Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup!

Most days, children at Bloom! Montessori have the option of purchasing delicious, nutritious lunches from Revolution Foods, a great company started by two mothers and former school teachers who wanted to improve the nutritional standards of American school lunches. However, yesterday was Veteran's Day, and Revolution Foods was closed. So, what's a preschool class to do? Make lunch ourselves!

For our Veteran's Day menu, we decided on a child-friendly classic- homemade chicken noodle soup!

If you have ever considered a cooking project with preschoolers, this is one I heartily recommend. The ingredients are simple, the result is delicious, and it is something that with a little practice, children can accomplish almost completely independently- children can chop the mirepoix, mix the pasta dough, and roll and cut the noodles themselves.

All afternoon, the fragrant aroma of garlic, herbs, and sauteed onions, wafted through the school as the ingredients reduced into a richly flavored savory broth. Meanwhile, our little brigade of sous chefs took to the important task of noodle making. The children learned the traditional technique of making a mound of 00 flour, adding the remaining ingredients to the well, and using a fork to incorporate the remaining flour. Then, they took turns expertly mixing and kneading small batches of the sticky pasta dough in their little hands.

Once the dough had rested for a few minutes, we were ready to break out the hand crank pasta maker. We apportioned the dough, so that each child got their own small ball, and demonstrated how to use the pasta maker.

First, the children learned to fold the dough and feed it through the two large rollers which would flatten it into a large noodle.

Then, the children learned to feed it through the smaller rollers which cut it into noodles.

The children took turns using the pasta maker to turn their little balls of fresh pasta dough into long, thin noodles.

Then the children took to carefully separating each pasta strand

and hanging them on the rack to dry.

All day, the delicious aroma of garlic, onions, and herbs wafter through the school. At lunch time, the children crowded around the lunch tables, to receive their reward of fragrant, steaming bowls of homemade soup.

Unfortunately, the batteries on the classroom camera ran out before lunch time, but the children absolutely adored the soup. They happily slurped the homemade noodles, picked out their favorite tasty bits, and drank the savory broth. Many of the children had three bowls of soup and by the time lunch was finished, the soup pot was completely empty!

Not surprisingly, many of the children asked if we could make soup again tomorrow. Perhaps, we will need to add a monthly soup making day to our menu!

Happy Ramadan!

The children have been learning about Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar during which practicing Muslims engage in a time of introspection, self reflection, and worship. During the month of Ramadan, healthy adults fast from sun up to sundown. In the morning, families share a a hearty meal called suhoor; then, they abstain from eating and drinking until iftar, the fast breaking meal which is consumed after sunset. The meal begins with the eating of three dates, followed by the Mahgrib prayer, and a lavish meal.

Fasting provides an opportunity to practice self control, sacrifice, empathy for those who are less fortunate, and encourages acts of charity and generosity.


This year, the children were fortunate to have a member of our parent community, Dounia Mouhouche, volunteer to come and teach the class to prepare kesra, a traditional flatbread. Kesra is an amazingly tender whole wheat bread.

Dounia began by teaching the children about Ramadan. She explained that it is a time for self-reflection- to think about your life, what you are doing well, and what you could improve upon. She explained that it is a time to make promises to yourself about things that you might try to change, to do good deeds, to help those who are in need, and to consider people who are less fortunate (those who are hungry, without family, etc). The children were very interested in hearing about Ramadan, and considering what it would be like to go all day without food. When it was time to begin cooking, Dounia began by expertly mixing whole wheat flour, salt, yeast, oil, and water together, without the need for measuring devices, until the mixture reached the desired consistency. She allowed the mixture to rest for about fifteen minutes until the dough had risen and divided it into equal portions (so each child could have one ball of bread dough).

Then, she taught the children how to carefully roll their ball of dough into eight inch circles (full moons!). Several of the children aptly remarked to Dounia that she was "a good teacher."

Then it was time for the children to try. They absolutely loved rolling out the tender dough and shaping it into perfect orbs.

Once the dough had been formed, the children assembled to hear some Ramadan books, while our gracious volunteer busied herself with baking the kesra on a flat griddle pan until they were golden and brown.

The children dined on warm kesra, golden dates, and milk. Dounia explained that a conventional Ramadan fast is broken with the consumption of dates and milk to quickly restore blood sugar levels after the long hours of fasting (by providing food that is rich in calcium and potassium).

The children absolutely adored the kesra! In an amusing moment, one boy observed that the smell of the kesra reminded him of street vendors on the Pearl Street mall! In fact, we could barely keep up with the demand! No sooner would kesra come off the pan, have time to cool, and get cut into small pieces, then a child would report that the serving vessels were empty. It was hands down one of their favorite treats.

When the meal was complete, the children took home some kesra to share with their parents. One excited four year old girl proudly reported to her mother that "I love African food; it's delicious!"

