30 Day Challenge from a Local Love H.S. intern

Cary, an intern and employee of Local Love has decided to take a 30 day challenge and document the moments that she has.  She will share her ups and downs, challenges, thoughts and shifts that she encounters.  Check back to this post as I will have her Bio and photo up soon.

4-30-12 
 I am doing this challenge/blog to see how my life and moods would change if i was vegan for a month.  Today was already hard but it was worth it because I felt lighter and I felt like I had more energy. For lunch I ate pesto pasta and for dinner I ate a vegan cheese burrito with rice and tomato. It was hard not to eat meat but chef Barry’s delicious food made it so much easier.

5-2-12
I missed a couple days in my blog but I am still vegan and it is getting way easier. Today for breakfast I ate cereal with almond milk with a fruit smoothie and a granola bar and for lunch I had corn with potatoes and beans. The food is great! For dinner I had vegan Mac and cheese with tofu, rice, and greens. Being vegan is getting a little easier but it is really not that hard as long as you know how to cook the right food or have a wonderful chef to make u delicious food.

5-4-12
 Today was a nice vegan day because went on a field trip to whole foods. I saw a lot of good alternatives for vegans and a lot of reasons why vegan is the way to go. At whole foods they were talking a lot about how a lot of places mistreat the animals and how the meat and things are brought to the stores and that made me super proud to be a vegan. I had cereal and a vegan donut for breakfast and I’m not going to  lie, I couldn’t resist a piece of cheese at whole foods. I had some vegan pizza for lunch and it was honestly one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten. It had vegan cheese, sauce, peppers, and zucchini on it. Yummy! For dinner I ate rice, broccoli , and more pizza. I think I like being vegan. I want to be a veterinarian and I love animals and I actually feel better knowing that I am not eating any part of them or anything that has to do with them.


Sincerely, Carrie








Local Love Catering is the Vegan Chef Period
www.locallovecatering.com

"Raw"

We have invited Samuel Polanco, a High school student where we have our NPS school project to blog for us once a month.  Want to find out how you can help out cause and his school:  Check out our website:  www.locallovecatering.com


             "Well, I guess I'll start by introducing myself.  My name is Samuel Polanco.  I'm a student at Sand Paths Academy and I'm in the 11th grade.  Graduating in 2012.  I've been going to this school for 3 years now.  I've always shown a passion for the culinary arts.

This semester has been fun and exciting year for me because this is the first year we have a culinary arts class.  For me personally, this is my favorite class.  We cook all different kinds of delicious foods.  When I graduate High School, I'm planning on going to Culinary school to get my culinary degree.  I want to start my own multi-cultural restaurant with all kinds of delicious foods from all over the world.

On March 11, 2012 was my first day working for Chef Barry.  It was a great, fun educational experience. It was fun as well too.  It was amazing how many delicious foods you can create with absolutely no heat.  It is a lot harder than it seems.  I got the chance to experiment with sprouting and dehydration.  Raw food is really interesting.

One of my favorite dishes to make was the mushroom and spinach tart.  That was one of the more complicated dishes for me because not only does it have to be delicious but it also has to be presentable.  It didn't make the situation any easier that we had to make one hundred and fifty of the same dish.  All together it was my favorite dish.

Another dish that I worked on was a sprouted falafel.  I didn't do the actual preparation of this dish.  I just balled up one hundred and fifty of them.  After shaping them we put them in the dehydrator until they were nice and crunchy.  

All together that day, we made Mushroom and spinach tarts, parsnip pinenut macadamia sushi, Sprouted falafel and for dessert we made a Pecan Joy.  They were all fun and delicious foods.
Well this is it for this blog.  

Farewell fellow food lovers.
Until next time.
Samuel Polanco"

Much Love, Jennifer and Barry Horton

Local Love Catering

Local, Organic, Vegan Eco-friendly

www.locallovecatering.com

Sam: A Student food critic/blogger of Local Love Lunches and culinary experiences

We have a guest writing for our blog and we hope to include his blogs on a regular basis. He is a 17 year old high school student with a passion for the culinary arts. I will have him include an introduction of himself in his next blog. We asked him to write about the vegan lunch program that he is receiving daily. His response follows:

"The food here is great. It is very different. For me personally, I have never tried anything like this. I am used to two minute burgers and the 5 minute burrito. This food that I eat at school is a new experience. One of my favorite dishes that I have been served here is the Habanero Enchiladas. I love the perfectly mild sauce, the black beans and onions. It is a great combination of flavors. Another one of my favorites is the tofu hot wings. It is great how such a simple and original dish can be made into such a unique, tasty, meat-free dish all around. The dishes that I have tried are healthy, tasty and most importantly, filling. Hopefully, someday, more people will be willing to try it!"

Cook OFf: Asparagus and More!!!!

Pob






Ingredients: Asparagus, Poblano Peppers, Shiitake Mushrooms, Dates, Avocado and sweet Potato

Local Love's Upcoming events

Cooking Class: Aphrodisiacs at Temple Beth Sholom, San Leandro 6:00pm | February 21, 2011 (ONLY 3 SPOTS LEFT)

Learn to make vegan Aphrodisiacs. 1.5 Hour class. Space is limited. Book Now. 510-917-0190. Only $55.00 per person Hands-on-Learning with Chef Barry Horton

Local Love Catering Teams Up with Sid Hillman Certified Nutritionist from Transitioning to Health for a Nutrition Seminar, Cooking Class and a 3 course meal in San Francisco, CA | March 3 and 4, 2012

Cook Off 3: SOY CRAZY

Well unbenounced to the other we both chose a soy product as our non produce item. So this week has a definite Soy influence.

This weeks ingredients:

Spinach

mini yellow, red and orange peppers

Sweet potato

Carnaval Squash

Chef Sampler pack mushrooms

Shallots

Naval Oranges

GF SOY Choriso

Silken Tofu

What did we create?

Barry meals:

Rich, Hearty Squash, Caramelized Shallot and Spinach stew

Mashed Sweet potato with a Mushroom Gravy topped with coconut milk "sour cream" and mini bells

I forgot to photograph his dessert which was a Navel Orange julius Souffle topped with Bluberries and Ground Chocolate GF Cookies

Jen's Creations

Appetizer:

Baked Sweet potato chip topped with "NUTRI-Cheezy" Choriso and Spinach chiffinade.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips topped with Caramelized Shallots and a Braised mushroom "Scallop" seared in navel orange juice.

Spinach, mini peppers and Red onion souffle's Topped with Toasted Amaranth

Caranaval Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice and a Wild Mushrooms served with a rich mushroom gravy!

Navel Orange "Cheese cake" Baked in a navel orange skin.

The pre tasting feast.

We really enjoyed the Baked Sweet potatoes topped with the "Scallop", mashed sweet potatoes and gravy, the rich hearty stew and the Souffles.

Jennifer is going to try to redo the cheesecake as it had potential.

Tell us your favorite soy recipe in the comment. Or share a specialty ingredient that you would like to see us use.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Thinly slice a sweet potato (or use a madolin) I did it by hand using a paring knife.

SPray both sides of the chips with Organic olive oil.

Bake until crispy. VOILA>>>> easy as, well as baked sweet potato chip.

Love,

Local Love Catering

www.locallovecatering.com

March 3 San Francisco and March 4 Healdsburg Nutrition Seminar, Cooking Class and 3 Course Meal

LOCAL LOVE CATERING

www.locallovecatering.com

(click image to enlarge)