Cooking Matters! Healthy Cooking Club Gathers

As part of our FEEL Fit Initiative, Rogers Park residents Barbara Moore and Jayne Hoffman, are facilitating a Healthy Cooking Club this Spring.  4 Family Connections families and 1 Teen Girls family meets monthly at Barb's home to prepare healthy meals together in the context of community and relationship building.  Local businesses and residents are supporting this unique venture by providing ingredients for the recipes as well as kitchen supplies and staples for families to take home for their personal kitchens. 

On March 17, the Cooking Club had their first official gathering.  They focused on healthy, make-ahead breakfast items, including homemade granola bars, apple puff pancakes, and carrot muffins.  They measured, chopped, grated, folded, and whisked ingredients together, sharing lots of smiles, laughter, and joy as they baked. They have already met again in April, and are planning to meet again in May.  

The second session was "casserole week".  Participants made a whole grain pasta bake, quinoa and broccoli casserole, a brown rice and beans vegetarian taco bake, and a breakfast egg casserole.

Thank you, Barb, for spearheading Family Matters' first off-site Cooking Club!

Teen Boys Participate in Black History Month Celebrations

On Sunday, February 24^th the ‘Roots of Rhythm’ performed in the staged production of "The Old African." The production was part of the 14^th Annual African American History Celebration featuring African and ballet dancers, gospels signers, and professional story tellers. The drum team provided ambiance and sound effects for the story, drumming for the dancers and rhythmic support for the singers.

Performing in this production was a new direction for the young men. It demanded more orchestrated rhythmic precision and on cue sound effects central to the story telling, as well as timed rhythmic support for both African and ballet dancers.

The hour long performance played to a full house of participating audience members who part took in the dancing Celebration.

The young men also exhibited their art work and Peace themed t-shirt at the event.

Roots of Rhythm perform at Gale Academy 

On Friday February 22^nd The Roots of Rhythm performed for Gale Academy students, who were learning about the shared history of the drum, the basic understanding and language of the drum, and drumming performance. 

If you are interested in engaging the 'Roots of Rhythm' team for a performance, please contact Dan McNeil at dan@familymatterschicago.org or at 773-465-6011 ext. 122. The young men have performed at outdoor community events, weddings, religious services, benefits, and private parties

Let's Move!

On February 28, 2013 Michelle Obama celebrated the launch of the “Let’s Move” Active Schools Initiative, a national effort designed to inspire children to eat well and be active, at McCormick Place in downtown Chicago. Several 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th graders at Family Matters had the opportunity of a lifetime to attend this event with their school. Gisselle, a 7^th grader at Disney Magnet School, and a Teen Girls and Community Tutoring participant, was one of these students. She shares with us her experience:

I met Michelle Obama at McCormick place in Chicago. I went with some of my school. She talked about exercising and about when she was a kid and how she was raised. She also said we can do anything we want in our life; it’s up to us. Gabby Douglas, an Olympic medalist, was also there. Michelle Obama showed us some exercises and Gabby Douglas and everyone in the McCormick place tried them. Jordan Sparks, a singer, was there and she sang “No Air” and another song at the end.

The travel, wait time and travel back to my school were super long, and it was fun to see the athletes and Michelle Obama and Jordan Sparks.

For more information on the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” Initiative and Celebratory launch in Chicago, go to:

http://www.letsmove.gov/blog/2013/02/28/new-program-will-help-bring-physical-activity-back-schools

Community Tutoring Cooking Fun

Family Matters is a flurry of activity during CPS Spring Break.   As part of our FEEL (Food and Exercise to Eat and Live) Fit Initiative, Community Tutoring students and tutors had the opportunity to participate in a healthy cooking workshop in lieu of regular tutoring during Spring Break this year.

Facilitated by Howard Area Community Center Nutritionist Kathryn S., we learned about ingredient substitutions we can use to make desserts healthier, and prepared and ate a delicious Banana and Berry Crumble.  It was a lively, educational, and fun evening, and we would like to share some pictures and the recipe with you.  Enjoy! 

Playing a matching game to learn about ingredient substitutions...

Getting our baking instructions from Kathryn...

Carefully measuring whole wheat flour...

...and plain non-fat yogurt...

Yum! Giving Banana Berry Crumble a big thumbs-up!!

Banana and Berry Crumble (Serves 10)

Ingredients*: 

4 large bananas

2 cups fresh mixed berries

non-stick cooking spray 

5 Tbsp whole-wheat flour, divided 

1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats

1/4  c. light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

4 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter

2/3 c. plain nonfat yogurt

1 Tbsp. honey 

*We doubled the recipe to fit a 9 x 13 pan /serve 20.

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 

2. Peel and slice bananas in half lengthwise.

3.Rinse berries and pat dry.

4. Spray baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place banana halves flat side down in baking dish. 

5. Toss berries with 1 Tbsp whole-wheat flour.

6. In medium bowl, add 4 Tbsp flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to blend. 

7. Cut cold butter into little pieces. Add to bowl.  Using your fingers, quickly blend the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. 

8. Spread the crumbly mixture over the fruit in an even layer.  Press down slightly. 

9. Bake about 10-15 minutes, or until the crumble is firm and golden in color. 

10. While crumble bakes, stir together yogurt and honey in a small bowl to create a lighter version of whipped cream. 

11. When crumble is done, spoon 1 Tbsp of yogurt and honey topping over each serving. 

Mary Jo's Retirement

Over 17 years ago, Mary Jo Deysach joined the Family Matters family as Director of Administration and Human Resources. In that capacity, she has worked with countless staff members, volunteers and program participants. Mary Jo has participated in, and assisted with, 16 of the the last 17 Walk-A-Thons, missing one due to surgery. Ever dedicated to Family Matters events, she "walked" in the 1997 Walk-a-thon using a wheelchair, since she was recovering from a broken leg. She remembers that, despite the rain that day, many dedicated friends took turns pushing her along the 5-mile route.

Daniel McNeil at SOL Cafe

Daniel McNeil, director of the Teen Boys program, recently performed at SOL Cafe's first open mic night event, "Talkshop."

Musical Matters

One of the highlights of Learning Matters Summer School 2012 was Musical Matters-- a daily music class facilitated by Valerie Guerra, musician and Schweitzer Fellow through the University of Chicago School of Social Work Administration.

On December 5, 2012, Valerie, Teen Boys program participant Chijoke McClain, and nine Musical Matters participants reunited at Family Matters for a special afternoon: a trip downtown to See Music Recording Studio to record the two songs they chose to learn this summer -- Wavin’ Flag by K’Naan and Waka Waka by Shakira.