FJA 1st Annual Fall Food Cook OFF

cream cheese frosting

 Students For Fair Trade

 Caroline

pumpkin soup with sage from the GroW Community Garden

the best pumpkin seeds I have ever tasted, brown sugar, cayenne, rosemary

 Jess with SAFI

 Israeli couscous w/ veggies

 students tasting and voting

Justin, Melissa and Caroline

the prizes were bags filled with jams, butters, apples, breads and cookies from the farmers market
and the winners are....

 Third Place: SOFI

 Second Place: Students for Fair Trade

First Place: Caroline

h

 oh no, it's time to go to harry potter

 things always manage to get silly...

Big THANK YOU to everyone who participated!

The Benefits of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Some of us in FJA take 2 tablespoons of raw organic apple cider vinegar every morning, personally I have seen a difference in my energy level and it has aided with digestion. Time will tell if my skins texture and tone evens out and if it helps boost my immune system. We shall see. Melissa's family swears by it and I'm starting to see why!

Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, is made by fermenting apples in a wood barrel. It can be a powerful, healthy, weapon in your arsenal. It can help you battle a variety of illnesses and flush out toxins.

The truly useful apple cider vinegar is not the clear vinegar you find in many stores. There's no health benefit from clear vinegar. The powerful benefits are found in the natural organic apple cider vinegar with a brownish tinge to it and floating stuff inside. The floating matter is called "mother" and is formed from the pectin and apple residue. This brown vinegar is the one creating all the buzz, the one with the minerals, amino acids and vitamins.

What's Good About Apple Cider Vinegar?

Several ingredients found in Apple Cider Vinegar serve to enhance its reputation as a true health benefit. Calcium, iron, sodium, potassium, malic acid and pectin are several of the minerals which it has in perfectly balanced amounts, which gets most people's attention.

• Potassium – to avoid runny nose, hair loss, brittle teeth
• Malic Acid – to fight infections from harmful bacteria and fungus
• Acetic Acid - accounts for the sour taste of vinegar; lowers the blood's pH levels thereby creating an inhospitable intestinal environment for bacterial & fungal infections.
• Pectin – facilitates regulation of blood pressure and removal of bad cholesterol

How Should I Drink Raw Orgnaic Apple Cider Vinegar?

Drinking Raw Apple Cider Vinegar first thing in the morning will invigorate you.

• You could drink Apple Cider Vinegar straight, but you need to be careful of your teeth, since the acid in the vinegar can damage your teeth. It's best to mix with a small amount of purified water.
• Mix Apple Cider Vinegar with water and raw honey or nectar for a refreshing morning drink; the honey is also beneficial to your immune system and provides energy.
• You can use Apple Cider Vinegar when you're making a salad.
• If you like to pickle fruits & vegetables, raw apple cider vinegar is a very healthy choice.
• Add Apple Cider Vinegar to your regular blend of herbs & spices when you mix marinades for meats.

The Benefits Of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

See for yourself if there is any reason you should use apple cider vinegar in your daily routine. Try some of the recipes above. See if you don't notice a difference in your skin & your overall health. Adding Raw Apple Cider Vinegar to your daily routine:

• Smoothes skin texture and tone.
• Promotes a healthy immune system.
• Improves digestion and helps expel body toxins.
• Can help soothe neck, shoulder and back pain.
• Raw Apple Cider Vinegar helps clear skin irritations, like acne & contact dermatitis.
• Helps with weight control – Raw Apple Cider Vinegar taken before meals will speed up the metabolism.
• Can be applied shoulders, neck and forehead to feel rejuvenated (only for 30 minutes per session and shower after).
• Raw Apple Cider Vinegar has even been known to help relieve the symptoms of constipation.

 source

Fall Love in a Bowl

 

 a beautiful bowl of fall flavors

Sauteed Kale and Apple with Dried Cranberries, Toasted Walnuts & Goat Cheese

Serves 2

• bunch of kale, stems removed and chopped
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 apple, chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped toasted walnuts
• 1 tbsp dried cranberries
• goat cheese, crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium heat, once pan is warm at apples and sautee until tender. Add kale, salt and pepper. Once kale is wilted and soft at toasted walnuts and cranberries. Remove from heat and crumble goat cheese on top.

I like this over red quinoa to make it a complete meal, or as a side dish.

Roasted Acorn Squash

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• accorn squash
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds, cut into half moons and coat with olive oil salt and pepper. Place on a cookie sheet and roast for 15 minutes, flip them and roast for another 15 minutes or until tender and caramelized. I eat the skins, but if you have trouble digesting them just spoon out the inside.

And yes, that is a tiny piece of Atwater Bakery's Cranberry Walnut Sourdough on the side there, yum!

Super Easy Week-Night Dinner

This is so so easy to make and super tasty and satisfying. Whether you have a full kitchen or not, all you need is a microwave and you can make this dish. I love Mexican flavors and heat so variations of this dish are a staple on my week-night dinner menu. I started making this burrito when I first arrived at college and only had a microwave to work with, now, even though I have a full kitchen (even though it's tiny) I still make these for dinner when I am looking or something super quick.

Re-fried Bean Burritos

• 1 can re-fried beans
• whole wheat tortillas
• mexican cheese blend, or cheddar
• handful of spinach
• corn salsa
• fresh tomato salsa

Microwave (or heat on stove top) the beans until warmed through, wrap tortillas in moist paper towels and warm in the microwave (about 10 seconds), put a handful of spinach, a dollop of re-fried beans, cheese, and salsas in the tortilla and enjoy.

