Getting Started

My name is Jessica van Waardenburg; otherwise known as Fallon's mom.  I love to cook and create new kid friendly recipes.  There is something so satisfying about providing a really healthy nutritious meal to my family and friends.  I am hoping to share that love of healthy food with the kids at Community Montessori.

Over the past few years, I have become obsessed with local organic whole foods.  It all started when I was studying for my Master's in Public Health.  I learned so much about individual health, food security, and childhood obesity.  With my newfound knowledge, I decided to change the way that I think about nutrition and I began purchasing food from local farms.  Then, when I found out that I have an autoimmune disease I worked with my healthcare provider to modify my diet in order to reduce inflammation and boost my immune system.  I cut down on processed foods and started trying to make more recipes from scratch always making vegetables a really important part of the meal.  I try to make sure that every meal is at least 50% vegetables which can be really hard sometimes especially for kids who like to eat all carbs!  I buy organic or from farms that I know to be pesticide and hormone free (for meat) as much as I can.  The meals that I make change frequently with what is in season.  I supplement with organic produce grown outside the local area when foods we like aren't in season.  For example, we can't live without broccoli and cauliflower so I just get that at the store instead of a local farm in the winter.  Now this kind of cooking is time consuming because I spend hours each week cutting vegetables and often the meals are experimental since I am constantly trying to make everything kid friendly.

As a mom, this love of food has helped me create healthy, colorful, and nutritious meals that Fallon loves to eat.  She is an adventurous little eater who we can almost always goad into trying just about anything.  My endeavors are not always successful as her tastes change, expand, or even shrink but I keep trying. Since she was born, this has been a learning process and will continue to be so as we grow.  I've found that kids don't always eat what I prepare, but if I give them space and continue to offer what I know is a healthy choice...they will eventually come around.  I try to offer foods that have lots of color and texture. 

I was asked if I wanted to share some of my veggie-laden dishes with the wonderful kids of Community Montessori and I jumped at the chance.  I am hopeful that families will want to take part in this lunch program and find that it makes life easier on Wednesdays since no lunch will be necessary.  I will be making lunch for all the kids at school whose parents are interested in participating on Wednesdays.  Meals will always include veggies, a grain, and a fruit.  Sometimes, meat will be involved but not always.  I will provide a little menu along with pictures and recipes when I can. I would like to get the kids involved in preparation of the food whenever possible and I am hopeful that we can use food from the garden so that the kids can watch the entire process of planting a seed, watering it, picking it, preparing it, and then eating it all while at school. 

So far, the kids tried some veggie enchilada casserole and a warm quinoa dish that had kale, dried cranberries, and almonds. I will just put those two recipes up without pictures since I didn't think about taking pictures until this week!

Thanks so much for visiting the site and please check back to see what the kids will be eating.