Hip Hop for Hope and Chicken Soup for the Soul!

Our students are always ready to help out others.

You would think the students and staff of Ecole Monsignor William Irwin School would have been tired after their demonstration of learning and parent/teacher interviews on Thursday night, but they weren't! 

Bright and early Friday morning the students made donations to participate in a Hip Hop Dance to raise money for The Sign of Hope.  Kindergarten through grade two took to the dance floor for the first thirty minutes of moving their bodies to touch the minds and spirits of those less fortunate then themselves.  Grades three through six were next.  If one looked closely into the crowd at either session, they may have even seen an enthusiastic staff member shaking their booty for charity!

The morning of vigorous dancing sure worked up an appetite, so it was a good thing it was also our third Hot Soup Day.  Friday, November 26th's Healthy Hot lunch featured a favourite recipe of parent volunteer Mr. Haughian. Give it a try, the students loved it!

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 whole rotisserie chicken, meat removed

3 litres of chicken stock

4 stalks of celery, sliced

6 medium carrots peeled and sliced

1 cup of frozen peas

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

3 cinnamon sticks

1/2 cup of lemon juice

1tsp. black pepper

1tsp. salt

2 cups noodles ( soba noodles preferred)

Boil 5 cups of salted water. Add broken noodles to water and reduce heat to medium high.  Cook noodles for 8 minutes, strain and set aside.  Bring chicken stock to a boil.  Add lemon juice and cinnamon sticks to the broth ad continue to boil for 5 minutes.  Remove cinnamon sticks and discard.  Add chicken meat, carrots, celery, peas parsley, salt and pepper.  Cook soup on medium heat for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add noodles to bowls and pour soup over noodles.

This is Mr. Haughian and his daughters Cidney and Chloe.

The Soup Days rely heavily on volunteers to prepare, serve and and clean up.  The students of Monsignor William Irwin greatly appreciate the effort and love put into creating a delicious hot meal for them.  It isn't just the food that is appreciated but the dedication to building a strong and caring school community. Here are only a few of the volunteers that make this initiative work.

Parents and Grandparents work side by side to make the nutritious lunch.

From morning until noon volunteers work together in various parts of the school to provide a pot of soup and sides for the meal.  These volunteers have set up in the art room.

Each month 5 different students are selected from each class to help prepare a part of the hot lunch, but not before washing up!

These students are creating fruit kebabs for the dessert portion of the lunch.

 Fridays balanced lunch menu; Chicken noodle soup, baby carrots, a fruit kebab and a yogurt tube.

Matthew and Michael love when their mom volunteers at school.

Thank you to each and every volunteer! 

November is Colour Your World with Fruits and Veggies, Plus meet our Dietetic Intern!

Monsignor William Irwin is a colourful place!

That is certainly evident if you have seen the bulletin board outside our Nutrition Hut.  November is the month we dedicate to eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables to increase our energy and health.  From November 26th to December 13th we will be holding , "The Great Produce Challenge of 2010" to demonstrate our commitment to Health and Wellness.  The challenge was master minded by a very crucial individual to our Wellness Team, our newest dietetic intern, Amanda Nhan.



Recently I had the opportunity to ask Amanda a few questions about her interesting career choice as a dietitian and the journey she is on to complete her degree.

Father Bill's Kitchen: 

"Amanda, how did a dietetic intern find herself in an elementary school?"

Amanda:    

 "I find myself here at Monsignor William Irwin Catholic Elementary School for six weeks     (November 8-December 17) as part of the University of Alberta’s Integrated Dietetic Internship Program. I have completed four years of course work at the university and I am now working toward completion of all of my internship placements, after which I will convocate with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition (Dietetics)."

Father Bill's Kitchen:     

"Wow!  That is so interesting!  What other placements have you had helping people to increase their wellness?"

Amanda:

"Prior to starting at this school, I spent a month at the Lacombe Hospital and Continuing Care Centre learning introductory clinical dietetics before moving to Westlock for 12 weeks to develop my skills in food service management.  The work I am doing here at MWI is part of my community nutrition placement."

