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Winter (or anytime)
Casseroles
Leftovers
make great lunches. They require minimal preparation and taste great.
If you can involve your kids in preparing these dishes, they'll enjoy
them even more! Remember to pack leftovers in your Laptop Lunches when
you're doing the dinner clean-up. It'll save both time and energy.
#1:
Quick
and Easy Tamale Pie
- 1 brick firm tofu (crumble
by hand into fine texture)
- 3 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 can red kidney beans
- 2 cups frozen or canned,
unsweetened corn
- 1 package taco seasoning
- ¾ cup water
- Corn bread batter (see
below)
- 1 small can of sliced
black olives
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1.
Cook onion and tofu in olive oil until onion becomes soft but
not mushy.
2.
Add kidney beans, corn,
and taco seasoning.
3.
Add ¾ cups of water.
4. Stir
and let simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated (about
5 minutes).
5. Remove
from heat and place in a casserole dish.
6. Top
with corn bread batter (see below).
7.
Sprinkle olives on top and
bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees (until golden brown).
8. Top
with a small amount of honey and cinnamon before serving. (optional)
Corn Bread
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup corn meal
- 2 Tbs. sugar
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 2/3 cup nonfat milk
or soy milk
- 3 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 large egg
1.
Combine flour,
cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium-size bowl.
2.
In small bowl,
beat with a fork until blended: milk, melted butter, and egg.
3. Add
egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until blended (batter will
appear lumpy).
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#2:
Potato Vegetable Gratin
- 4
large potatoes
- 3 cups
thinly sliced squash and carrots (or your choice of veggies)
- 1 clove
of garlic
- White
pepper
- Nutmeg
- 2 cups
of milk
- ½
cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbs. butter
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1.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.
Peel potatoes, slice thinly and cook in a small amount of water
until soft but not mushy.
3.
Grease a large, shallow casserole dish and rub with peeled garlic.
4.
Add a layer of potato slices, then a layer of sliced veggies, seasoning
each layer with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Alternate so that the
layers overlap.
5.
Continue to add layers until all of the vegetables have been added
to the dish.
6.
Pour the milk over the potato and veggie mixture and bake for 30
minutes.
7.
Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and dot with butter.
8.
Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the vegetables
are cooked and the cheese is golden brown.
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Green Opportunities
Some
earth-friendly tidbits that have landed in our office in recent weeks...
- If
you're thinking about starting a school garden, consider visiting
www.studentsseedsandsoil.com
for information on getting started, inter-disciplinary garden
curricula, and suggested readings. Some of their material is
specific to the Portland, Oregon area, but much of it is easily
transferable to other parts of the world.
- If
you're interested in seeing some outstanding photographs depicting
the effects of consumerism, be sure to visit www.chrisjordan.com.
We thought this photo of cell phone chargers was amazing! To
see the detail, look at the larger version on his site.
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- The
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) is working
to make food healthier by advocating for more sustainable food
production and a less contaminated food supply while supporting
family farmers and rural communities. Since food accounts for
most of a person's exposure to many toxic pollutants, their
efforts include protecting a child's first food, breast milk,
from toxic contamination. They've included information for food
producers, policymakers, parents and other consumers, and health
professionals. They also have a fish calculator which allows
you to calculate safe consumption levels of the fish you eat.
For more information, visit their Web site at www.iatp.org/foodandhealth.
- If
you're sending flowers this Valentine's Day, consider purchasing
from Organic Bouquet at
www.organicbouquet.com. Proceeds from the sale of charitable
bouquets benefit endangered species, animal rights, social justice,
and the environment.
-
If you're looking for step-by-step instructions for starting
a waste-free lunch program at your school, consider subscribing
to Green Teacher
Magazine, and make sure you receive the Fall 2004 issue.
-
Non-profit E Magazine contains valuable information and in-depth
stories on all aspects related to the environment.
For
a free trial,
click here.
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Making
Something from Nothing
By
Marilyn J. Brackney
Many
elementary art educators and others who work with young children manage
to teach with very little money, and they often resort to making art
from solid waste when they're running low on conventional art supplies.
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However, working on a "bare bones budget" has some advantages.
Besides helping to save landfill space, natural resources, and money,
making art from solid waste requires one to think in new ways, and that's
the real joy of the creative process.
While it would be impossible to provide a quality program without basic
materials such as glue, paste, crayons, and paint, looking at the situation
as an opportunity instead of a problem helps one become a more innovative
teacher or leader. In addition, kids like working with castoffs, and
making something from nothing is fun.
