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Food Revolution Cooks up Huntington

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Jamie Oliver’s show was on again last night. Jamie’s Food Revolution (ABC Friday nights) has been a nice show to watch amidst all the crazy, drama filled shows that are currently available on regular TV.

This last show was a bit more “heavy” than the other shows up to this point.

For those of you who missed it (Don’t worry- go to ABC.com and watch last nights show or any other shows that you missed.) Jamie is still working on changing the food in the local schools. But on this show his goal of motivating the entire town of Huntington to cook and eat healthier foods.

One way that Jamie hopes will help the town is to set up a cooking “School” where people can come and learn to cook a meal or even get some budgeting help to plan and prepare meals from scratch.

Jamie and the local radio station host get a bet going that Jamie can’t get 1,000 people in the town to come out and learn to cook one dish with him. So Jamie gets really creative in order to drum up awareness for his Food Revolution.

These creative measures include:

1. Organizing a Flash Mob at the local college, who start to sing and dance and cook with Jamie.

2. Closing down the street in front of Jamie’s shop and having a huge cook-a -thon cooking class with 50 or so folks.

3. Getting that same local radio station host on his side via education on disease and even death.

This third part is by far the most informational for us, the viewer at home, and the radio guy as well. They start out at a local funeral home, checking out the huge caskets that are needed to hold people who are obese. Now we had a bit of a sneak peek on this earlier on Oprah back in March, but it was interesting to see the entire visit. Sadly, it was noted that these super-sized caskets are more in demand than ever before. We should all think of this the next time we order a super-sized meal, right?

Next Jamie brings together the radio guy with some of the families and students who are supportive of the Food Revolution to talk about how obesity has affected their lives.

While many touching stories were told, we enjoyed watching the transformation of the radio guy from someone who thought Jamie should “mind his own business” to someone who could now understand what the Food Revolution was all about.

The bottom line: Jamie wins the bet, gets his 1,000 people to cook with him and along the way has found a local influential supporter of the Food Revolution.

We wondered if we all do that on some level. I mean we all know we should avoid the fried stuff, and eat more veggies as a rule, but so many times we have ignored this advice and instead turned to something a bit cheaper or more convent, or that just tastes Yummy! Eeks! Here staring us in the face, is the outcome of 30 or so years of eating without thinking twice.

We enjoy eating out just as much as the next person, but since watching the Food Revolution on TV and reading Jamie Oliver’s book The Food Revolution, we have made much more of an effort to eat our meals at home. We really are enjoying eating in where we are in more control of the quality of the ingredients, how they are cooked, and what is added to them. (Shameless plug for Trader Joe’s, as this store makes it EASY to eat great at home).

So have you been watching The Food Revolution on Friday nights? What do you think?

OK Confession: after watching last night’s show, and watching 1,000 people cook the same stir-fry meal, we HAD to search for the recipe on line:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/beef-and-vegetable-stir-fry

We are going to make this for dinner SOON!

Food Revolution Heads to High School

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Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Hey did you catch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on Friday night?

We did, and thought the show brought up many interesting and also sad points about the state of the way we eat in the United States.

When the show starts, Jamie is 2 or so weeks into some big changes at the local elementary school. In order to serve Jamie’s made-from-scratch menu, more people are needed in the kitchen to prep and cook all the items before the official lunch time. Of course there is also a bit of drama with the staff in the kitchen as they are becoming concerned about how they will be able to keep up with all the prep work in the future.

What we did notice when the cameras went out into the dining room were a number of students eating their veggies. WOW. This goal almost appeared unreachable in the first two shows, yet here they were eating a variety of items on their plates. There is even a close up of a student munching on a piece of broccoli.

So what does this tell us? Will we all eat better and healthier if we just place good fresh foods in our path? It started to make us think about the many choices that we make every day and how like Jamie says, a few little changes can really start something BIG.

The second point that made an impression on us that night was some of the “food ironies” that came up and was being enforced at the schools (via the USDA requirements).

Jamie has made an entree at the high school of veggie lo mien and teriyaki chicken. Now this lunch –all freshly made from fresh ingredients mind you did not pass the eagle eye of the district food rep who said that there was not enough veggie on that “meal”. OK fair enough you say, but in the same shot we are watching students take a fried, breaded chicken patty on a bun and a handful of French fries as a meal with not a veggie in the basket.

Now Jamie nicely points out this discrepancy to the district food rep, who replies something about the students can choose a salad to eat with this meal.

Oh really….

How many students do you think ran over to the salad bar to create a salad? Yes, you guessed it, not one.

What we could not get is why students could not just add that salad to Jamie’s entrée that day if this system worked so well…

Also we secretly wondered when the last time a student ever did eat a salad from that salad bar? I would have thought if ONE student had chosen a salad with all those TV cameras in the area there would have been many a close up of this amazing event.

