Lynn Fredericks's Blog, page 2

Feature in Parents & Kids Magazine "Book Buzz"

Parents & Kids Magazine recently showcased 'Get Your Family Eating Right' in their 'Book Buzz' column.

Festive Fall Vegetable Recipe in Paris Post-Intelligencer

Our receipe for Festive Roasted Fall Vegetables was recently shared in the Paris Post-Intelligencer, along with a description of our book.

Building Future Loyal Customers for… Veggies!

Learn from the experts!!! Fast food and junk food brands spend millions of dollars searching for best strategies to attract children as customers. These strategies are, as you know, highly effective. Why not learn from them for your own benefit? In our book, Get Your Family Eating Right, Lynn and I identify some of the best strategies that marketers use with kids and give examples of how to turn them around to get your children eating healthy.

[image error]

One of the big ones is ‘brand loyalty.’ Companies use it to recruit impressionable kids by building playgrounds in their restaurants and giving away toys and prizes. Marketers have learned that if they build an emotional connection with their brand with children, they will remain loyal to them as an adult.

So, how can we use this strategy to our advantage? By delivering special experiences, that create fun and positive memories around healthful food. First Lady Michelle Obama is on this track - she recruited Sesame Street characters for the the produce aisle. It will certainly help parents in the supermarket - read more.

So I decided to take my kids and their friends for a full day in of vegetable harvesting on a farm. La Ferme Viltain, just a few kilometers outside Paris, offers a wide range of fall vegetables for ‘pick your own’ arrangement. City kids are thrilled when handed awheelbarrow and full freedom to run in the fields. They love to play and explore, hand pick tender spinach leaves, or pull vegetable roots. I could see they were attracted to the shapes and vibrant colors of the red beets, purple cabbage, and gigantic black radishes. The youngest ones were delighted just to chase each other around the fields. But I had an ulterior motive: to create a fun, memorable, day associated with radishes, beets, cabbages and other vegetables. Quite the opposite from forcing or pressuring kids to eat them.

Does my nine-year-old son like to eat beets and radishes now? NOPE. Does he hate them? NOPE, but slowly he is associating them with a fun memories. Even if he rejects their taste now, he will be ready to accept them in the near future thanks to the emotional connection he made with them at the farm. This way, I am creating ‘future loyal customers’ within my family for seasonal produce

Read more about food marketing to kids:

Marion Nestle Blog

FastFood Marketing

From Denmark to the Farmers’ Market

I have been so lucky as to be a part of the FamilyCook Productions team through my nutrition internship, and what an experience it has been. Today I went to Hammarskjold Plaza farmers’ market, and I literally felt like I was 7 again and walking into the biggest candy store. From a Danish viewpoint the variety of vegetables was an incredible experience. I had never seen so many different types of kale or squash in my life! There were so many different colors and shapes, and I felt so inspired to make a delicious kale salad with my very new friend the beautiful Russian kale. 

[image error]

It is so easy to get inspired when you go to the farmers’ markets, there is something magical about shopping your produce from the hands of the farmers that have nurtured these fruit and vegetables to growth. I feel like I was shopping for delicious vitamins that would fill my body with all the energy and excitement we all need for life. The greatest gift you can give yourself is good nutrition from these amazing fruit and vegetables. 

[image error] [image error]

The vegetables and fruits that made the biggest impression on me were the different kales, so I made a salad of russian kale, baked red Bartlett pears, and yellow cherdlee tomatoes. 

Kale is not a favorite dining for many, but this vegetable has some amazing characteristics that you can get great pleasure from.
  Kale is very rich in vitamin C, which strengthens our immune system, and it is very high in fiber. Try to experiment with your kale and if you want all the wonderful vitamins and dietary fiber avoid cooking the kale.

[image error]

So for this recipe you will need: 

(Serves 4)

1 bunch of russian kale from the farmers' market
2 big Yellow Cherdlee tomatoes
3 red Bartlett piers
1 bunch of Rainbow chard
1.5 cup Quinoa
Almonds
Olive oil
Vinegar
Salt
Soy 

Directions:

First cut your pears into small wedges and put them in the oven at 300 °F for approx. 15-20 min.
Next set the quinoa over to boil for 10-15 minutes until it has the same consistency as boiled rice 
Roast the almonds with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and remove when golden and put them on a plate to cool down.
Rinse all your vegetables and role up your kale and chard to ribbons, so you can cut them in fine strips. Combine 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of olive oil together and mix it with the kale
Cut your tomatoes in your desired shapes
Now mix all your ingredients and top with, baked pears, roasted almonds and currants

A great tip is to make a big portion, so you can take it to work or school the next day.

