Father Bill's Kitchen: March 2011

At Monsignor William Irwin it feels as if every month is nutrition month as we forge ahead with our goal of educating students about the benefits of eating well and exercising. Using the "Field to Table" concept, our student Wellness Team created a bulletin board using pictures and words to demonstrate that we should be eating the freshest of local ingredients to maintain our health. They also created a video that demonstrates why we need to eat healthy and how it is the key to our energy. We also held a school wide Breakfast Poster challenge. Finally, the grades 3-6 participated in their second ski trip to Rabbit Hill on March 8th, a glorious sunny day.

Student created bulletin board in our atrium:

From Field,

To Market,

To the Table,

Our most recent Healthy Hot Lunch featured this delicious pasta recipe. The children loved it!

Meat Vegetable Pasta Sauce
Ingredients:
450g (1lb) Lean ground beef
450g (1lb) Ground turkey breast
1 large Onion, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 large Green bell pepper, diced
1 large Red bell pepper, diced
4 (796mL) cans Diced tomatoes
1 (284mL) can Mushroom pieces, diced
1 package frozen Chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess water
1 Tbsp Dried basil, crushed
1 Tbsp Dried oregano, crushed
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Directions:1. In a large stock pot over medium heat, brown the beef, turkey, and onion. Drain fat, and return to the heat.
2. Stir in the garlic, green and red pepper, diced tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Stir in basil, oregano, and Italian seasoning.
3. Bring sauce to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for three hours.
This recipe can also be cooked in a Crock-Pot or slow cooker.
Tip: Kids can help out too! Ask children to help wash vegetables, measure ingredients, and set a timer. Always supervise children who are helping out in the kitchen.

Breakfast Poster Challenge

We have also been promoting a home to school connection with a special project, our Healthy Breakfast Poster project. Every student was given a template to draw, photograph or paint their favorite healthy breakfast recipe on. The result was very creative. Some students took photos, some used cutouts from magazines and many drew beautiful pictures of their favorite foods to break their fasts! The result is a great looking wall of posters motivating others to try new ways of getting their day started. All the students names that handed in a poster had there names entered into a draw. Curtis from Ms. Stang's Grade 2C class was the lucky winner of a PBA free water bottle.