HCZ participates in Revlon Walk

New York City if full of great opportunities that combine two important things: support important causes and participate in social exercise. This past Saturday, on April 30th, 2011, a group of Senior leaders from HCZ participated in the 14th Annual Revlon Run/Walk for Women.

These woman decided to do two important things this past Saturday morning and we celebrate their achievement and encourage you to follow their lead! They decided to join the fight against woman's cancers, at the same time as they were improving their own health.

Exercise is one of the most important ways to maintain good health. Add eating well and getting enough rest and you have a winning formula. Exercise not only helps reduce your risk of many diseases, it can reduce stress, and in this case can be a great way to connect with friends and colleagues. Making exercise fun is a great way to ensure that you fit it into your busy schedule.

So congrats to Team HCZ! Let's follow their lead.
Thank you all, Anne Williams-Isom

Today's Menu

Good Morning! Happy Monday!! Today we are serving delicious Braised BBQ Beef on a Kaiser Roll, Herb Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes and Sauteed String Beans.

This is one of my favorite dishes. The slow cooking process helps to tenderize the beef and absorbs all of the delicious BBQ sauce.

Braising (from the French “braiser”), is a combination cooking method using both moist and dry heat; typically the food is first seared at a high temperature and then finished in a covered pot with a variable amount of liquid, resulting in a particular flavor. Braising of meat is often referred to as pot roasting, though some authors make a distinction between the two methods based on whether additional liquid is added. Some of the best cuts of beef for braising—brisket, short ribs, chuck and round.
Bon Appetit!

Carribean Menu!

Good Morning everyone. Todays Lunch Menu has a bit of a Carribean feel to it. Jerk Fish, Coconut Rice and Braised Collard Greens.

The term jerk spice (also often commonly known as Jamaican jerk spice) refers to a spice rub. The word jerk refers to both the spice rub and to the particular cooking technique. Jerk can be applied as a cooking method for many different types of proteins, including goat, chicken, pork, fish, shellfish, tofu, and others. Jerk cooking has developed a worldwide following in most major Western European cosmopolitan urban centers.

Coconut rice is a dish prepared by cooking white rice in coconut milk or coconut flakes. As both the coconut and the rice-plant are indigenous in places all-around the world, coconut rice too is found in many cultures throughout the world (spanning across the equator from the caribbean to southeast-Asia).

Coconut Rice Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Rinse and drain rice in cold water. Place in a saucepan with water, coconut milk, and salt. Place the pot over high heat and, bring the liquid to a boil. Stir and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and cover the pot tightly with the lid. Continue cooking for 15 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and let stand 10 minutes, covered. Fluff with fork and serve.

Bon Appetit!

We've got seedlings!

There's always a lot of excitement in the air (not to mention allergens! Achoo!) as the plants and trees that have survived with us through the long winter start to bloom and blossom. Walking around New York the past few weeks it's been impossible not to notice the Pear Trees and Cherry Blossoms showing signs of life from Harlem to Brooklyn. Meanwhile, here at HCZ we've been incubating our own set of seedlings for our Kitchen Garden...and after a few days and weeks of patience...we've got sprouts!

These seedlings will grow up to be some deliciously fresh fruits and vegetables. Plus along the way we'll get to learn about the amazing scientific processes that go on in the soil and the systems that support turning sunlight, air, and water into edible energy. So far we've started lots of tomatoes (Tiny Tim, New Yorker, Fox Cherry, Green Zebra, Goldie), some cucumbers (Big Munchers and Pickling Cucs), Eggplants (Apple Green and Black Beauty), Peppers (Big Jim and Hot Chili), Herbs (Thyme, Tarragon, Dill), some melons (Banana, Iroquois, Jerry Lind), some squashes (Patty Pan Squash and Pumpkins) and some cruciferous vegetables (Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts) to transplant into the garden.

We love the artist illustrated seed packets that we got from the Hudson Valley Seed Library and are excited about the heirloom varieties donated by John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds! What about you? Are you starting to think about growing your own balcony or fire escape garden now that the weather is turning? Or do you want to get your hands dirty in our garden? We would love to give you a tour of what's growing and we're always looking for volunteers to help us with our latest project. Let us know if you want to get involved. Until next time, keep growing and learning and eating well!

