One of the things I love about having quit my corporate job is being able to get more involved in my kids' schools. I'm not doing as much as I could, but it's a thousand percent more than I did last year.
I am co-chair of PS321's Green & Healthy Committee, and January is Green & Healthy month! So we had a big party last week for which I created and ran a Nutrition Booth that was wayyyyy more popular than expected given my competition: a dance party, yoga and dance classes, an obstacle course, etc., and... a gelato (made of, err, natural, wholesome ingredients) workshop!
The kids loved playing my "Guess How Much Sugar!" game where they matched cups of varying amounts of sugar with the right product. I also had them be food detectives by asking them to find the differences between two kinds of ketchup, applesauce, peanut butter and cereal. What fun it was to hear an 8-year-old saying, "Mom! NEVER buy this kind of applesauce again! It has high fructose corn syrup in it!" I also overheard a mom looking at my "Did You Know?" section saying to her kid, "Wow, look at that. Broccoli stalks have more calcium and vitamin D than the flowers! We'll have to start throwing them into our stir-fry's." With all that under my belt, I was pretty confident making guacamole with Frank and his 24 first-grader classmates yesterday was going to be a hit.
We all sat and chatted for a bit: What had they learned during Green & Healthy month? Had they tried any new fruits and vegetables? Did they notice how good it feels to be green and healthy? I told them we'd be making guacamole; most had tried it before. I told them I was proud of them as I'd not touched an avocado until my 20's (true story.) Most of them knew an avocado is technically a fruit. (
Did you?) I talked to them about the other ingredients - we kept it simple with lime, cilantro and salt but we discussed additional options like red onions, jalepeno peppers and tomatoes, all of which they were happy to be leaving out! I showed them how to easily open an avocado and remove the pit. I showed them how to start the process of growing their very own avocado tree!
See here for yourself. (Frank and I agreed to babysit for ours at home and share the progress with the class every couple of weeks.)
And then the madness began!
They broke out into tables, each with a bowl, a masher and a spoon. Each kid got a half an avocado whose flesh they were responsible for scooping out. Each got a quarter of a lime whose juice they were responsible for squeezing out. I went around and sprinkled salt and cilantro in each of the bowls. They mashed and stirred, mashed and stirred. Giggles all around. I handed out carrots and (organic whole grain :)) tortilla chips and they devoured everything.
Only two out of 25 didn't try it. One spooned left-overs into her lunch container. Another literally licked the bowl (unsanitary, but a compliment nonetheless!) Here's what they had to say:
"It's better than store-bought!"
"It's better than a restaurant's!"
"It's better because it costs less!"
"It's better because you know the ingredients!"
"It's CLASS-MADE GUACAMOLE!"
Class-Made Guacamole. There's no better brand around. Try it with your kid's class!
Class-Made Guacamole
(serves 25 hungry first-graders)
Ingredients:
the flesh of 12 avocados
the juice of 6 limes
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
salt, to taste
Directions:
1. Scoop out the flesh of each of the avocados into a bowl. MASH.
2. Squirt out the juice of 6 limes into the mashed avocado.
3. Sprinkle the cilantro on top. Mix with a spoon.
4. Add in a little salt at a time, stirring and tasting until desired.
Serve with carrots and whole grain tortilla chips and proudly watch them devour it all.
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