The highlight of the night occurred when Jamie organized a group of high school students to help him spread the word about better eating at the high school (and life in general) and has the students help him cook for a 80 person fundraiser to help support better school food.

The students had only cooked with Jamie one time prior to the creation of this meal. Jamie had created a nice menu and ordered all the ingredients, but the prep work, cooking and serving of the meal was Jamie and his group of high school students.

Well, to alleviate any anxiety that you might be having at the thought of this arrangement the outcome: just Fantastic!!

They, the students, did an excellent job of executing all stages of this meal. Naturally there were a few challenges, such as burning some toast etc… but hey that could occur in anyone’s kitchen right? (It happens around here too). They best part was at the end of the meal when Jamie allows each one to say a few words to the audience of potential donors to urge them to give to the cause.

We are just enjoying this show so much! We especially love the fact that Jamie Oliver feels so passionately about his Food Revolution. He is so committed to making some BIG changes in the school lunch programs, and ultimately everyone’s kitchen.

Have you joined the Food Revolution yet? You can find out more information and sign the petition at: http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

Have you joined yet??

Oprah Inaugurates a Food Revolution in America!

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We made it a point to watch Oprah today (Friday). Why? Oprah interviewed Jamie Oliver and discussed his latest venture/obsession/mission: The Food Revolution!  (Cook more meals at home, buy fresh food, eat together as a family, get healthy as a result.

Jamie is so focused on this new venture that he has a new TV  show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. This  is  6, 1-hour shows filmed in Huntington, West Virginia (Airing on ABC Fridays).

Why this town? According to Jamie and the CDC (Center for Disease Control), this town is the most un-healthiest spot in the United States. From what we can piece together, Jamie arrives in the town to challenge them into breaking away from their usual meals and try to eat healthier. Many of the previews we watched this afternoon, focused on Jamie’s work at a school in the city (talking to the kids, working with the staff etc…)   Naturally, Jamie’s show contains some drama as the local DJ tries to “run him out of town” and is initially resistance to this British guy showing up to tell the locals what to do.

The show will debut tonight (Friday March 26, 2010) in the United States on your local ABC station. Here in Tucson, it will air from 7-9pm. Thank goodness we checked again, as we originally thought it would be on at 9pm tonight- eeks! THAT would have been disappointing!!

There were quite a few clips to view on Oprah, but there were two parts that really stood out for us.

1. Golden Brown Food

Oprah aired a clip of a home visit that Jamie makes to a family, and piles up a weeks worth of food on their kitchen table. The food mound is composed of pizza, French fries, corn dogs, chicken nuggets, burgers, nachos, you get the idea- everything was brown, bready and high in fat!

The comment is made that all the food that this family is eating is “golden brown” from the fryer! Eeks!  Most of it is breaded or fried, looked greasy and seemed soggy by the end of the shots.

It was sorta shocking to see that much “golden brown” food at one time. Yuck!

Truthfully we are sure that we have eaten such a meal in the past, but every day for a week? Wow that mound of food looked impressive, but in a negative way.

2. The Coffin for the obese

In another part, Jamie brings the radio DJ along to a local funeral home, and then we all get a view of what the “end of life options” are for the obese. This we will admit was shocking to us.

The coffin was as large as a full or queen sized bed!

The Morticians noted that a coffin of this size required many “un-dignified” adjustments in order to be moved and buried. These included tipping it up on it’s side (to get through a door), transportation in a pickup truck and/or by fork lift, and the injustice of having to pay for two plots at the cemetery. These huge coffins are also super heavy (reinforced steel side beams etc…) as they have to hold up with contents that weigh between 600-700 pounds.

The most shocking news of all? These huge coffin sales are on the rise in the United States. We sat shocked and silent at this news as the show went to a commercial break.

Wow, maybe Americans do need a Food Revolution after all??

Jamie and Oprah were able to lighten up the mood of the audience when the show returned by cooking.

As most of the clips and shots of the show focused on kids eating chicken nuggets, what does Jamie make? Breaded chicken strips, of course.

Only his chicken “nuggets” were homemade, cheaper and quicker than the kind in the box that everyone is used to. Jamie comments that his homemade chicken nuggets will cook up in the pan in 6 minutes and that those frozen nuggets take 12-15 minutes to cook up. Also his nuggets are cheaper and you know and can identify all the ingredients in them.

To round out the meal, He serves mashed potatoes and some steamed greens.

We are looking forward to watching the 2 hour special tonight to learn more about  Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and how it changed this small town.

Links:

  • Oprah’s website CLICK HERE
  • Oprah’s recipes from the show CLICK HERE
  • Jamie Oliver’s website to join Food Revolution  CLICK HERE (Goal is 6 million supporters!)

