More Upcoming Workshops!

Burnaby Food First is pleased to announce two more workshops! One new topic and one repeat of a very popular topic :)





Canning and Winter Pickles



Tuesday, February 2

6:30 pm to 8:15pm

Tommy Douglas Library (7311 Kingsway / Burnaby - map)

 

Join Alice MacPherson and learn how to turn regular winter vegetables into delicious pickles. Participants will take home a sample of pickles from the workshop! Due to presence of boiling water, no children please but older teenagers welcome.



FREE but registration is required. To register, please contact Meghan at (604) 209-2404 or at burnabyfoodfirst@gmail.com.

__________________________________________________________________________________





Healthy Snacks for Kids



Tuesday, February 16, 2016

5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Brentwood Community Resource Centre (2055 Rosser Ave / Burnaby - map)

Join Sondi Bruner and learn some delicious and nutritious suggestions for after school snacks. This is a co-event with the Brentwood YMCA. We will spend the first part of the evening talking about healthy snacks and then all are welcome to stay for a Family style dinner. Children of all ages are welcome to attend this event. 

FREE but registration is required. To register, please contact Meghan at (604) 209-2404 or at burnabyfoodfirst@gmail.com.

----

Enjoy Burnaby Food First workshops? Want to get involved as a volunteer?

Check out all the great ways you can get involved. All are welcome, and we'd love to have you on board! For more information, send us an email.

4-Ingredient Banana Blondies

I can't tell you how many times I've glanced at my overly-ripe bananas and gone straight to my computer to google "baked banana recipes."  The number is probably absurd, in fact, I'm pretty sure if it could, my computer would roll its eyes at me.  But guess what you RUDE, SARCASTIC COMPUTER, there are still so many recipes to try!  Like, who knew I would find these simple, four-ingredient HEALTHY blondies that come together in mere MINUTES?!

I followed this recipe with a couple of adaptions based on what I had in my pantry: I used all-purpose flour instead of coconut and regular peanut butter instead of cashew.  Otherwise I used two mashed bananas and maple syrup as the recipe instructed.  Mine seem to be slightly doughier than his but they sure do taste good!  I froze them overnight and plan on keeping them in there for a go-to and guilt-free weekend treat.  Actually, they're totally suitable for breakfast, right?  Good answer!    

Food for New Parents

One of my best friends just had a baby over the weekend, and I�m completely obsessed and in love with her new little guy. I have a handful of friends with babies, and of course Evan and I have a 3 and a half year old nephew that we�re crazy about, but this is first time I�ve been right there with a close close friend, and watched her transition from the girl I met the first day of college, to a hardworking professional business woman, a wife, a pregnant lady, and finally to a mom. It�s insane, and I have so much respect and love for her right now that I want to cry. Are sympathy hormones a thing?


I�ve been thinking of ways I can help her and her husband survive their first few weeks home with the babe, and obviously food is a big one. I think the standard go-to is to bring freezer meals, like casseroles (which I�m not knocking, because hello, cheesy deliciousness), but then I did a little research, and loved this idea and these ideas. 

I�m no expert (and I�m not a mom� and have very little baby experience... this new guy is the youngest baby I've ever held!), so obviously I can�t give the �this worked for me� stamp of approval, but how amazing does it sound to have a fridge full of fresh, healthy salad-y things that you can just grab a bite of with zero effort? I mean� I want to do this for myself! And my new parent friends. But also� for myself! 

Here a few things from the archives that I think would make great drop-off meals for new parents. And New Year�s resolutioners. And� me. 

Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins or golden flapjacks for a sweet breakfast
Baked tortilla huevos rancheros for a savory breakfast 
Sweet potato, pear, & wild rice salad� in a mason jar
Sesame soba noodle salad with tofu 
Tuna and white bean salad with tomatoes and kalamata olives
Wheat berry salad with avocados, strawberries, and caramelized shallots
Southwest quinoa burrito bowl salads
Pumpkin pulled pork burrito bowls
A taco box with homemade pork carnitas 
Roasted vegetables with harissa yogurt sauce 
And of course, new mom�s need dessert as much as the next gal (if not more!) so �cookies! Try these pretzel and M&M ones or these quinoa, chocolate, coconut ones! 

What do you think? Do you have other ideas for what to bring new parents or how to help them adjust to their new lives? I�d love to know! 

Veggie Quesadillas

My 17 month old - LoLo we often call her - is obsessed with Elmo.  And "Ah-skah!"  And Bernie (she sees Bert and Ernie as one person).  So over the holidays, my mom bought her a Sesame Street cookbook.  She walks around the house reading it (and has torn out a page or two for safe keeping/crumbling).  The best part about the book - other than the yummy recipes - is that we found out Elmo's birthday is the day before mine.  I know what cake I'm making for my 35th this year!

As I mentioned, the book is also full of yummy recipes, and for some reason London keeps turning to the Veggie Quesadilla page!  So for Taco Tuesday this week, I made my own version and no, the big kids did not eat them (plain old cheese and ground turkey for them).  I saut�ed sweet onions, shiitake mushrooms, broccoli rabe, yellow squash and sweet baby red peppers...    

...in olive oil with salt and pepper...

