Eggplants Are Sprouting All Over Sea Cliff!

This just in --

Eggplants have begun sprouting from the seeds planted two weeks ago at our seed planting table. These two are growing at the Ligure's house.

What's for Lunch - Thurs., 5/31

BRUNCH FOR LUNCH
Homemade Challah French Toast w/Orange Rounds
Applegate Farms® Maple-Turkey Sausage
Oven-Roasted Potatoes
Cinnamon Applesauce

Say "No" to meal declared to be "cake" for lunch by our committee's nutritionist - basically white flour bread.  The syrup is basically HFCS.  They are looking for an affordable maple syrup but do not have one yet - but they will be limiting the serving size this year in the meantime.  Actual lunch from our schools above. This meal has a lot of sugar, simple carbohydrates -- no whole grains.

There are alternatives - check out this one, for example.

The potatoes are from McCains. The ingredients are: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: Canola Oil, Soybean Oil, Cottonseed Oil, Sunflower Oil, Corn Oil), Corn Starch - Modified, Dehydrated Garlic, Spices, Salt, Dehydrated Onion, Rosemary, Dehydrated Red Bell Pepper, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Paprika, Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate Added to Preserve Natural Color.   Note that the autolyzed yeast extract is potentially similar to MSG. They have 3.5g of fat and 160mg of sodium.

I don't see a Maple turkey Sausage on Applegate's website. the turkey sausage they do list contains: Turkey, Water, Contains Less Than 2% Of The Following: Evaporated Cane Syrup, Salt, Spices.  They have 6g of fat and 320mg of sodium.

So, besides the HFCS, salt and MSG look alike, we do have some orange slices and canned applesauce.

Try the salad bar.

What's for Lunch - Wed., 5/30

WHOLE WHEAT ROTINI
With Diced Chicken Breast, Broccoli, Mozzarella & Basil
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Melon!!

This is a whole grain pasta. The chicken is from Tyson and described as diced, cooked "chicken meat" including rib meat. Broccoli is fresh. Mozzarella is part skim.

Plus, fresh melon.

Healthy Cooking Class for Kids THIS FRIDAY

Join us Friday at 6pm in the school cafeteria as Bhavani Jaroff of Ieatgreen.com returns to convince your kids to make and eat delicious, healthy snacks. Cost is $5 per child - please email reiger@optonline.net to reserve a place. These pictures are from last year's class.

What's for Lunch - Tues., 5/29

Applegate Hotdog
Whole Wheat Bun
Baked Sweet Potato “Fries”
Cucumbers with Dip
Warm Apple Crisp

No Salad Bar

 The hot dogs are from Applegate Farms - so they are far better than many hot dogs but are hot dogs nonetheless. The ingredients are just: beef, water, sea salt, less than 2% of the following: celery juice, sodium lactate (from beets), lactic acid starter culture (not from milk), onion powder, spices, garlic powder, paprika. They have 6g of fat(2.5g saturated) and 380 mg of sodium. They are dairy-, casein- and gluten-free. They promote it as nitrate-free but this NYT article indicates the nitrate issue is tricky - and cites the company saying their bacon has the same level (naturally) of cancer-causing nitrates as conventional brands.  You may also not want your kids growing up thinking hot dogs are a good lunch given the potential link between processed meats and cancer. The bun is whole wheat.

You might also skip the fries. The sweet potato fries are processed frozen  fries we buy from McCains's, a big food service vendor. They contain: Sweet potatoes, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: canola oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil), potato starch modified, rice flower, dextrin, sugar, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), salt malt powder (malted barley, wheat flower, dextrose), natural flavor, dehydrated sweet potatoes, maltodextrin, molasses, spice and coloring, xanthan gum, corn starch-modified, triglycerides, annatto (color), sodium acid pyrophosphate added to preserve natural color. The label indicates they have 6g of fat and 170mg of sodium. 

Cucumbers are fresh with an organic, full-fat ranch dressing as the dip.

You could get the alternate entree for May which I have heard is quite good.:

Scrambled Egg & Cheese Wrap
Herb Roasted Potatoes
Fresh Strawberry & Grapes Cup

Weekend Reading

Reading

If you're headed to the beach, check out the Environmental Working Group's sunscreen guide - find products that work without dangerous ingredients.

Scientific American hit hard with their cover on the Farm Bill -- and how farm subsidies are creating our obesity crisis.

The Atlantic ran a nice piece on breakfast candy and big food's marketing tricks.Yes, they are referring to cereal.


Watching

Bhavani Jaroff will be back with a live, hands-on cooking demonstration for kids on June 1st. Meanwhile, you can watch videos of her cooking demonstrations from the recent Small Farm Summit at Hofstra.


Local Fun

Sea Cliff Beach opens on Saturday!

Sea Cliff's Memorial Day parade kicks off at 9am on Monday from Memorial Park and continues on to Clifton Park.

And the Vegetables Begin to Grow

Our seed plantings are starting to sprout! Pictured here are some lima bean sprouts planted about a week before this picture was taken.