International Night at Schafer Park

On Wednesday, May 7, Schafer Park Elementary held an International Night to celebrate diversity. Students performed multicultural dances (teachers danced to High School Musical too!), and families brought desserts from all over the globe. This event was the perfect opportunity for HNLCP to show that desserts can be healthy too!

Chef Shira, Shafer Park's nutrition education cooking teacher, and Chef Tiffany, cooking teacher from Burbank, set up a table full of cookbooks, aprons, and desserts, of course!

With the help of Chef Yadira, cooking teacher at Treeview & Bidwell, Chef Shira made Aguas Frescas from watermelon and strawberries. Agua fresca is a refreshing drink made from fresh fruits. It is commonly found in Mexico, but other Latin American and Caribbean countries make aguas frescas too. This version was packed with Vitamin C to fight colds and heal cuts and bruises.

Watermelon and strawberries can keep you healthy with Vitamin C!

Chef Tiffany made a dessert called "bibingka", which is a sweet, sticky rice cake made with coconut milk and brown sugar, topped off with slices of fresh mango. By eating mango, you can get a healthy dose of Vitamin A to help your eyes! She served it on banana leaves to make a tropical presentation. This version came from the Philippines, but sticky rice and mango can be found all throughout Southeast Asia in countries like Thailand and Vietnam.

Mangoes contain Vitamin A to help your eyes!

One family brought other varieties of aguas frescas, horchata and jamaica.

It was great to see fresh fruit on the dessert table. Watermelon makes a wonderful dessert!

Always remember, fresh fruits contain natural sugars that will satisfy any sweet tooth.
Fruits are perfect for breakfast, snack, and of course, DESSERT!

Cheers from HNLCP!

Tootie- Fruitie Smoothies

Drinking a cool smoothie on a hot day is a wonderful treat! Smoothies are also great for an energizing breakfast, or even a sweet dessert.

Click here for a fast and easy smoothie recipe:
Tootie Fruitie Smoothies

It's May which means strawberry season!

May's Harvest of the Month is strawberries!
Strawberries are in season right now abounding at farmer's markets and ripening in our school gardens.

What's so great about STRAWBERRIES??
(Aside from the fact that they taste DELICIOUS!)

Strawberries are loaded with vitamin C. Vitamin C helps keep you from getting sick, prevents bruises, is great for your skin and your heart. A strawberry even looks like a heart! What do you know!

Strawberries are the only fruit to have its seeds on the outside of the fruit (rather than the inside).

Most of the strawberries grown in the United States are grown right here in California!

Have a Berry Nice Day!!

WHAT CAN YOU MAKE WITH STRAWBERRIES?
Strawberry salad, strawberry pie,
Strawberry jam on wheat, sourdough or rye.
Strawberries with yogurt taste like a dream,
So sweet and refreshing just like ice cream,
Throw 'em in smoothies, to make a healthy shake,
Or in your batter for a sweet pancake,
Strawberries on your cereal add quite a zing,
Strawberries in your oatmeal will make your taste buds sing,
Strawberries for breakfast, strawberries for lunch,
Strawberries for dinner or even just to munch!
There is no end to what you can create
When strawberries are what is on your plate!
Poem by Chef Shira