www.bonacbotanicals.weebly.com
Please visit the East Hampton High School Garden Project's website to see our progress. Hope you enjoy seeing the photos and links.

Miso Fish Soup

This soup is so easy to make and tastes great too. Adapted from a Vitamix recipe.

Mix 3 and 1/2 cups of water with 3 tablespoons of miso in a medium size pot ( I used organic barley miso). Heat until miso is mixed well with the water and;
Add
3 green onion chopped
1-inch piece of ginger root minced
I cup of diced shiitake mushrooms.
3cups of shredded bok choi. I used baby bak choi.
1 pound of white fish chopped into cubes
3oz of Rice noodles
1 Tablespoon of low-sodium Tamari
simmer over medium heat for 3 minutes until the fish is cooked and noodles are soft.
garnish with cilantro

School Gardens in My Community!!!

I am writing to tell you about a school garden & greenhouse project in my home town of East Hampton, NY called "Bonac Botanicals." With the Principal's vision and the School Boards permission, Teachers, Parents, Students and Community Volunteers have partnered to create an outdoor classroom at our schools. One of the purposes of the garden and greenhouse project is connecting students to the earth and where their food comes from. Children today are losing touch with the natural world and reconnecting them to the earth will help them value nature and this beautiful planet.

In addition to educational purposes, the food grown will be used in the school cafeteria and the gardens will be a community resource as well. Children today are exposed to more chemical laden processed foods than ever before. According to the Center for Disease Control, childhood obesity has almost tripled since 1980 with 12.5 million children between the ages of 2 and 19 obese and at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Evidence shows children will eat what they grow and a child's palate is ever changing. This I know from personal experience and the earlier children are introduced to fresh grown vegetables the more likely they will acquire a taste for them.

The garden & greenhouse project has been in the planning stages for over a year and I am excited to tell you that ground breaking will begin in the spring of 2012 for raised beds. In the meantime a cold frame is in the works. Students in the science department are growing winter crops and the technology students are building a 4' by 16' cold frame to house these delicious greens. As a Nutrition Educator and gardener this project is close to my heart. The children are the future of our planet so we can't let them lose touch with it or let them lose the ability to grow their own food.

Please consider a $10.00 donation.
Make checks payable to "Project Most", designated in the memo section for "Bonac Botanicals" and mail to Rob Schack at East Hampton High School, 2 Long Lane, East Hampton, NY 11937. or make a donation on Project Most's website and dedicate your donation to "Bonac Botanicals" there. www.projectmost.com. Project Most is our non-profit after school program for elementary children in our community and is a leader in school gardens. Incorporating garden lessons into their after school programs and helping children learn about growing and tasting foods they grow.


Many thanks
Maria

Vegetable Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard

Tonight I made Lentil soup. A recipe I adapted from Williams Sonoma book called, "Eat Well". A good friend of mine gave me the book for my 50th birthday and it is filled with wonderful recipes.

Pick over the lentils and remove any stones or discolored lentils, rinse and drain.
Heat Oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minute, stirring continually, until soft.
Add garlic, carrot, and bell pepper and cook for 3 minutes more.

Stir in the broth, tomatoes, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cook until lentils are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Coarsely chop swiss chard and stir into soup. Cook about 2 minutes more. Stir in the apple cider vinegar.
Garnish with nutritional flakes for some added B12 or if you prefer grated cheese.

Red Lentils 2 cups
Olive oil, 2 Tbsp
Medium onion, 1 diced
Garlic, 2 cloves, minced
Carrots, 2 large sliced into rings
Red Bell Pepper, 1 cored and diced
Vegetable Broth, 6 cups
Diced tomatoes, 1 can
Paprika, 1 tsp
Cumin, 1 tsp
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Swiss Chard, 1 bunch
Apple Cider Vinegar, 2 Tbsp

Chicken Soup for my daughter Emily

My daughter Emily was really sick this weekend and she was asking for some chicken soup. I went to the grocery store and bought a can of progresso chicken soup. I opened up the can and put it in the pot and thought to myself "You can do better than this." While I was at the grocery store, I also bought a 4lb organic free range chicken because in the back of my mind I just knew the can of soup wasn't going to cut it. I make a lot of soup in the winter time but I haven't made chicken soup in awhile and I have to say it came out great.

1 3-4lb organic free range chicken
6 medium size red potatoes chopped into chunks
4 medium carrots cut in rings
3 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
chopped fresh parsley
freshly ground pepper

Throw the chicken in the large pot and fill with water about an inch above the chicken. Salt the water, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 3 hours.
Skim the top of the water and remove the foam that forms as the chicken is cooking. Remove the chicken from the pot and when it is cool enough break it up into pieces. To reduce the fat in the broth you can put the broth in a shallow pan to cool, then refrigerate until the fat rises to the top. You can leave it over night or a few hours should do it. Skim the fat off the top of the broth and return to a clean pot to reheat. Add the vegetables and cook for about 1 hour add the chicken pieces for the last 10 minutes. I have to say there wasn't that much fat to skim off the top of the broth after I refrigerated it. I guess this really was a free range chicken.

Garlic's wonderful properties

Garlic is one of the oldest cultivated crops and references to garlic are found in ancient sanskrit. A root vegetable in the onion family garlic is know for its wonderful flavoring in just about every cuisine. In addition to garlics culinary wonders it may have many health benefits from helping to ward off cancer to reducing your risk of heart disease. Many of the health benefits in garlic may be attributed to organosulfur compounds found in the bulb. In animal studies garlic and organsulfur compounds have been found to inhibit the development of chemical induced cancers of the Gastrointestinal tract. Studies have also showed that organosulfur compounds may induce apoptosis (programed cell death) of precancerous and cancerous cells. Garlic also has been found to help lower cholesterol and it has antimicrobial and antifungal properties as well. So include garlic in your cooking regularly.