might even get them to help with the dishes-quality time with parents means a lot to kids. Most importantly, be patient and enthusiastic about spending time with your children.

Over the course, we have made two-bean chili, eggplant Parmesan, scalloped cauliflower and mushrooms, smoothies, pineapple salsa and hummus. To get into the holiday spirit, we are going to combine our nutrition lesson about breakfast with the recipe next week. Our menu includes pumpkin pancakes with a homemade apple syrup. We talked about pumpkin muffins as an alternative, but those just seemed too typical. These kids want the challenge of creating something adventurous!

Greens are in season during the spring and fall when the weather is a little bit cooler. You can make this recipe with greens from the farmers’ market, the fresh produce aisle, or from bagged greens. We recently combined two different recipes and a touch of our own flair to make a fabulous greens dish. During class we didn’t use a recipe, but we estimated ingredient quantities below. I hope the flavors will blend as well as they did the first time, so all you professed greens haters will have a change of mind.

Ideally we would use local fresh greens as an inexpensive and sustainable practice. However, we decided to go with the bagged version for the sake of saving time in class.

Here is our “test kitchen” recipe for Sweet and Savory Cooking Greens:

1 9oz bag spinach*
1 16oz bag kale*
1 16oz bag collard greens*
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
3 small apples, diced
½ cup of Crasins
Salt to taste

1. Bring approximately 2 quarts of water to a boil in a dutch oven or soup pot.
2. Add kale and collard greens to boiling water and cook for approximately 20 minutes or to your preferred doneness.
3. While greens are cooking, cut and sauté onion in olive oil for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add spinach to onion and cook until wilted.
5. Drain kale and collard greens from water.
6. In a large bowl, mix cooked greens, spinach, onion, apples, apple cider vinegar, and Crasins.
7. Stir well. Serve and enjoy!

*Any combination of greens will work well. Additionally, non-packaged greens may be used; chop and wash before cooking.

I first learned about Operation Frontline in 2005 when I was exploring career paths. From that moment I knew I wanted to be involved with Operation Frontline either as an AmeriCorps member or a future volunteer.

Flash forward. In May 2008 I graduated from Indiana University with an M.S. in Nutrition Science. The opportunity to work for Operation Frontline presented itself, and I jumped at it as quickly as I could! What a perfect way to utilize my degree while gaining immeasurable experience in community nutrition! If all goes as planned, next year I will start my dietetic internship to become a Registered Dietitian (RD)

I’m four weeks and seven classes into my new position, and I couldn’t be more excited about this job! The highlight of working with OFL is getting to know the participants and volunteers.

Last week, at a long term transition home, a discussion of fruits and vegetables took front stage followed by a discussion of sugar. New and favorite vegetables were cut up by participants, roasted, and then piled onto whole wheat pitas for a new take on quick and healthy pizza. During the sugar discussion, participants guessed how many teaspoons of sugar were present in a can of soda. One participant measured sugar, by the teaspoon, into a cup. Once she reached the equivalent of 40 grams of sugar, equal to 10 teaspoons, she stopped to view the sugar. It was indeed a powerful visual! No one was interested in drinking soda, at least for that night.

At a senior citizen center last week we made barley jambalaya and it was delicious. At the end of the session I was chatting with one participant and asked her opinion on the dish. She’d never tasted barely before, but loved it so much that she couldn’t wait to make it for her husband! I am looking forward to seeing her this coming week to find out what her husband thought of the new grain.

Each week we hear stories. see lightbulbs go off and explore new recipes. In an effort to utilize this great resource more, Becky and I will attempt to provide you all with a mini story or tasty recipe each week. You will still get specific updates about classes from time to time and details about conferences and events. However, the quick updates are easier for us and really more meaningful too.

It’s almost time for some butternut squash soup, so get that cooking imagination started, and we’ll be back soon.

Though I have always enjoyed my work with Operation Frontline, before Ona joined the Capital Area Food Bank staff, I must admit, many days were stressful. Running all facets of a program takes a toll on any individual. Not to mention, as much as I wanted to improve and expand the program, there wasn’t time to do so.

Then entered Ona. Relaxed. Passionate. Focused. Creative. Outgoing. Though Ona was an Americorps member, getting paid a shockingly small stipend, she worked long hours without complaint. Our schedules were often crazy, but throughout, Ona kept a smile on her face. She touched the lives of many participants, from kids to senior adults, during this year of service. She impacted and inspired me too. Life has been calmer with Ona around. Life has been more fun with Ona around. We were a true team from the get-go, challenging and supporting one another always.

When someone comes into a job and exceeds expectations, it is inevitably hard to see that individual leave. For Ona, that time is now. At 5pm today, Ona will officially be finished with her year of service to Operation Frontline.

I’m happy to say that Ona has found another position with a well-established nutrition policy organization. She will put her experience with Operation Frontline and her passion for policy to good use.