Enjoy!

Food Day "Let's Get Cooking" Contest

[image error]  

 

Teach a kids' cooking class and win!

 

The more people who register to teach a cooking class for the "Let's Get Cooking with Kids" Food Day Campaign, the more copies of our book Get Your Family Eating Right we will give away!

 

That's because FamilyCook and the organizers of Food Day 2013 are working together to make this campaign a success!

Here is how the contest works:  the 1st, 25th, 50th, and 75th persons that register a cooking class with #LetsGetCooking in the title, and tweet using the hashtag, will win a free copy of our book.  And we'll keep adding winners each 25th registration up until Food Day.

 

So get started now!

Canarsie Food Revolution Engages Residents & Youth

By Teen Battle Chef High School Students Elizabeth Cordero-Hernandez, Joel Allette, and Lorenzo Gallese

Take the L train to the last stop in Brooklyn and you will find yourself in Canarsie. Formerly an Italian and Jewish enclave, it is now home to immigrants hailing from Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean and South America. While some outer borough neighborhoods have seen exciting changes where new influxes ofpeople have created food, shopping and entertainment destinations, Canarsie by contrast has mostly seen little industry and poorer residents.  As mom and pop businesses including larger supermarket chains have left the neighborhood; there has been a devastating effect on access to healthy food.  Yes, Canarsie is a ‘food desert’ if you define the term as having few if any places to purchase a variety of fresh produce, whole grains, sustainably-raised meats and poultry and healthful snack options.

[image error]

In 2012 the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council (ADADC) contracted Karp Resources to identify youth programs to engage in a ‘corner store makeover’ project. The idea was a youth-led project fueled with their energy, creativity and familiarity with their own community.  FamilyCook Productions’s Teen Battle Chef program in HealthCorps schools in NYC was identified as a collaborator due to the high level of cooking skill and nutrition knowledge students in their programs gain, and the value of working within a national network of schools through HealthCorps.

FamilyCook and HealthCorps recommended Academy for Conservation and the Environment on the South Shore High School campus in Canarsie and their Coordinator, Courtland “C.K.” Kouassiaman, who delivered the HealthCorps program that includes Teen Battle Chef (TBC).  From there, FCP recruited us  - TBC Alumni who had previously been in the program in a HealthCorps school, to serve as mentors and role models to new TBC students at C.K.’s school.  So that’s how it happened that myself and Teen Battle Chef Alums Joel Allette and Lorenzo Gallese helped to jumpstart the project that the ACE students named the “Canarsie  Health Revolution” over the winter and spring of 2013.

Essentially it was a community outreach project to help the people of Canarsie, Brooklyn to see that there are more to snacks than potato chips.  The project involved weekly meetings among the following key players: FamilyCook’s Youth Development Associate David Bartolomi and we three above-mentions TBC Alums, Karp Resources youth specialist Adam Liebowitz; C.K. the HealthCorps Coordinator at ACE and his TBC students.  First we met with a similar team of youth in Williamsburg who were from Ecostation at an ADADC sponsored launch and we met some key players like Victor Lopes who would help the corner stores from a sourcing and merchandising perspective.  We also learned about their “Fuel Up to Play 60” campaign that communicates the connection between healthy food and being active to youth.

[image error]

The goal was not to change the store but to simply embrace options whether it was moving items to the front or to just put stickers indicating the healthy options.  The TBC students also contributed ideas to new signage and ads for the project; they were photographed holding some of the healthy items for the ad campaign.

