the Dish

No cooking skills are required to lend a hand at one of our 21 monthly cooking classes for 4th graders--just a desire to help, a sense of adventure, love of children and perhaps enthusiasm about working side-by-side with Houston's finest chefs.  Download our December schedule and join in the fun.

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Posted by Gracie Cavnar at 07:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The holidays are a perfect excuse to spend quality time with your children in the kitchen, either whipping up traditional family favorites or exploring healthy new recipe ideas together.  The wonderful Houston chefs who donate their time to Recipe for Success’s Chefs in Schools program have been devising healthy seasonal alternatives that the children have loved--sometimes to their own surprise.  Try these yummy Sweet Potato Biscuits from Lauren Gockley, the pastry chef at Jean-George's Bank. Enjoy!

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Posted by Gracie Cavnar at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The quiz !

You might be surprised at the differences in calorie contents of common restaurant foods.  For instance, would you have thought that a bagel with cream cheese has more calories than 2 jelly donuts?

Answering the questions in the quiz is not unlike the guess work people face at restaurants, where it can be hard to make informed choices.  Few restaurants provide nutrition information to their customers in a way that they can use when ordering.

If you found the quiz surprising, be sure to send it on to friends and colleagues.

For more information about the effect of eating out on Americans’ diet and health, visit Smart Menus, Smart Choices.

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Posted by Gracie Cavnar at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

British lawmakers are getting out in front of the need to curb advertising to children--read about it here.  Time to lean on Congress to implement  restrictions on junk food advertsing aimed at American children.  The millions spent on sophisticated marketing to ensare new young consumers regularly swamp the hard work and underfunded programs to encourage healthy eating.

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Posted by Gracie Cavnar at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The children at MacGregor Elementary who are in Brennan’s Chef Randy Evan’s cooking class got a treat last week.  A PBS film crew visited them for an up-close look at how Recipe for Success and our Chefs in Schools program really works. 

One of young students shared his insight for television appearances—“Don’t look straight at the camera” he advised.  His classmates in Mrs. Bell’s fourth grade must have all taken the advice to heart as they ignored the cameras and sound booms to concentrate on cooking.  Chef Randy rose to the occasion with his scrumptious recipe for spice muffins, accompanied by a geography lesson and insight to history of the spice trade.  The kids helped figure out how to divide the recipe into thirds; carefully measured, stirred and mixed; then judged their results two thumbs up! A perfect recipe for the holidays that uses Splenda instead of sugar, with whole wheat flour and molasses for a healthy 185 calorie treat that tastes like it’s 500.  The program, Living Smart, is expected to air on Channel 8 in February of 2007.


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Posted by Gracie Cavnar at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you read Parade Magazine today, it seems that Americans are beginning to pay attention to the idea of healthy eating.  Finally, a trend in the right direction.  According to Parade, 57% say that they are eating more salads and fruit.  But, it looks like they remain  in denial about their children, with only 9% of the parents surveyed claiming that their children are overweight. 

This despite national data reflecting 15% of American children are obese and that in some areas--like Houston, the number is as high as 23%.  “It’s too painful for many parents to admit they have a fat child,” says nutritionist Marion Nestle of New York University, the author of What to Eat, “It can seem like a criticism of parenting at such a fundamental level.”  Still, parents must take proactive steps to improve the eating habits of their children-- at some point, it's no longer baby fat.

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Posted by Gracie Cavnar at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)