Explore Meatless Meals During Vegetarian Awareness Month
Nutrition, Sustainability, From Our KitchenVegetarian diets have become mainstream over the last decade, with more people looking to improve their health or help the environment. Former President Bill Clinton's choice of a vegetarian diet even made the news! There are vegetarian recipes in magazines, veggie dishes in restaurants and even a dating website for vegetarian singles. So while the benefits of a vegetarian diet are obvious, what if you can't completely give up meat? October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, making it a great time...
Slow Cooking for Nutritious Meals
Nutrition, From Our KitchenIf you mention preparing a meal with a slow cooker, many people imagine a mushy beef stew or chicken left to simmer all day in a cream soup and cheese mixture. But the face of slow-cooked meals is changing due to a recent resurgence in popularity and a desire for easy, healthy, homemade meals. Dinner is an important time for families to reconnect in this busy, fast-paced day and age. Research from the Dairy Council of California has shown that...
Teaching Science in the School Kitchen
Nutrition, From Our KitchenJeanette Thompson, a science teacher at The Dunham School in Baton Rouge, LA, was teaching her students about chemical reactions and thought there would be no better way to explain than to offer them a hands-on experience with these reactions. So she set aside the textbooks for the day and sought out SAGE's help. At The Dunham School, we have been baking fresh bread to accompany the house-roasted meats offered on the Classic Cuts Deli® bar, and Thompson wanted her...
Purslane: The New 'It' Green
Nutrition, From Our Kitchen, GardensRecently, while buying greens at the farmers' market, I was encouraged to try purslane, which was entirely new to me. The vendor tossed some in with the spinach and mesclun in the bag. As part of a salad, it was an interesting element. The taste was slightly lemony and astringent, though not at all bitter. Then a friend mentioned that Dr. Oz has been touting the health benefits of purslane, and I saw folks talking about it on Twitter...
Improvised Summer Dinner
Nutrition, From Our KitchenRecently, I invited a friend for dinner, but with the temperature in the mid-90s, cooking was not an enticing prospect. What could I throw together that would be tasty, seasonal and simple, with little or no cooking required? At the farmers market that morning, I was enticed by the sweet corn and vivid red tomatoes. (The heirloom tomatoes growing in my backyard are getting there, but are not quite ready to eat yet.) The plump, glossy blackberries and fragrant...
Celebrate Can-it-Forward Day
Sustainability, From Our KitchenAs with many of the domestic arts, canning has made a big comeback. Sales of home canning equipment have been surging since 2008, in large part due to a growing interest in eating more healthfully and reviving traditions from a simpler time. To capitalize on this trend, Jarden Home Brands -- the makers of Ball canning jars -- has partnered with Canning Across America, a nationwide group of food writers, bloggers and cookbook authors with a passion for canning, to...
Where's the Beef?
Nutrition, Sustainability, From Our Kitchen[caption id="attachment_5632" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Farmer Shane Hughes with some of his cattle at Liberty Delight Farms."][/caption] Or, perhaps a more appropriate question is, where's the beef from? It's so important to know where your food comes from, and what's in it. Across the United States, SAGE works with farmers to bring locally raised beef, chicken and produce to the schools we serve. One such partner is Liberty Delight Farms, a family-owned and operated business in Reisterstown, MD. Their Simmental...
Boost Your Intake of Whole Wheat
Nutrition, From Our KitchenWe love the Whole Grains Council, because it does so much to promote healthful eating. The organization has even developed a calendar that features a different whole grain each month of the year. July's featured grain is one familiar to all of us: wheat. In the United States, about two-thirds of all grains consumed are some form of wheat. A large portion of that is refined wheat, which is less nutritious than whole wheat. Even enriched wheat, which has been...