What do you think about the food revolution? What questions or help do you need to start a revolution in your home today??

5 Easy Ways to join the Food Revolution

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Are you interested in joining the Food Revolution but don’t know where to start?  Here are 5 easy ways to start to incorporate the ideas behind Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution in to your life and your kitchen. Remember the Food Revolution is designed to be easy and to help you cook more meals from scratch. This might seem hard in the beginning, yet after a few weeks, you will become more adventurous and ready to try new cooking challenges.

OK ready to start? Here you go:

1. Cook 1 meal from scratch this week.

Food Revolution time is here, what are you going to cook?  It is time to reach for the Food Revolution cook book, or your favorite cookbook or check out the Food Revolution Recipes on this website for some ideas on what to cook.  We recommend the Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle (pg. 46) because cooking pasta is a great easy meal for beginners and it only uses one pan so it is easy clean up too. We also like this recipe because you chop all the veggies up and cook them in the water that you are also cooking the past in. Then drain everything, and return it all to the same pan. Then add your sauce and mix it all up.  Yum!  AND you have cooked your first meal from scratch in your kitchen. Congratulations!

2. Taste 2 new spices

Do you have some spices that you don’t use regularly in your kitchen? Do you know what they even taste like? I know we have some spices that get pushed into the back of the cupboard and then are never used… Well it is time to take them out and check them out. OR maybe you need to purchase some new spices to jazz up your meals at home?

Either way when dealing with spices that you are unfamiliar with, we suggest the following to become “friends” with the spices: Taste ‘em. What we like to do is spoon out a small amount onto a plate, and then dip a little bit of food into the spice and then taste both the spice and the food. You can taste the spices by themselves, but we think that when you taste the spices with some food (like cheese or carrots or cucumbers or a bit of mayo) you will get a better sense of how the spice will taste when you are cooking.  (Hey you can get your family or friends involved with this taste test, and see which spices become favorites)

Some good dry spices to try this experiment on: cumin, curry powder, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, cinnamon, oregano, basil, any spice “mixture” like Old Bay or Mrs. Dash or Italian herbs. This list is based spices that we use regularly and love to cook with. Have some fun and enjoy trying a bunch of new tastes!  (If you have a Health Food Store near you, check and see if they have bulk spices. Many stores allow you to purchase a small amount of dry spices so you can give them a try before spending a lot of $$)

Also, don’t forget about all the spices that you can try out at Trader Joe’s. These are two that we use on a regular basis to season up/flavor all kinds of foods from vegetables to fish and chicken and shrimps. Remember too that if you don’t like one of the items that you bought, Trader Joe’s will gladly refund your $$ so there is never really a risk to trying anything.

Trader Joe's seasoning

Trader Joe's seasoning

3. Tell 3 friends

Tell some friends what you are up to. Maybe some of your friends can help? OR maybe they will be interested in joining you on your cooking adventures? Maybe you can get together on a random Tuesday night and cook together?  What about a Saturday afternoon potluck where everyone brings a dish and the recipe? An important part of the Food Revolution is for you to Pass It On – all these great skills that you are developing in the kitchen. Start thinking about your group now… You never know who will be interested until you ask.

4. Spend 4 minutes cleaning

This part is the scariest…. In order to cook dinner on a regular basis, you really must know what you have to work with. This means everything from plates and cups to pots, pans, spoons and spices. This also means that you need to set aside some cupboard space for a small pantry of items that will ready to help you cook any night of the week. Basic pantry items might be beans, rice, dry pasta, canned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. More adventurous items could include pesto, coconut milk and curry paste.

But for now just spend a few minutes cleaning out old stuff, checking out what you have and getting all these things organized. We love it when the cupboard with all the plastic containers is organized and no longer falls out when we open the door. Too bad that *#$$* area just can’t stay organized, right?

5. Take 5 to plan

This is perhaps the most important part for success in any project, but especially the Food Revolution. Plan out what you are going to eat when you cook at home.  We suggest starting with only one or two meals at a time.  Maybe one meal you will make from fresh ingredients, and the second, you purchase frozen stuff, so that you will have it in “reserve” just in case you plans change- or maybe you want to purchase a couple of meals to have ready to cook at home to help you with that last minute urge to go out?

We timed it once, and we could have pasta on the table in the time it took to drive to our favorite restaurant, let alone park, stand in the line and finally get table.  OR even worse, drive to our favorite fast food restaurant, order food then inch around the drive through, pay, and then pick up the food and drive home. Frequently in the fast food scenario, the food would be cold by the time we returned to the house. YUCK!

So we urge you to plan ahead for a few minutes and have an easy meal ready in your mind, the next time that fast food is calling. You might find that you enjoy eating at home a lot better! We hope that these easy 5 will get you motivated to try the Food Revolution this week and see how easy it can be to cook from scratch at home.