I have to say that our strategies of handing out small containers of yogurt, samples of our ‘Canarsie Special’ sandwich, and smoothies in front of the corner stores we worked with was fun and made all of us feel a bit like ‘rock stars’!  People were not used to seeing teenagers as the messengers for health in their community and they were very polite to us and attentive. They also loved our food.  By summer’s end, we had exciting positive feedback from the store owners, especially Orlando, who described how the project seemed to encourage customers to ask him to stock specific items like organic eggs. When he did, he sold out!  Clearly an empowerment among the community to ask for what they want is being fostered.  Shoppers outside of the supermarket where we were stationed always asked us when we would be coming back. The consistency of the day helped bring them back to do their weekly shopping when our team would be outside with samples of healthy food options available. We began to see repeat customers, which was very exciting.

More importantly, the community came to see us as a knowledgeable culinary resource; they began looking to us to demonstrate healthy meals they could cook from food available at the store. You could say that from healthy snack focus turned into a full blown ‘shopping makeover’ opportunity with our TBCs being asked for recipe suggestions for things like veggies and fish, which we would write down the recipe and ingredients and then they would shop for them!

In addition to these observations, we also conducted surveys of the residents and learned that all the people surveyed were interested in buying healthier options whether they knew they were there beforehand or not and they were willing to pay for them – average of $5 for healthier snacks which, as students, we thought was a lot of money and kind of surprising!  We also learned that they were quite knowledgeable about the foods that support their health – whole grains, beans, fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, organic and/or lean meats – came up over and over again in our survey about what items they would like to see available.  If people are informed enough to know the good options, then it seems only fair that they are available for them to buy.

All in all, it was exciting to be a part of this project – we all felt that we had a real impact on the residents of Canarsie and that our efforts were appreciated. We are excited to see if there are other indicators like sales data that will support our affirmation that our efforts were effective. Based on our own research and the faces of the TBC youth and their ‘customers’ outside the stores, this was a successful project worth examining for its future potential, especially building onto similar projects that our NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene have been conducting.  

Canarsie Health Revolution Engages Residents & Youth for Real Food

By Teen Battle Chef Elizabeth Cordero-Hernandez, with Joel Allette, Lorenzo Gallese, David Bartolomi and Lynn Fredericks

Take the L train to the last stop in Brooklyn and you will find yourself in Canarsie. Formerly an Italian and Jewish enclave, it is now home to immigrants hailing from Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean and South America. While some outer borough neighborhoods have seen exciting changes where new influxes ofpeople have created food, shopping and entertainment destinations, Canarsie by contrast has mostly seen little industry and poorer residents.  As mom and pop businesses including larger supermarket chains have left the neighborhood; there has been a devastating effect on access to healthy food.  Yes, Canarsie is a ‘food desert’ if you define the term as having few if any places to purchase a variety of fresh produce, whole grains, sustainably-raised meats and poultry and healthful snack options.

[image error]

In 2012 the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council (ADADC) contracted Karp Resources to identify youth programs to engage in a ‘corner store makeover’ project. The idea was a youth-led project fueled with their energy, creativity and familiarity with their own community.  FamilyCook Productions’s Teen Battle Chef program in HealthCorps schools in NYC was identified as a collaborator due to the high level of cooking skill and nutrition knowledge students in their programs gain, and the value of working within a national network of schools through HealthCorps.

FamilyCook and HealthCorps recommended Academy for Conservation and the Environment on the South Shore High School campus in Canarsie and their Coordinator, Courtland “C.K.” Kouassiaman, who delivered the HealthCorps program that includes Teen Battle Chef (TBC).  From there, FCP recruited us  - TBC Alumni who had previously been in the program in a HealthCorps school, to serve as mentors and role models to new TBC students at C.K.’s school.  So that’s how it happened that myself and Teen Battle Chef Alums Joel Allette and Lorenzo Gallese helped to jumpstart the project that the ACE students named the “Canarsie  Health Revolution” over the winter and spring of 2013.

Essentially it was a community outreach project to help the people of Canarsie, Brooklyn to see that there are more to snacks than potato chips.  The project involved weekly meetings among the following key players: FamilyCook’s Youth Development Associate David Bartolomi and we three above-mentions TBC Alums, Karp Resources youth specialist Adam Liebowitz; C.K. the HealthCorps Coordinator at ACE and his TBC students.  First we met with a similar team of youth in Williamsburg who were from Ecostation at an ADADC sponsored launch and we met some key players like Victor Lopes who would help the corner stores from a sourcing and merchandising perspective.  We also learned about their “Fuel Up to Play 60” campaign that communicates the connection between healthy food and being active to youth.

