Prevent Wasted Food

Kids rocking the waste-less kitchen

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumer Families!

In this edition of Kitchen Confessions, we’d like to offer some resources and support to families of Future Chefs and Conscientious Consumers. It’s the middle of summer vacation, so hopefully you are having some opportunities to enjoy spending time in the kitchen together!

How many of your treasured memories involve cooking and food preparation in the family kitchen? Did the pandemic help your family rediscover the joy of cooking at home?

Many kids are eager to help in the kitchen from the time they can maneuver on their own two feet in there and comprehend an adult’s instructions. From that point on, they’re learning significant life lessons about the value of food, food preferences, nutrition and how to shop, as well as desirable practices in the handling and preparation of food. Sustainable food practices are skills that will serve children for the rest of their lives!

Just like us grownups — but as appropriate for their age and with adult supervision — kids can learn how to plan meals and create shopping lists for what’s on the plan, to properly store perishable food and, finally, how to prepare it. After the meal, they can learn how to properly freeze leftovers and other foods, and to start regularly scouting the “Eat First” areas in the fridge or freezer. (All these “Smart Strategies” available in Spanish.)

Young Farmers’ Market patron’s waste-less pledge: “Take only what I will eat”

KNOW-HOW FOR KIDZ WHO COOK

You may already be familiar with the glow of pride and accomplishment on a child’s face when the family enjoys a dish or meal that he/she/they helped prepare, or that they made all by themselves!

Excellent resources for kids learning to cook are available from Oregon State University’s KidSpirit year-round programs (scholarships available), and Food Hero, offered free by the OSU Extension Service’s Family and Community Health division.

Both programs emphasize safe kitchen practices (including washing hands often) and offer an extensive selection of kid-friendly recipes for making healthy food, while helping kids develop confidence and have fun! Food Hero’s compendium of family resources includes gardening, large-batch cooking, and information for older adults and in Spanish.

Be sure to check out the huge list of videos at Food Hero’s Kids Cooking Show — including Grape and Cucumber Salad, a fresh and yummy summertime snack!

WASTE-LESS KIDZ WHO COOK:

  • Are learning to make the most of a family grocery budget, instead of just tossing things in the compost or garbage. (The average American family of four wastes at least $1,600 a year on food that was purchased but not eaten!)
  • May stretch their comfort zones as picky eaters. (I had one of those in my home.) A kid who says “beets are gross” may be willing to sample some pretty pink-colored hummus that he/she/they made themselves from a kid-friendly recipe. Bonus: beet juice is great for coloring summertime Easter eggs!
  • Eat “ugly” produce (like apples with minor bruising, spotted grapes, strangely-shaped tomatoes) or other food products with less-than-perfect characteristics — and have fun doing it.  Next time you see the OSU student Organic Growers Club at the downtown Saturday Farmers’ Market, ask if they still give away free “ugly” produce!
  • Learn portion control early. Many kids are happy to serve themselves when they get the chance. Let’s help them be like our young Farmers’ Market patron (above) who pledged to “take only what I will eat” on her next plate!
  • Learn good waste-less habits early. Check out these waste-less training tips for kids from SaveTheFood.com to see how they resonate with your parenting approach.
  • Make friends with their family freezer. Remember those overripe bananas that were saved from the compost a couple months ago by popping them in the freezer? It’s Banana Smoothie Time! Or popsicles…  Or maybe even banana ice cream for breakfast!
  • Get creative with what’s collecting on the “Eat First” shelf in the fridge. See a video of the “aha” moment for this father and daughter below! Delight your budding chef with the task of assembling “Bagel Faces” from leftover veggie and fruit pieces, or maybe the last few olives in the jar. Thanks to Mollie Katzen and her charmingly-illustrated cookbooks for younger children.
  • Keep making friends with their family freezer.  Oh boy! Frozen grape “ice cubes” (great for iced tea and sodas)! All because somebody got proactive with the last third of a bunch that had started to shrivel. Veggie freezing tips here.
  • Enjoy portion control as part of summertime grilling and social gatherings. Foil-wrapped grill packages or bamboo skewers (with the sharpest point removed) are perfect for this. First kids help prep ingredients, then load up their own appropriately-sized servings. Wrinkled cherry tomatoes and peppers from the “Eat First” shelf can be pretty tasty right off the grill! Same with summer squash, onions, leftover chicken nuggets/tempeh, or what have you.

Getting creative with what’s already in the fridge! Credit: StopFoodWaste.org

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NEW IN LOCAL SCHOOLS THIS FALL!
A fun educational video in English and Spanish, starring local kids

We’re pleased to shine a brief spotlight on NFLB’s amazing “Eco-EduTainment” program for local schools, run by our Outreach Specialist Kjersten Hallin, aka Magic Mama. When the pandemic shut down schools, she also shifted digital and began developing an educational video as a fun new way to teach kids about the massive issues around food waste and climate change.

Anyone who’s seen “Magic Mama” at the downtown Farmers’ Market (prior to COVID19) or in their classroom knows what a delightful presence she brings to this huge topic. Her curriculum, delivered with the help of some catchy raps performed on unusual handmade instruments (like a repurposed pizza box), inspires kids to “rock” the prevention of wasted food in their own families and social circles of influence.

More than just entertaining, Kjersten’s presentations also help schools fulfill their district’s core and STEM education goals. (Please click on the photo to jump to NFLB’s Eco-EduTainment program page.)

Watch for exciting details about the Eco-EduTainment videos, launching in 4th and 5th grade classrooms this fall!