Happy Earth Day!

Since 1970, April 22nd has been celebrated around the world in ways big and small as "Earth Day." This unique holiday promotes awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. The Harlem Children's Zone recognizes what an important idea this is and we're excited to be in the process of preparing our own school garden for yet another year of connecting our students and community members with the process of growing and harvesting their own food. In honor of Earth Day, we got out in the garden and cleaned up what was lingering from last season so that we could kick off our compost bin and get the beds ready for the new seedlings that are started.

According to the Earth Day website, "planting a garden at a school or at home is recognized universally as one of the best ways to teach children of every age the life sciences, to inspire a greater desire for whole foods and generally to reconnect them with Nature." We could not agree more and we are looking forward to enjoying and honoring our garden and this beautiful planet we call home, not just on Earth Day, everyday throughout the coming seasons.

You can participate in this day by making your own pledge at www.earthday.org

Food Field Trip: Family Life Academy Charter School

Chef Andrew and I took a field trip up to the South Bronx to visit Chef Bennett at Family Life Academy Charter School (FLACS). We'd heard that Chef Bennett had a commitment to serving freshly-made wholesome food in the school cafeteria and we wanted to peek in on his operation and see for ourselves.


Family Life Academy is a great example of a school community, like Promise Academy, that is taking wellness seriously and interested in feeding children a balanced, healthy diet that will set them up to succeed not just in the classroom, but well into adulthood. In February 2010, FLACS began to cook student meals on site as opposed to the regular practice of having frozen meals delivered to the school and then reheated.


FLACS also incorporates a science curriculum that offers new vocabulary and lessons about food’s biological impact on our bodies. The goal of the program is to help students have a healthy relationship with food. In addition to the food being served in the cafeteria, FLACS has several rooftop planters where students help grow vegetables and herbs and learn about the nature's natural recycling systems using worm bins and composting.


We were really impressed by the food service operation at Family Life Academy and wanted to share some of what we were most encouraged by from our visit:

• The food service staff was doing a great job of engaging the students in what was being served and on the day we visited kids were happily eating steamed kale and filling their own trays with items of their choosing from the salad bar
• The Teachers and Staff were helping in the cafeteria, monitoring the salad bar, encouraging the children to try the soup, maintaining order in a crowded lunchroom
• There was a genuine enthusiasm and an obvious interest from students and staff in creating a healthy school environment for the students at FLACS
• Just like Chef Andrew, Chef Bennett works hard to feed students a balanced diet and introduce them to a variety of cuisines, some of the most interesting menu items at the school were: Ropa Vieja, Miso Soup, Fish with Avocado Sauce and Root Vegetable Mash...who knows? Maybe you'll see some of these items showing up in our cafeteria!

It's always encouraging to learn and see how other people are transforming school lunch programs and supporting kids in eating for life. Way to go Chef Bennett and everyone at FLACS! Thanks for letting us come and visit and challenging us to create an even great community commitment to wellness here at HCZ.

Parent Cooking Class Spring Sign-Up

Calling all parents! We are currently doing sign-ups for our next Parent Cooking Class. The Free 10 Week Class is offered to all Promise Academy Parents and starts April 27th. Classes are held every Wednesday night from 6-8pm for 10 weeks. Executive Chef Andrew Benson will walk you through cooking basics covering everything from:

1. Food Safety
2. Knife Skills
3. Simple Classic Kitchen Techniques, including healthy cooking techniques like how to:
1. Saute
2. Roast
3. Blanche
4. Grill
4. Basics of preparing Healthy Foods, including:
1. Whole Grains
2. Lean Meats
3. Fruits and Vegetables
4. Beans & Legumes
5. Fast, easy recipes for fresh family meals

Learn how to take your weeknight routine to the next level and improve your family's mealtime habits...plus have fun and gain skills to show off to your friends and family!

To sign up or ask questions please email Zoila Del-Villar 

Photo used under Creative Commons via Flickr.com user ReneS