Since the ACE TBC students already had basic knowledge of cooking and healthy food, we asked them to think about food they could buy in their neighborhood.  They soon realized that access to fresh produce and other healthy option for snacks was very limited. It was because of these limitations that Canarsie residents had no other choice but to buy junk and greasy foods, mostly highly processed.

This became a focus area for the youth and they were determined to act upon it. And so the brainstorming began.  We developed a list of inexpensive but healthful snacks that should be stocked in the stores and that, through our project, we could promote in the community. The students knew their neighborhood and had an idea of which stores had the most traffic.  Quickly we listed them and we went inside these stores to build relationships with them as we explained the project. Most were on board. We visited the interested stores again to identify the type of snacks that were currently available. We mostly looked for yogurt, milk, granola, trail mix, fresh fruits or grab and go sandwiches.  Sometimes there were surprises – like pure coconut water at a good prices but hard to find behind all the soda and sugary drinks!

[image error]

The goal was not to change the store but to simply embrace options whether it was moving items to the front or to just put stickers indicating the healthy options.  The TBC students also contributed ideas to new signage and ads for the project; they were photographed holding some of the healthy items for the ad campaign.

As the school year wound down, we were slightly delayed, waiting for signage to be delivered. Victor, the retail liaison from the ADADC, had already assisted the stores in stocking new items and some merchandising techniques but we knew it would take flyers and new signage for our outreach to be effective.  As summer approached, there was some worry that we had run out of time to do the fun part – engage the community to shop for the healthy options in the 3 stores we worked with. But luckily we received good news that we could continue the project as part of our TBC summer brigade and invite students from ACE and new TBC students. The ACE kids were led by Dentino who turned out to have some great leadership qualities and, as a Canarsie resident, a real pulse on the neighborhood.

I have to say that our strategies of handing out small containers of yogurt, samples of our ‘Canarsie Special’ sandwich, and smoothies in front of the corner stores we worked with was fun and made all of us feel a bit like ‘rock stars’!  People were not used to seeing teenagers as the messengers for health in their community and they were very polite to us and attentive. They also loved our food.  By summer’s end, we had exciting positive feedback from the store owners, especially Orlando, who described how the project seemed to encourage customers to ask him to stock specific items like organic eggs. When he did, he sold out!  Clearly an empowerment among the community to ask for what they want is being fostered.  Shoppers outside of the supermarket where we were stationed always asked us when we would be coming back. The consistency of the day helped bring them back to do their weekly shopping when our team would be outside with samples of healthy food options available. We began to see repeat customers, which was very exciting.

More importantly, the community came to see us as a knowledgeable culinary resource; they began looking to us to demonstrate healthy meals they could cook from food available at the store. You could say that from healthy snack focus turned into a full blown ‘shopping makeover’ opportunity with our TBCs being asked for recipe suggestions for things like veggies and fish, which we would write down the recipe and ingredients and then they would shop for them!

In addition to these observations, we also conducted surveys of the residents and learned that all the people surveyed were interested in buying healthier options whether they knew they were there beforehand or not and they were willing to pay for them – average of $5 for healthier snacks which, as students, we thought was a lot of money and kind of surprising!  We also learned that they were quite knowledgeable about the foods that support their health – whole grains, beans, fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, organic and/or lean meats – came up over and over again in our survey about what items they would like to see available.  If people are informed enough to know the good options, then it seems only fair that they are available for them to buy.

All in all, it was exciting to be a part of this project – we all felt that we had a real impact on the residents of Canarsie and that our efforts were appreciated. We are excited to see if there are other indicators like sales data that will support our affirmation that our efforts were effective. Based on our own research and the faces of the TBC youth and their ‘customers’ outside the stores, this was a successful project worth examining for its future potential, especially building onto similar projects that our NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene have been conducting.  

Emilio’s Summer Paella

How about surprising your family and friends with a paella for Labor Day? Paella is a traditional Spanish dish and a great recipe concept to accommodate lots of people, all with one pot. Like many of our recipe concepts in Get Your Family Eating Right, paella can be adapted to what is in season as well as your family’s preferences. My Mom's favorite has artichokes, my aunt's rabbit, others add white beans or amazing shellfish. Every summer in Spain, my children are thrilled when eating paella together with our extended family. It is always delicious, and good looking; a guaranteed success!