Father Bill's Kitchen:

"You are certainly doing a great job at educating students through the classes you teach and and the Produce Challenge you have created for the students.  What are you going to do after you leave here in December?"

Amanda:

"After Christmas I will spend another six weeks practicing community nutrition in Red Deer before moving on to my fourth and final placement in advanced clinical dietetics. Once I have finished my internship and have convocated, I can apply to the College of Dietitians of Alberta to become a registered dietitian and begin my career!"

Father Bill's Kitchen: 

"Well Amanda we at Monsignor William Irwin wish you the best of luck and God's Blessings for your future.  Do you have any parting words?"

Amanda:

"Thank you for inviting me into your school and for the positive attitude towards your heath, and I invite you to take a little challenge to see if you can guess some important fruits and vegetables to include in your eating."

Can you name these vegetables and fruits?

Were you able to name them all?  Now, how about eating them all?

Rememberance Day and War Time Rations Had Health Benefits.

Today is Rememberance Day, November 11, 2010
 As we sit in our warm comfortable homes it is difficult to imagine what veterans are feeling today.  As a community of people who care, Ecole Monsignor William Irwin School did well to reflect on the contribution of soldiers past and present at our Rememberance Day Celebration, at School on November 10th.

This is the altar for our Rememberance Day Celebration.

Students, parents and guests rose in solemn reflection as our students processed in during the ceremony.



Students sat in silence as they watched the video A Pittance of Time

Students, staff and guests all sang and prayed together in rememberance of those who gave their lives for peace in our country and around the world.

Father Bill's Liturgical Dancers provided an artistic and moving rendition to" In Flander's Fields", giving a strong mind, body and spirit representation to the celebration.

An interesting fact about food rations during the World Wars:

Who would have thought that War Time had any benefit at all?  All the countries finances went into the war effort.  Most of our sons, husbands, uncles and fathers were conscripted and our food was rationed.  What good can come out of that?  Surprisingly, food rationing proved to have positive health benefits for the citizens.  The items rationed most, were the items that had the most detrimental effects on our overall health. Sugar, Flour, meat, eggs and dairy were all staples that were all greatly reduced in availability.  However, not vegetables!  Mmmmhh?  Starting to get the picture?

After perusing a Veteran Affairs web site I found a recipe that was suggested as an alternative cookie recipe and thought someone might like to try it.

Wartime Carrot Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon margarine
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
• 4 tablespoons grated raw carrot
• 6 tablespoons self-raising flour (or plain flour with 1/2 teaspoon baking powder added)
• 1 tablespoon of water

Directions

• Cream the margarine and the sugar together with the vanilla essence.
• Beat in the grated carrot.
• Fold in the flour. If mixture very dry then add a little water.
• Drop spoonfuls onto greased tray and press down just a little.
• Sprinkle tops with sugar and cook in an oven at 200 ^°C for about 20 minutes

 It would be hard to get fat off of these cookies, they are more vegetable than cookie!  If this topic interests you, use the link below to go to a video that shows a crazy foodie couple in the U.K. who actually tried the war time ration diet to see if they became fitter.  It is the first in four parts, all of which you can find on YouTube.  Supersizers go Wartime

Family Math Games Night

Over one hundred people attended a Math Night at Ecole Monsignor William Irwin School on Thursday, October 28.  Parents, siblings, students and even grandparents came out for an evening of fun math activities presented by "box cars and one-eyed jacks."  Everyone alike enjoyed the fun games that demonstrated a new way to review and strengthen basic math skills. 

John Felling, the  presenter, explained how children who are secure in their math grow in self-esteem and have greater success in school.  It is a perfect example of how mental wellness is an integral part of ones overall health.

The families worked together to problem solve with a variety of manipulatives that are both economical and motivating.

All in all it was a successful evening that has our school wanting to host more family evenings in other areas of curriculum.  Look forward to more family based evenings such as a literacy, science or perhaps a social studies evening in the future!