...and then in another skillet (that I sprayed with cooking spray), I placed the veggies and a Mexican cheese blend in between two spinach tortillas and cooked them until the cheese was bubbly and delicious.  We served them with greek yogurt, avocado and hot sauce, alongside a salad.  

Meatless Tuesday!  But I totally ate some of my kid's ground turkey, too.  

Job Posting: Food Forum - Event Coordinator

Deadline: Sunday, January 24 at 8:00pm

Term: Part time, contract from Feb. 1 - June 30, 2016

Pay: $25 an hour for 180 hours. Total value of contract is $4,500

Burnaby Food First is hiring an Event Coordinator to plan a Burnaby Food Forum. The Forum is intended to bring together key decision makers from local institutions as well as local agricultural businesses, community organizations and residents to create a cross-sector understanding of food security issues in Burnaby.

Responsibilities

Pre-forum

• Develop a promotional strategy


• Assist in developing written materials including
  programs, posters, invitations, meeting agendas and minutes


• Work with Burnaby Food First (BFF members) to develop
  the forum program


• Contact local media


• Work with BFF members to develop a target list of
  participants and issue invitations


• Set up a registration process and register
  participants


• Organize catering � coffee breaks and lunch with, to
  the extent possible, local, healthy, organic foods


• Secure venue


• Contact and book PechaKucha speakers using BFF forum
  guidelines


• Use BFF guidelines to contact and book organizations
  for displays


• Coordinate printed materials for the forum as needed


• Liaise with community partners


• Coordinate event logistics, including site set-up and
  tear-down


• Recruit, assign and orient event volunteers


• Work within a defined budget and record to ensure
  money is spent appropriately


• Establish and maintain a regular schedule of reporting
  with BFF focus people 

Day
of Forum

• Coordinate A/V equipment and room set-up


• Coordinate any necessary materials for the forum (e.g.
  flip-chart paper, markers, name tags)


• Organize the registration of participants and provide
  name tags


• Handle the logistics of display tables


• Coordinate catering set-up and take-down

Post-forum

• Write a final report that includes

o   
A brief summary
of the forum

o   
Highlights of the
day

o   
Overview of the
displays

o   
Contact
information of participants

o   
Action items

Qualifications

• Experience in
  project coordination, events and community development


• Excellent oral
  and written communication skills


• Ability to travel
  around the community


• Experience in or
  knowledge of social marketing, media and/or communications work


• Skilled in
  building relationships and in working collaboratively to achieve organizational
  goals


• Experience
  working with community volunteers and the not-for-profit sector


• Ability to
  organize, set priorities, meet deadlines and work under pressure of time
  constraints


• Knowledge of the
  Burnaby community preferred

How to apply: To apply, please send a one-page letter
outlining your relevant experiences with references and your contact
information to us at burnabyfoodfirst@gmail.com
by Sunday, January 24, 2016 at 8:00 pm.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Stuffed Brownies

These are just stupid.  In a good way!  But they're stupid.  I mean, is it really necessary to make brownie batter and then decide to stuff a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough in between the dark chocolate goo?  No, it is not necessary, it is stupid.  And brilliant!  Stupid brilliant.  Do I sound like Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globes yet?  Right then.  Bloody hell, what a dumb treat.

Ok, let's push my attempt at dry, British humor aside and discuss how good these really are.  Incredibly rich, difficult to eat more than a few bites, but delicious!  And very simple to make.  Just throw together your favorite brownie (boxed or homemade, mine were Ghiradelli), then your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (I used this one), and layer away.  I went brownie batter, cookie dough, brownie batter, but the creative possibilities are endless!  Bake as directed on the brownie box (although you might need to add 5 more minutes) and enjoy your stupid, dumb treats.  

Always Hungry? It's Probably Not Your Insulin.

David Ludwig, MD, recently published a new book titled Always Hungry? Conquer cravings, retrain your fat cells, and lose weight permanently. The book is getting widespread media coverage. Ludwig is a professor of pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School and a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. He's a pediatric endocrinologist, but his primary focus is research, particularly the impact of nutrition on hunger, calorie expenditure, and body weight. Although I sometimes disagree with how he interprets evidence, he has made significant and useful contributions to the scientific literature in these areas, and I also support his efforts to find policy solutions to curb the intake of sweetened beverages and other junk foods. In the grand scheme of things, he's an ally in the fight to improve the American diet.

Ludwig has written several high-profile op-ed pieces in recent years, both in the popular press and in scientific journals (1, 2). He argues that our understanding of eating behavior and obesity may be all wrong, and that our focus on calories may be leading us away from the true cause of obesity: hormonal imbalance. And the primary culprit is insulin. You might recognize this idea, because it's similar to the one that science journalist Gary Taubes developed in his book Good Calories, Bad Calories.

According to this view, overeating is irrelevant. We gain fat because our insulin levels are too high, leading our fat tissue to take up too much fat, and other tissues to take up too much glucose, causing our blood energy levels to drop and resulting in fat gain, hunger, and fatigue. The ultimate cause of the problem is the rapidly-digesting carbohydrate and sugar we eat. This idea is encapsulated by Ludwig's quote, "Overeating doesn't make you fat. The process of getting fat makes you overeat" (3).

Here are eleven facts that may make you question this line of reasoning:
Read more �