To you Ona, thanks for your dedication, ambition and friendship. Keep me accountable for updating this Blog, and send me local chef news from time to time. I’m sure we’ll be seeing one another soon at an Operation Frontline series (yes, she has offered to continue as a volunteer!) or at one of our market pot luck meals.

You’re the best! We’ll surely miss you around the Capital Area Food Bank.

Becky

In the remarkably pleasant weather on Saturday (a cool breeze during DC July is an invaluable resource), Eric, Betina, and I headed down to the Ward 8 Farmer’s Market for the 3rd class of this series.

If I was asked to design a theoretically perfect Operation Frontline class, the concept of this one would come pretty close. In addition to the effective, easy to follow curriculum that we work with in most classes, we are able to incorporate fresh produce from the farmers into all of our classes. Not surprisingly, the produce is reliably fresher, tastier, pesticide-free, and does not carry the threat of food borne illnesses.

If that wasn’t enough to convince people, it’s cheaper! Not to say everyone should run out to the Dupont market to save money, but these farmers in Ward 8 keep their prices very reasonable to accommodate the neighborhood residents. Instead of a take-home bag of food from a grocery store, participants receive $10 vouchers for the farmers’ market, which they can use after class to either purchase produce we cooked with that day, or anything else that suits their palette.

Like most great ideas, “in theory” and “in practice” end up taking drastically different forms. Like most optimistic hard workers, we adapt to the challenges and do the best we can. The first two classes had pretty measly turnouts, with three people at each class (no, not the same three.) This class was set to be the last effort unless more people came, and what should appear but 7 engaged, interested participants! So, we’ve decided to push on and continue with the classes.

Even if we don’t have a consistent group, people are still enjoying these classes, trying new foods, and spending a couple of hours on a Saturday morning thinking about how their food choices can affect their health, their families’ health, and in this case, their local economy and food system. Sounds like a good way to spend the weekend…

Enough from me! I’ll let Eric, our wonderful chef volunteer, give you more insight into the class:

Eric Hoffman is volunteering with Operation Frontline this summer while he interns at Food and Water Watch in Washington, DC. He will be moving to Tucson in the fall as a Congressional Hunger Fellow. While working on an organic farm for the past year, Eric gained knowledge and passion for sustainable food systems and hunger relief. He brings this experience as well as an infectious enthusiasm to his service with Operation Frontline. You can visit Eric’s blog at http://hungrysprout.blogspot.com

Saturday was the third Operation Frontline class and we focused on protein and dairy. The nutritionist, Suzie, from the first two lessons moved out of state so Ona, the program’s assistant coordinator has taken the reigns for the last few classes. For the first half of the class, we discussed the benefits of low-fat proteins and meat alternatives.

Ona conducted a powerful demonstration in which participants were given a sheet with the typical McDonalds and Chipotle menu with the total amount of fat and calories per meal. She then asked people to count the amount of fat they would get from a meal at these restaurants. The amount of fat from a cheeseburger, small fry, and an apple pie were scooped onto a piece of bread in the form of Crisco to show visually just how much fat is in fast food. In the end, there were 13 scoops of Crisco in this “fatty patty.” Everyone in the class seemed disgusted and I heard a few people mention how they would think twice before going to a fast food restaurant again.

For the cooking portion of the class we decided to make breakfast burritos and yogurt parfaits. We received fresh tomato, onion, and pepper from the farmers market for the burritos and blueberries (the best blueberries I have ever had probably!) and blackberries. The recipes are below:

Breakfast Burrito
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 red onion
1/2 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil or butter or margarine
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
fresh cilantro
1 flour tortilla

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs together with the milk until well beaten and season with salt,pepper, and cumin.

Heat the oil or butter in a skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. Saute the pepper,onion, and tomato on medium heat for 5 minutes. Carefully add the eggs. Cook, mixing frequently, until you have scrambled eggs of the desired consistency.

Place the scrambled eggs in the center of the flour tortilla, and top with cheese.

After cooking the eggs, we had the class come up and top the egg & veggies with cheese and salsa. I found this nifty guide online to show the “proper” burrito folding technique at http://howtowrapaburrito.com/ (the best part is the fact that someone actually bought the domain name for this…) The burritos were tasty and way better for you than a regular burrito at Chipotle!

Yogurt Parfait
2 C vanilla yogurt
1 C granola
1 C fresh berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries) or peaches

In a large glass or clear plastic cup, layer 1/2 of yogurt, 1/4 C granola, and 1/4 C fruit. Repeat layers

We used half vanilla yogurt and half plain yogurt mixed together, which cut the amount of sugar in half while keeping most of the sweetness. The class came up to the table to put together their own parfaits, which was fun!

The class had decent turnout and we decided to continue with the program for the last two weeks. Next Saturday will be healthy snacks!

