We spent the past weekend at the Hen House Holiday Festival at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Ks.  It was fun to be around so many people that have such a passion and enthusiasm for food.   It’s contagious!  Thousands showed up during the three days of the event and I can’t wait to do it again next year.

Here are some pics from the weekend…..enjoy!

Roasted Chestnuts and Chestnut Soup!

Chef K after the radio show

Honey Lip Balm from Anthonys Beehive

Good Natured Family Farms Booth

Farm Fresh Milk from Good Natured Farms

Chef Jasper

Bison Bites

Banana Sharks and Raddish Mice from Bistro Kids

Anthony from Anthonys Beehive

We’ve moved

We’ve moved our blog in under our website.  www.bistrokids.com You will see the bistro blog on the left hand side of the home page.  Stay up to do with what we are doing at our schools as well as all the information on healthy living and changing the way we feed our school children!

www.bistrokids.com

We are going live!

The new Bistro kids website will be going live within the next few hours.  Stay tuned!!!!!!!

Kudos to our chefs

We received a nice note that I’m more than happy to share with you.  It’s in regards to our chefs, Matt and Brandi at Forsyth in St. Louis. 

Here’s a copy of the letter sent to Merrill:

Merrill,
We just wanted to thank you for all you do. We also want to let you know how much we enjoy and appreciate Chef Brandi and Chef Matt. They do a great job letting us know what is in the food so we can then encourage our kids to try new things. For example, we talked about the quinoa (spelling) with Brandi and then talked to the kids about it. Quite interesting! So, just wanted to pass along our good feelings and let you know what good experience we are having. (It is the first time we have ventured into the lunch room.)

Let us know if there is anything we can do. We know that we are different and we appreciate Brandi and Matt letting us know who has different choices. We seem to have that down to an art.

Again, Thanks and Kudos to our chefs for the great food!

Barb

Thanks for the note Barb!  We love what we do and we truly appreciate the hard work and dedication that not only Matt and Brandi do, but all the Chefs involved in our organization.  Keep up the great work team………YOU ROCK!  (organically and locally grown of course)

The Saul Mirowitz Day School Open House

Come be amazed!

The Saul Mirowitz Day School-Reform Jewish Academy has planned an incredible Open House for prospective families on November 1, 3-5 p.m.

Plan to arrive promptly at 3 p.m. Your pre-school child will be matched with a “buddy” (an older RJA student or graduate) for enrichment activities while prospective parents see sample lessons that give them a window into the school day.

At 4 p.m., parents and children will gather together for LET IT BE ME: a free family Rick Recht concert.

It’s never too early to plan for kindergarten.

Want to learn more? Call Patty at 314-569-2692 or email pbloom@smds-rja.org.

MSNBC: Report shows Schools fall short on veggies

Click the link to see the latest report on Schools not meeting nutritional standards set forth for children.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33388040/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

Website Update

I wanted to give you a quick update on our NEW and MUCH improved website.  We will be launching it this week (I don’t have a definate date, because I’m still in the process of updating it) but I will let you know when it is ready.  The new site will be much more user friendly for you the parents and friends of Bistro Kids.  Each school will essentially have their own calendars so that the parents can access events and school lunch menus.  You will also be able to follow our blog right there on the site.  I will leave this one up for a few weeks after we launch the new site, but eventually everything will be phased over. 

Plus, when you see the new site you will be able to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!!  Yes we’ve gone 21st Century, or maybe, your’s truly here has gone 21st century?  I’m not sure which?  Sort of like which came first?  The organic chicken?  Or the organic egg?  Be sure and become a fan of BK and follow our tweets on Twitter. 

Bigshot Design has done such a great job working with us in creating this and I really encourage you to consider them next time you need Web Design.  They also offer many other solutions for your buisness, big or small.  You can visit their site at www.thinkbigshot.com for all your marketing solutions.

Global Parnters for Local Organic Food

On Tuesday Nov. 12 at 7 PM the Topeka Public TV station, KTWU, will air a new episode in the series “Sunflower Journeys” which is produced by Dave Kendall. It is titled “Eating Locally.” The second segment that night will feature about an eight minute segment on our Global Partners for Local Organic Foods project that includes video clips and interviews with some of the Japanese and American participants. The project is funded by the Japan Foundation and coordinated by the Kansas Rural Center and IFOAM-Japan.  The segment  will follow a story on urban gardening in Kansas City. The third (and final) segment in the show is a “Plains People” (POV style) profile on one of the founders of PT’s Coffee in Topeka — Jeff Taylor. The show will air at other times on the Topeka station and will be shown on the Kansas City Public TV station (KCPT) as well, although the air date for that has not yet been set.

   For more on the project, check out out bilingual website:  www.gplof.org

Simple testimonial

Simple words that mean the world to us.  Here’s a testimonial from a Mother of a student at Saul Mirowitz Day School. 

My son LOVED the quesadilla. He said “Bistro Kids has the BEST LUNCH EVER!”

Love that!

Patty

 

Well Patty, we are thrilled that he loves what we do!   Thanks for the note!

Eat Smart. Play Hard. Healthy Kids Learn Better.

10 Reasons to go Organic

In order for produce to be considered organic, it has to fall under certain production standards:  It is a heavily regulated industry that requires producers to obtain a special certification in order to market food as organic.  This ensures top quality and health conscious food for all consumers. 

     The use of pesticides, insecticides and herbicides is greatly restricted when producing organic produce.  Also, organic foods are never genetically modified, which guarantees they will contain higher levels of nutrients and antioxidants.

Top 10 reasons:

1. Organic farming means healthy soil, and becaus soil is the foundation of the food chain, organic harvesters only practice techniques that are best for the ground we walk on.
2. The “organic” certification ensures that the products were cultivated under strict standards and contain no toxins.
3. Differences in the taste of organic food relies simply on the greater soil qualities from organic farming techniques.
4. Organic production protects human health in the long run by avoiding such things as antibiotics that could have profound consequences for treatment of disease in humans.
5. Organic agriculture is one way to prevent chemicals from getting into the air, soil and water.
6. Organic farms conserve water resources.
7. Organic farmers are leading the way for research in organic vegetation, focusing on ways to reduce toxins and minimize damage on the environment.
8. The loss of a large variety of species is a pressing environmental concern, but organic farmers and gardeners have been collecting and preserving seeds and growing unusual varieties for decades.
9. Almost every food category has an organic alternative.
10. Organic agriculture minimizes children’s exposure to toxins in the soil.

Source: http://ota.com