In a world which is all too often marked by intolerance and ignorance of other cultures, it was particularly wonderful to see a young child beam with pride as he told his companions about being taught to make kesra by his grandmother during a trip to Africa, and have the opportunity to share an amazing culinary and cultural tradition with his appreciative and enamored friends. It was also an amazing opportunity for these young people to gain an understanding and appreciation of a different culture, and to learn about a beautiful celebration of the human desire to live, to love, and to serve others.

We wish to extend our sincere thanks to Dounia Mouhouche for sharing her time and talents with us, and for sharing her cultural traditions with us.

Bon Appetit!

Are these pictures from an end of summer garden party?

No. It's a typical school lunch for preschoolers.

Today marked the first day of the Bloom! Montessori School hot lunch program.

For the 2011-2012 school year, we are fortunate to be partnering with Revolution Foods to provide the children with approachable, nutritious, hot lunch options. Revolution Foods was founded in Oakland, CA in 2006 by Kirsten Saenz Tobey and Kirsten Groos, two mothers who wanted to reverse the growing tide of childhood obesity and the poor eating habits that proclaim America's youth. To date, Revolution Foods has served more than 23 million meals to school children and serves more than 70,000 meals daily to school children in more than 600 programs across the country. Revolution Foods serves meals that are appealing, delicious, and nutritious. Their meals consist of lean proteins, whole grains, a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats. They utilize whole, not heavily processed convenience foods, in age-appropriate portion sizes. Their mission is to instill life-long nutritional habits which will support student health and the maintenance of a healthy weight. All of their ingredients meet Whole Foods Market's stringent quality standards.

Revolution Foods meals never contain:

-NO rBST or hormones in milk
-NO fried food (including flash fried food)

-NO high fructose corn syrup

-NO trans fats

-NO artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners

-NO flavored milk or juice.

If the idea of "school hot lunch" conjures images of worn cafeteria trays, hair nets, and hamburgers, think again. The excited children participated in the ritual of setting the communal tables- carefully laying out the muslin tablecloths, setting the tables with a full place setting of china, and adorning the tables with their beautiful flower arrangements. When the preparations were complete, the children politely passed the serving vessels around the table, chatted politely about the day's events, and practiced using their best table manners. The children dined on all natural bean and cheese burritos, steamed carrots, salad, and fresh, local, peaches. Our meals are served with the child's choice of Horizon Organic Nonfat DHA Omega 3 milk, Silk Soy DHA Omega 3 with Calcium, or filtered water.

By the time lunch was over, practically all of the children had taken second helpings (interestingly, the steamed carrots and fresh peaches were the first to go) and the serving platters were completely empty! Everyone was very pleased with the quality, flavor, and appearance of the meals;

however, the main point of interest for the children was the ambiance. They were absolutely delighted with the embroidered tablecloths (embroidered place settings allowed them to set the table by matching the plates and silverware to their corresponding outlines), and they spent the majority of lunch practicing their table manners and mastering the skill of cutting food with a knife and fork (this was a new skill for all but one child- and I suspect the reason that the carrots disappeared first-they were the perfect food to practice cutting and eating).

As I watched the elated children learning to use knives and forks, I could not help but think of a recent Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution episode which addressed the subject of giving knives to young children: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOLTGT1Aexg

Just as Jamie Oliver surmised, it took the children less than one meal to have the basics down, and taught them a valuable skill that they will use for the rest of their lives.

We would like to extend a sincere thanks to Revolution Foods, especially Jenny Herman, Jacqueline Gleason, & Pat Donovan, for their commitment to the revolution and for making this wonderful program available to our small school. For more information about their program, please visit their website at: http://www.revfoods.com/

We would also like to thank St. Vrain Community Montessori School. We were too small to serve as our own "drop off site," and SVCM has graciously allowed us to use their location during the school year. Thank you so much for your kindness!

Finally, I wanted to thank my husband, Josh, for spending the weekend installing the new stove at the school and doing the vent and HVAC work to make this possible.

Thanks!

Farm to School Article

Bloom! Montessori's Farm to School Program and nutritional education was featured in last Sunday's edition of the Longmont Times Call. To read the article, follow this link: http://www.colo-news.com/submittedContent/enlarge.asp?topic=3&item=3942&Publication=tc

The Summer CSA Season Begins Today!

Reminder to Families who Purchased a CSA Share: Your share will be available for pickup today, on the patio of the school after 3:30 pm. If you will not be able to collect your share in person, feel free to send a friend!

The Summer Session is officially here! Summer Session at Bloom! Montessori means many things: warmer temperatures, summer BBQs, the ability to work out on the patio, camping trips, field trips, and the beginning of our Farm to School Program!

During the summer, we partner with Ollin Farms, a local, organic, family-owned farm, to bring our students fresh, seasonal, local produce. The children have the opportunity to visit the farm to see how food is cultivated and to develop a relationship with a local farmer; additionally, we use their produce for snacks at the school and in practical life lessons (traditional Montessori lessons in which children engage in simple, independent, food preparation activities to facilitate their care of the self).

In addition, parents had the opportunity to purchase community supported agriculture shares from the farm. These shares are available for pick up at the school every Monday after 3:30 beginning today.