Take your children to the farmers market and get some ripe tomatoes and seafood. You can easily buy a traditional steel paella pan online or at a department store. Whatever pan you use, it’s important that the rice cooks evenly. You can make great paellas on top of your round charcoal barbecue in the picnic area of many parks, or using a gas barbecue in the yard. Cooking a paella outdoors is fun and festive. Kids love to watch the process and help; especially with the final decorations, like placing muscles, shrimps and strips of red peppers on top. The beautiful colors always make a great photo-op for the family.

[image error] 

Serves 5 people

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound          mussels scrubbed, de-bearded

3/4 cup                olive oil

1 head                 garlic separated in cloves with skin, softly crashed

1 tbsp                  salt

4 small                 chicken legs and 4 small wings

1                         red pepper cut in strips

1/2 pound             pork loin cut in bite-size cubes

4 medium             cleaned squids cut in rings and the tentacles in small pieces

2                          tomatoes cubed

1 pound                Spanish paella rice (medium grain; alternative: risotto rice or brown medium rice, not long)

1/8 teaspoon        crushed saffron

15 shrimps           head and shells on

1/2 pound             small clams

1/4                       lemon wedge per person

 [image error]

 

Place mussels in large pot of water (water level halfway up the volume of mussels you have) and bring to a boil, cooking until the mussel shells open wide.
Drain, reserve water, and set the cooked mussels aside.
Drizzle olive oil over the bottom of the paella pan, coating with a thin layer.

Add garlic and cook until lightly golden.


Remove all the cloves from pan.


Next add the chicken and start browning it over medium heart, turning them over to evenly brown.


Add peppers and cook 4 minutes; stirring as necessary to cook evenly.


Add pork and cook for 5 minutes; stirring to cook evenly.


Add salt evenly.


Add squid, shrimps, and tomatoes; stirring as they cook.


Add rice and stir it until each grain of rice is coated with oil.


Add liquid (water plus liquid from mussels) all at once: three times the amount of rice.


Add saffron (if available).


Bring to boil for 5 minutes, then simmer and stir slowly until broth is almost absorbed.


Taste to adjust salt and control the texture of the rice. Usually, the rice should be a bit more cooked than al dente.


Add clams evenly around the paella.


Arrange shrimps and mussels attractively on top.


 Remove the pan from the fire, and let rice rest for 5 minutes covered with a clean cloth towel or aluminum foil.


Arrange lemon wedges on top of paella before serving.


Enjoy the paella with a nice peach sangria!

 

 
 

 

Family Traditions Connect Children to Nourishing Food

[image error]

Vamos a la playa a comer sardinas!!! Sardines at the beach are a summertime fun in coastal Spain.  We love them just grilled and sprinkled with sea salt and lemon. Traditionally, many beaches have shack-like open air restaurants right at the shore where one can enjoy local wild catch in between swimming, snorkeling and sunbathing. In Southeastern Spain, where my parents are from, sardines are abundant and cheap and the favorite food of locals and tourists. 

Even children learn at an early age to detach the juicy body flesh leaving head and tail in one piece united by their bones. Most will eat the crispy skin as well, and even some of the bones. These shacks limit their menus, mostly to seasonal fish, which makes it easier to fight picky eaters. Nature was wise to create the season of sardines around summer when there are more opportunities to cook them outdoors. Their pungent, strong odor will stay for days in your kitchen. During the winter, these pleasurable summer memories are recalled while opening a can of sardines in olive oil and eating them with bread and other vegetables.

Sardines are an acquired taste, especially if you didn´t grow up eating them. My daughter Sofia would not touch them yet; she is scared of mistakenly eating the tiny bones. She also thinks it is too much work deboning the animal for such little flesh. She grew up in New York eating fish that has no head, tails or bones. It may take her until her adult life to accept sardines. What´s important is that every summer when she is in Spain, she is building these memories associating a good time at the beach with parents, cousins, aunts and uncles devouring sardines with pleasure. Keeping fun family traditions entwined with real healthy food is key for assuring lifelong healthy diets.