Here is the link for the consultants who put on the presentation:

box cars and one-eyed jacks

October - Bone Health Month

How fitting, since this is the same month as Halloween.  

Who can think of Halloween without visualizing a skeleton?  The next image we all have are heaps of candy that our little ghosts and goblins have collected during trick or treating!  That image sends shivers down any parent’s spine!

 The question is how do we meet the challenge of maintaining good nutrition during this creative and fun day?

Here are two recipes for delicious treats that strengthen your bones and titillate your taste buds:

             Fruit Parfait          

Ingredients:

·        ½ cup yogurt

·        1 tbsp. orange juice

·        1 ½ cups, peaches, sliced, fresh or canned

·        1cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

·        1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

·        Slivered almonds

Directions:

In a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt and orange juice.  In 4 parfait glasses, layer half of the peaches, raspberries, blueberries and top with yogurt mixture.  Repeat layering.  Sprinkle slivered almonds over each serving.  ENJOY!

Scrumptious Sundaes

Ingredients

·        1 cup vanilla frozen yogurt

·        1 banana

·        1 tbsp. wheat germ

·        ½ cup chopped walnuts

·        Honey or maple syrup, to taste

·        2 large strawberries, fresh or frozen

Directions:

Spoon frozen yogurt into 2 individual serving bowls.  Slice banana into rounds and drop over frozen yogurt.  Sprinkle with wheat germ and walnuts.  Drizzle honey or syrup over all.  Top with a strawberry. ENJOY

Here are some tips to help you maintain the fun on Halloween but manage this special night.

Before Trick-or-Treating

• 
  

  Feed your children a healthy supper before they go out.  They will be less likely to dig into their bag of goodies before they get home.
• 
  

  Limit the number of houses they visit – stay on your own street.  Or, limit the amount of time they are out trick or treating.

After Trick-or-Treating

• Buy back candy from your children for money or a special treat, like visiting the zoo or going to the movies.
• Be role model and eat candy in moderation yourself.  Children learn by example.

If your kids get a real haul of candy, here are some simple ideas to prevent it from going to waste:

·        Freeze some and chop it up to use as topping on frozen yogurt or ice-cream.

·        Use crushed suckers to create stained glass in your gingerbread house at Christmas time.

Remember to keep your bones strong – exercise every day and eat 3-4 servings of milk or alternatives from the Canada Food Guide!

Canada's Food Guide



Welcome!

Welcome to Father Bill’s Kitchen!  A kitchen is many things to a home.  It is a place of love when bread is broken, a place of learning when homework is done.  It can even be a place of council when serious topics must be discussed.  It is our hope that Father Bill's Kitchen will be all those things and more to our family at École Monsignor William Irwin School.  This blog will attempt to give you an insight into our Wellness goals and dreams for our new school through photos and links related to the mind, body and spirit.

Plans for our focus on health and wellness for our students began before the doors to the school even opened.  A dedicated team of parents and teachers had a vision for a healthy school.  The start to their plan began with the establishment of a "Soup Day" to replace the old concept of the pizza lunch and to involve the students in the process.  We were featured in the Edmonton Examiner on September 29^th with the heading “Souper Duper” School promotes healthy lunches!  Here are the photos that accompanied the article.

 Here are two of our students helping to make a delicious minestrone soup that was eaten for hot lunch that day.  It was accompanied by a carton of milk, a whole grain roll and crunchy apple slices.

Our students really loved helping the parent volunteers to create a delicious and nutritious lunch.  If you want to make the soup we had at school that day for yourself, here is the recipe:

MINESTRONE SOUP

Ingredients:

1.5 lb. lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

6 carrots, peeled and chopped

6 celery stalks, chopped

1 796 ml. can tomatoes, diced

1 cup green beans

1 can pinto beans

3 large white potatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 - 900 ml. beef broth

2 cups of water

1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Brown beef and onion.

2. When beef is completely brown add vegetables, broth and spices.

3. Bring to a boil.

4. Cover and simmer until veggies are done.

5. Enjoy!

Makes approximately 12 large servings