Finding
Free Materials in Your Community
Besides
reusing household trash such as newspapers, magazines, and junk mail
to make art and crafts, there are many community sources or businesses
that can provide clean, solid waste. Usually, employees are happy to
give customers the materials free of charge. Some of the places one
might visit to find such supplies include the following:
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Paint
and decorating store
Newspaper publisher
Printing company
Florist
Interior designer
Home decorating/gift shop
Office
supply store
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Framing shop
Fabric shop
Craft store
Glass company
Lumberyard
Hardware store
Party store
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Sign making studio
Carpet store
Photographer
Photography store
Upholstery shop |
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By visiting these businesses, one is likely to find materials such as
ribbon, wallpaper and fabric samples, cardboard, paper, beads, foam
core and mat board, scrap frames, Plexiglas, wood, dowels, cloth remnants,
crepe paper, tissue, polystyrene peanuts, envelopes, pvc pipe, streamers,
vinyl letters and material, linoleum, slate, carpet remnants, floral
wire, and newsprint.
Creative
Scrap Exchange Web Sites
In
addition to finding materials on your own, there are many organizations
that collect and distribute scrap materials for use by nonprofit organization
staff members or classroom teachers. If you don't have access to such
a facility, perhaps your local recycling center educator may be interested
in setting up one in your community.
For example, the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management Authority,
which serves a community of less than 40,000 people, houses an art/reuse
facility in a small storage barn
(www.bcswmd.com/redshjf/redshjf.asp.)
Others, such as the scrap exchanges listed here, are located in larger
cities.
Scroungers'
Center for Reusable Art Parts (San Francisco): http://scrap-sf.org
Hudson
Valley Materials Exchange (New Windsor, NY) http://hvmaterialsexchange.com
Materials
for the Arts (New York City): www.mfta.org/home.php
Materials
Exchange Center for Community Arts (Eugene OR):
www.materials-exchange.org
St.
Louis Teachers' Reecycle Center, Inc. http://stlouisteachersrecycle.homestead.com
The
School and Community Reuse Action Project (Portland OR):
www.scrapaction.org/art.html
LA
Shares: www.lashares.org
Others
that Provide Free Materials
ReDO is an international nonprofit organization
that promotes reuse as an economical means for managing surplus and
discarded materials. Visit ReDo online at http://www.redo.org/.
Throwplace.com, www.throwplace.com,
links businesses, charities and individuals in order to find new homes
for excess inventory, possessions or goods. The organization provides
a searchable database to help people find or request items. While registration
is required to participate, there is no charge for the articles that
are exchanged.
The Global Reusable Resource Association, Inc.
(GRRA) has written a handbook for creating and running a center. To
receive a copy of "How To Create A Reusable Resource Center,"
send a check ($10) to: GRAA, PO Box 511001, Melbourne Beach, FL 32951,
Tel, 407-956-7073, Fax, 407-984-9090.
© Copyright
2004 Marilyn J. Brackney
Brackney
is host of The Imagination Factory (www.kid-at-art.com),
an art/reuse Web site for kids, parents, and teachers. Some of the activities
featured include drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, papier-mâché,
marbling and crafts.
What Works...Success
Stories
-
"One of my 2005 New Year's resolutions is to stop using disposable
grocery bags. On December 29th I forgot to bring my grocery bags to
the store, but I had a large department store bag and two cloth bags
in the car, so I took them in with me. At the check-out I asked them
to pack my groceries in the bags and explained that this was one of
my New Year's resolutions. They laughed and said that I still had
two days to go, but I told them that I was starting early. Thanks
for getting me started!"
--
Joan H., Stockton, CA
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"My girls LOVE their Laptop Lunch kits!!! They help me cut down
on buying packaged lunch foods like go-gurts and string cheese. My
kids are fairly picky eaters and having the lunch kits helps them
break out of their lunch ruts too. We are all being more creative
with lunches. Thank you!"
--
Julia Brunzell, Bainbridge Island, WA
-
"My
name is Jonathan. I am 13 years old and I live in Sydney Australia.
Mum and I love the newsletter and make some of the recipes. I spent
3 months in the US last year and I could not believe how large
the food serving sizes are in US restaurants, and how much diners
could eat!
Here is a picture of me eating my lunch and as you can see no plastic
bags.
I am not obese and that is because we do not buy convenience foods,
we
compost and recycle heaps, and all food, including hamburgers are
made in our kitchen.
--
Jonathan , Sydney, Australia
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Looking
for every last crumb!
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Hello from
Australia!
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Do
you have a success story or photo to share? Email it to us at newsletter@obentec.com.
Featured Web Site:
www.marketingsolutionsandconservation.com
March Highlights
Clever calzones,
growing a kitchen garden, and tips for organizing your lunch routine!
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Comments,
questions, concerns? Please email us at newsletter@obentec.com.
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to subscribe to this newsletter?
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© February 2005, by
Obentec, Inc.
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