 

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Recipe by: Amy B. of Corvallis

MONEY SAVED: $10

INSPIRATION:

I like to snack at night on something that is healthy and yummy tasting at the same time. But I don’t like complicated recipes, so I create healthy snacks by blending things that may be already sitting in the fridge and kitchen.

This can be made vegan or vegetarian by substituting the egg with a chia seed mixture. Also a very kid friendly recipe, depending on how sweet you make it!

RECIPE (with leftovers clearly identified):

(NOTE: the amounts in this recipe are not exact. You may need to alter the proportions and ingredients to get the appropriate dough consistency.)

  • 1 cup flour ( use whatever you have: pastry flour, white flour, mixtures of both, or gluten free flour alternatives to wheat)
  • 2 Tbsp peanut butter (leftover)
  • 2 Tbsp tahini (leftover)
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil (on hand)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
    Vegan substitute: 3 Tbsp water combined with 1 TBsp chia seeds, let soak until gel forms.
  • Choice of sweetener – maple syrup, sugar, stevia, honey
  • Extra water if dough needs more moisture
  • Optional: Chocolate chips
  • Optional: Raisins, amount as desired
  • Optional: Nuts, your choice as desired

Mix flour and salt. Bring egg to room temp, add oils and nut butters, and mix well. Add wet mixture to flour to form a soft dough (texture should be soft and oily). Add raisins, chocolate chips, and nuts as desired and according what you have around your kitchen.

Add sweetener as desired. Mix well, flattened dough patties and place on baking sheet.

Cook in toaster or regular oven at 350 for 20 -25 mins. Toward the end of that time, check for desired browning (may vary due to different ovens). These taste better the next day, so let sit overnight!

 

Mind your ‘maters!

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

When was the last time you delighted in the taste experience of a ripe exploding cherry tomato? For many, one of the greatest pleasures of summer is the color, aroma and savory satisfaction of garden-fresh tomatoes, that ubiquitous vegetable (actually a fruit) that gardeners tend to have in over-abundance this time of year. Besides zucchini! (Also technically considered a fruit.)

Tomatoes are the 4th most-popular fresh market produce item for good reason: this versatile veggie-fruit can be sliced, diced, baked, stewed, roasted, sun-dried and pureed for so many of our favorite meals, year-round. Tomatoes are an essential ingredient of fresh summer salsa and many vegetable medley dishes from a variety of cultural and ethnic cuisines.

Of course, they’re also quite perishable and can be pricey, especially premium tomatoes still attached to their vines. Why not take advantage of our seasonal abundance and stock up on locally-sourced ‘maters that you prepped, froze and perhaps canned yourself? They’re sure to be fresher and better tasting than those imported from Mexico or China, not to mention anything you can buy in a can six months from now.

So let’s “mind our ‘maters” and make sure they end up where they can be properly appreciated! Here’s a few tips we hope you will find helpful:

  • Place tomatoes on the kitchen counter to ripen, away from direct sunlight, with the stem end up to prevent bruising. Monitor the ripening, then wash and prepare them for consumption at their height of flavor and juiciness! In a fridge, these qualities will diminish after just a few days.
  • Tomatoes are one of those veggies that naturally emit ethylene gas as part of their plant maturation cycles, so avoid placing or storing them near other produce that you don’t want to ripen too quickly or spoil.
  • Got too many ‘maters? Share with friends, or find the downloadable OLIO app on our website for locating people with whom to share your prodigious produce (keeping COVID-19 concerns in mind). Unfortunately, most local food banks and soup kitchens are currently not accepting donations of fresh produce, so let’s share with each other.
  • Once your tomatoes have spent time in the fridge, let them return to room temperature before preparing and consuming.
  • Ugly ‘maters still taste great! Bruised or cracked tomatoes may not work for the presentation of your bruschetta or for picky kiddos, but they are fine for freezing or canning, or as the foundation of a refreshing cold gazpacho soup, fresh salsa, or tomato juice/cocktail. (Just cut out the cracked areas and use the rest.) Over-ripe tomatoes tend to have black spots, signs of mold or an “off” smell — so off to the compost bin they go.

With COVID-19 keeping us all home more this summer, children will enjoy learning veggie-prep kitchen skills, like how to safely dice a tomato through the kid-friendly recipes and visual learning resources (in both English and Spanish) on OSU Extension Service’s “Food Hero” website. There’s 25 recipes to start with for fresh tomatoes! Numerous other veggies and categories of food can be explored as well.

This Week’s Kitchen Confessions:

JEANETTE CONFESSES: This is one of 3 or 4 portions of shredded pulled pork left from prepping for family meals. Fortunately most remaining portions went into the freezer in baggies, but this portion in the fridge got “left behind” (moldy), forgotten for too long.

$$ WASTED: About $6

LESSONS LEARNED: Either put all extra quantities in the freezer, or make sure small meal portions get onto our “Eat First” shelf or flagged on our Meal Planner so they’re eaten sooner!

KAREN CONFESSES: Before local tomatoes were in season, I bought mild sweet mango salsa which my son likes, and we enjoyed it with one meal of burritos and nachos. He went home afterwards and I placed the opened jar in the fridge door with the rest of my condiments. Since I prefer a green chile-based salsa (a bit more spicy), it tends to get used first and, eventually, I was dismayed to find a “science experiment” brewing inside the mango salsa jar.

$$ WASTED: About $2 (1/2 the cost of full jar)

LESSON LEARNED: Label it with the date opened and note it as ingredient for “Gazpacho” on my Meal Planner. Store opened jar in “Eat First” area in my fridge or encourage my son to take the rest of the jar home with him next time!

Happy Salsa Season!