Sometimes I add avocado, or other random veggies I have on hand, roasted butternut squash, sauteed kale or cabbage, whatever tastes good. Don't be afraid to use a different kind of bean either!

If you are a GW student thinking of replicating this dish, I bought all of the things needed for this dish at Trader Joes. The corn salsa is with the other canned salsas, the fresh salsa is in the refrigerator section, and they have 3 different kinds of re-fried beans to choose from, pick whichever you like.

Another wonderful variation of this dish is a rice bowl, I start with a base of brown rice then I add beans (black, kidney, or re-fied) and add my toppings. So easy, so tasty.

Friends

Check out our friends over at GW Progressive Student Union... they were inspired by our blog and now they have their own!

The latest in jobs pertaining to food!

First Peacecorps...then Americorps...now FOODCORPS!! For all you out there, like me, who is shortly entering the job world and is interested in changing this country's outlook on food, look not further that Foodcorps.

The vision for FoodCorps is to recruit young adults for a yearlong term of public service in school food systems. Once stationed, FoodCorps members will build Farm to School supply chains, expand food system and nutrition education programs, and build and tend school food gardens.

The ultimate goal of the project is to increase the health and prosperity of vulnerable children, while investing in the next generation of farmers.

A 16-month planning process to develop FoodCorps began in January 2010. A summit of 60 interested stakeholders took place in Detroit May 19-20. Open conference calls to discuss the program are held on the first Thursday of every month at 5pm ET. For information about how to join the open calls and reminders on when they're being held, sign up here.

The planning process is building toward submission of a proposal to implement the FoodCorps concept, to be submitted to AmeriCorps and program partners in January 2011.

Photos from Service Excellence Awards

The famous Jessica McConnell Burt took these photos of us at the Service Excellence Awards Ceremony.

Service Excellence in Sustainability

Student Choice Award

Jenny and me rockin' our certificates.

To read the article on GW Today about the Awards Ceremony, click here.

Polluted Drinking Water from the Potomac River

Check out this NPR interview with Hendrick Smith about his PBS Frontline documentary Poisoned Waters, which details the widespread pollution of America's water ways.

Smith reports that untreated toxins and chemicals from urban sprawl and development are damaging or destroying natural habitats in the Chesapeake Bay and the Puget Sound. In the Potomac River, chemical compounds are causing mutations in the genitalia of frogs, while high levels of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Puget Sound have led to the endangerment of orca whales.

Yes, you read that correctly, they have found male frogs in the Potomac with ovaries.... SCARY

This affects people like you and me as residents of DC. Our drinking water comes from the Potomac River.

Take a listen, it's worth getting informed about!

C is for Cookie

Some FJAers asked for this cookie recipe, so here it is! I whipped these up for our meeting last night, they are super easy to make, vegan, not to sweet, healthy, and light tasting.

Adapted from Oh She Glows 

Pumpkin Pie Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 Flax ‘egg’  (2 tsp. ground flaxseed + 2 tablespoons water)
• 1 cup regular oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
  
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup agave (you could also use maple syrup)
• 1 small banana, chopped
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin 

I might use 1/4 cup walnuts next time for a bit more crunch and maybe a tad more cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice might be nice in these also!

Directions: Preheat the oven to 375F. Mix flax egg in a small bowl and set aside. Mix dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside. Mix wet ingredients in a small to medium sized bowl and then add flax or chia egg. Stir. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients. Stir well and shape cookies onto a pan. Makes 12 large cookies. Cook for 13 minutes at 375F.

Hoopmania on K st

Food Justice, Progressive Student Union, and Epsilon Sigma Alpha all came out to the Farm at Walker Jones on Sunday to help build hoop houses for the baby spinach plants.

Farmer John bending the hoops.

Staking the hoops with rebar.

Laying the cloth over the hoops. This cloth is really thin, but sturdy. It's the warm weather version of the plastic vinyl that common hoop houses use.

All of our hard work.

A project that would have taken John a day took him under 2 hours with our help! Thank you to all the volunteers that came out!

Fair Trade Chocolate Campaign

Food Justice Alliance teamed up with the Progressive Student Union to promote Fair Trade Chocolate and other products on campus. We had a bake sale using Fair Trade cocoa, we reverse trick-or-treated in Thurston, and showed the movie, The Dark Side of Chocolate.

Tyler Somes, of Progressive Student Union!

We gave these out to all the Freshmen in Thurston.

FJA and PSU at the movie screening with reps from Fair Trade Federation and Labor Rights Campaign.

Come See Jenna Norwood talk about her Documentary Super Charge Me! 30 Days Raw

This is going to be a great event, be sure to check it out!

PizzaMania

In an effort to use up the rest of our CSA vegetables, a few of us got together to throw all of our slightly wilting fruits and veggies on a few pizzas.

Caroline rolling the gluten-free dough

Me rolling the whole wheat dough

Caramelized onions and peppers on the left and white wine baby bella mushrooms on the right

Pizza sauce on the GF dough

Mozzarella, goat cheese, and feta

Gluten free pizza with brussels sprouts, shallots, spinach, onions, peppers, mushrooms, many types of cheese and tomato sauce

Greek pizza w spinach, feta, olive, red pepper flakes, and mozzarella. Brussels sprout pizza w shallots and fresh mozz. Caramelized onions, peppers and mushrooms with fresh mozz too.

Pizzas all done!

Topping to our dessert pizza--walnuts, pecans, cranberries, apples, honey goat cheese.


Apples for the dessert pizza.

Hungry eaters got to the pizza before the camera did!

Enjoying yummy homemade pizza!

Kathleen : )


More pizzamania nights to come as the seasons and available foods change!