About ten women participated in the demo and throughout the two hours they were lively and engaged in both the discussion and cooking activities. They offered their opinions, suggestions, and questions, which ranged from what’s a serving of avocado to if soy cheese is healthy. Using the information they learned about food groups and serving sizes from the overview of My Pyramid, they completed a meal planning activity where we collaborated to create a day’s meal plan that met all of the USDA’s recommended daily requirements.

The theme of the demo was healthy snacking, which is something that can be helpful for anyone to learn, especially since unhealthy snack foods can be quite tempting. Since these participants are currently provided with dinner but are on their own for snacks, it was a particularly appropriate lesson for now and in the future when they leave.

The two snacks that we made were a fresh salsa-avocado wrap using whole-wheat tortillas and a yogurt parfait with seasonal fruits (strawberries, grapes, and mango) and low-fat, low-sugar granola. The women were eager to help in any way that they could (some of them even offered to wash dishes!) Each participant contributed to the dishes, cutting tomatoes, peppers, and onions for the salsa, and then slicing the fruit and assembling their own parfaits. To top it all off, they were all excited to try the snacks and most of them thoroughly enjoyed them.

While this site provides a cooking class to its residents, they currently do not have a program that combines cooking with nutrition education. We look forward to working with them again soon, hopefully in a full Operation Frontline series.

Fresh Salsa

Ingredients:
2 large tomatoes, chopped (or 1 14.5 oz. can chopped tomatoes)
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
½ red onion, chopped
1 Tbs fresh cilantro, chopped
1 Tbs cider vinegar or lime juice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in large bowl.
2. Let sit for at least 20 minutes for vegetables to absorb flavors.
3. Enjoy with tortilla chips, in a wrap, or as a sauce for meat or fish!

Last week, we celebrated the graduation of a Side by Side class series, which brings parents and their children together in the kitchen and classroom. This class presented some unique challenges for both me and the wonderful volunteer team with whom I worked. Scott, Liza, Heather, and I were all trying out the Side by Side curriculum for the first time, since it was our first in DC!

Assembling mini-turkey burgers for graduation party

I had sought the advice of Operation Frontline staff in other cities, and the challenges they had experienced definitely rang true in this series. Structuring a class so that both the adults and children are engaged is extremely difficult. With 12 children and 2-3 parents in this series, catering anything towards the adults was near impossible. The volunteers met the challenge though, learning from each class and trying new activities for the next.

Our volunteer chef, Scott, gave the adults more challenging chopping tasks, teaching them how to more easily cut onions, mangoes, and cantaloupe. While the parents chopped, the kids cut strawberries with butter knives and rolled oatmeal cookie dough into small balls. Our volunteer nutritionist, Liza, had separate discussions with the parents about modeling food behavior by trying new things and eating well, and also led activities where the parents and children worked together to brainstorm about healthy meals and snacking.

One of the most successful lessons came in class #3, when we had each family make their own personal pizza, rolling out home-made whole wheat dough (thanks to Scott’s prep work) and using a variety of sautéed and roasted vegetables. The children whose parents couldn’t attend the class had help from the volunteers. The kids loved pushing out the dough, and since they had helped chop the vegetables, were the first to add them on to the pizza. The parents looked pretty surprised as their kids piled on the mushrooms and peppers!

For the graduation lesson, Liza led a jeopardy game with the adults and kids. As I suspected, some participants had absorbed more than others in terms of nutrition information. But when the graduation party food came out, many participants showed that they had learned another important lesson: to have an open mind about new foods and tastes. Many kids tried guacamole on their salmon cakes, and one boy asked for thirds of the black bean and corn salsa.

Scott making fresh fruit popsicles with the kids
Big congratulations to the young participants of this series, who graduated from Operation Frontline and also their current grade at school last week. They were a caring, good-natured, if not a little rowdy, group of kids that were very hard to say goodbye to. All our best to them and their families!

I usually don’t love canned salmon, but these were delicious. Thanks, Scott! (And Trader Joe’s for stocking a non-fishy canned salmon!)
CURRIED MINI SALMON CAKES
Yield: 35 2 oz cakes

1 Egg
1 cup Mayonnaise
2 tbsp Whole Grain Mustard
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp Old Bay
1 tbsp Curry powder
1 ½ cup Scallions, sliced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced, small (optional)
1 cup Parsley, chopped
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 cans Salmon, drained well
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Pan spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Combine everything in a mixing bowl except salmon and breadcrumbs.
3. Gently fold in salmon, careful not to break up the meat too much.
4. Fold in breadcrumbs enough so that the mixture is tight.
5. Cook small piece in sauté pan and taste. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
6. Form into 2 ounce cakes, and place on oiled baking sheet 2” apart.
7. Lightly spray cakes with pan spray.
8. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from oven, flip cakes, and bake for 5 minutes more, until firm and hot throughout.