What about where you live? What traditions have you followed that associate real food with family traditions and fond memories? How do you and your family connect with seasonal summer food in your hometown or the places you escape to?

Tell us your stories by entering our contest here for a chance to win a free copy of Get Your Family Eating Right

[image error]  [image error]  [image error]

 

Turn your vacation into a kids' cooking camp

Since returning to Europe from Brooklyn 2 years ago, we started a new summer tradition to spend two weeks with my two kids together with their four French cousins in Saint Malo, a beautiful town on the cost of Brittany, France, where their grandfather lives. For part of that time, I am by myself in charge of the kids, three of them in their mid teens. The idea was for them to go to a day sailing camp and spend time together. 

The first year, the children had a great time. I didn’t. Meals were the culprit. Cooking from scratch by myself was a lot of work that went totally unappreciated.  The kids were too busy playing. Cleaning up was a battle if I expected them to help.  After each meal, they magically disappeared. Who to ask to clear the table? Clean the kitchen?  If I caught one and asked for help the eternal question came out: 'why me? What about the others?‘  In the end, it was I who did it.

The transformation occurred the second summer, when I organized a cooking camp for dinners.

To my surprise, we all bonded and enjoyed every minute of our time together  for our last two summers.  We laughed a lot and enjoyed delicious food (better than I expected!) and future family chefs were born. 

THE SECRET? Writing rules, assigning roles and expecting each child to bring their favorite recipes. Dinners were planned in advance, each child took responsibility for their own recipes, and I shifted my energy to make sure the kids were enjoying themselves. What a difference! The rewards far outweighed the couple of hours I invested in advance planning.  Not to mention late dinners (kids cook slowly), and some raucous cooking sessions with loud music!

Benefits far outweighed any inconveniences

As we share in our book, food has a special meaning when it is shared, appreciated and valued. When kids cook they quickly learn to appreciate their home-cooked meals. Kids were empowered by the experience, and got a feeling of accomplishment.  They now know where meals come from and that they can cook them. Additionally:

The kids were exposed to wider range of foods. To my children’s surprise, their cousins chose to cook some of their least favorite vegetables. I made sure my kids were the sous-chefs of those recipes to expose them to those foods. I loved how they were watching their cousins eat those vegetables with so much gusto.
They became adventurous to try new foods because their peers cooked them. 
Children begin to appreciate a clean, organized kitchen (when they are the ones mopping the floor, they´ll complain if you step on it with dirty shoes!)
Cooking reveals previously-undetected skills in children!  Who knew Sofia would lead many dinners during the following year, or that David would ever be willing to chop onions?         

Top winning strategies for my successful summer cooking camp

Writing a plan for the whole week, with assigned roles for each kid.  To my surprise there was no need for negotiation. Once written and agreed upon it was sacred. Note: if you leave anything off accidentally, you´ll have to do it.  Note to self: I forgot to assign who empties the dishwasher. Result: too much whining about it – I did it!
[image error]
 (I did not help cooking but was there at all times giving advice and encouraging.) 

Daily celebrity Chef ‘star’ designation, taking turns: I did this by filming them. Using my smart phone, I recorded snippets of them prepping, cooking and cleaning. Suddenly, when they were in front of the camera,  they wanted to do their best job even if it was dancing and being silly.
Bringing my iPod and player in the kitchen: Listening to their favorite music made them happy to do even the most tedious tasks: chopping onions, washing pots and cleaning. Amazing!
Taking the kids food shopping on day one: Each child was assigned the ingredients from their recipe to find in the market, plus we assigned other foods for breakfast, etc.
Implementing everything the first day: The learning curve to establish and then keep them on task takes a lot of effort. The first day, there were a couple kids who ‘escaped’ to the TV; reinforcing assigned cleaning made me unpopular that night, but it made all the difference to keep everything on track.

And what about the menu?

Risotto, tomate farsi (tomatoes filled with ground meat), ratatouille with chicken au citron, pizza made from scratch topped with sautéed mushrooms, onions and zucchini, pasta with spinach and more. I have to admit that our French cousins impressed me with their adult palate. They do eat almost everything as Karen Le Billon claims. Can't wait to next summer and to next menu!!