DO YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES?

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! 

It's the season of holiday parties, family gatherings, and festive dinners! 
Here's my

VEGAN CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIE recipe that will ROCK YOUR FAMILY'S WORLD!

cue the ooeey goeey goodness music....

Ingredients 

3/4 cup pure organic raw cane sugar

1 1/2 unbleached white flour

3/4 cup non-dairy chocolate chips 

3/4 cup coconut oil, melted 

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda 

3 tbsp. almond milk
1bsp. extra white flour 

LET'S BAKE!!!!!!!

Preheat oven 375 degrees F, 
grease two large baking pans,
 and get all your ingredients out.

Place raw cane sugar, oil and vanilla, and tbsp. of flour into a bowl, and whisk together for caramel-like  consistency.

Pour in your one cup of flour and dry ingredients slowly to the wet caramel mixture. 
Fold in your last 1/2 cup of flour and chocolate chips into your mixture. 
Mold 2 inches thick (ping ball sized) balls of dough, spread apart on greased tray.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown! 

Namaste,

Zoe

*Thank you all so much for reading and enjoying ThinkZoeBoost. If you enjoyed this post and others, feel free to like ThinkZoeBoost on Facebook,  Twitter, Instagram and contact via Email for more recipes, life-hacks, and inspiration. 

Did You Know Community Gardens Could Save 'Failing' Brooklyn Public Schools?

Did You Know Community Gardens Could Save ‘Failing’ Brooklyn Public Schools?

To increase access to healthy, local foods, I move to develop the Brooklyn Sustainable Agriculture Program (BASP) in “failing” Title 1 public schools in Brooklyn NYC. This green education through community gardens will improve nutrition, fodder leadership development and life skills, and encourage wellness for a more sustainable future for our students and children.

Who Are We Talking About?

20 Schools In Kings County, N.Y. (Brooklyn) who are “failing.”

      Peace Academy, “fourth consecutive year failing since 2005-2006”, 89% free and reduced price lunch, 99.4% minorities

Automotive High School 10 years failing.  95% free and reduce lunch, 99.4% minorities

What Is Failing?

I introduce to you, my small international audience, Andrew Cuomo, Gov. of N.Y. He believes that when schools have persistently low-test scores, they should lose democratic control. So basically, it’s low-test scores. But who’s to blame? What can we do to change this endemic system?

DO YOU GET THE PICTURE?

The list of schools goes on and on with eighteen other schools- some have been failing for 15 years. Something has to be done…

Let's Try An Example...

This is W.E. Dubois High School on 402 Eastern Parkway. It samples self-paced academics, however features no internship program. The daily attendance is 63%. Only 36% are enrolled in college after high school, and 0% of special needs students are enrolled in college after graduation. 

 

This is Eastern Parkway coalition garden 1029 Union Street in Brooklyn. The transport police took plot over for a parking lots, however with assistance from the GreenThumb program, GrowNYC gardeners raised money and cleaned the plot.

  

LET’S HEAR THE CRAZY IDEA

·      1. Reach out and make connections between Title 1 Brooklyn Schools to nearby existing Brooklyn community gardens advertised on GrowNYC webpage,http://www.grownyc.org/openspace/gardens/bk

·       2. Implement a weekly extracurricular program to visit and cultivate a community garden. In this example, I would connect W.E. Dubois High School with Eastern Coalition Garden. 

·      3. Cultivating a consistent relationship between garden and school weekly addresses two problems with current expeditionary learning

a. Visits just are not frequent enough for project-based learning and retention of material

b. ACCESS Field trips cost money that most students, as show in the statistics above, do not have.  

            HOW WILL WE DO IT

·      We will apply for Grow to Learn mini grant supported by the NYC Department of Education Sustainability Office

Grants range from 500 to 3,000 dollars. This can cover possible transportation cost, books, and teacher development

To prep for this program, I would advise teachers to utilize New York Agriculture Into Classroom http://www.agclassroom.org/ny that contextualizes science, social studies, and nutrition education linked to Common Core standards.

. Having one common project would bring school and community together would contextualize the work they currently do, and improve nutrition, emphasize leadership skills, and encourage wellness.

WHY URBAN AGRICULTURE WORKS

Improve Nutrition: Gardeners consumed fruits and veggies “5.7 times per day.” 
Encourages Life Skills/Leadership Development: 5 percent of the U.S. workforce is employed in agriculture-related careers” according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, Over 50,000 jobs for college graduates in the agricultural, food and renewable natural resources sectors created annually from 2010-2015, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.   
Emphasize Wellness: At local level, community gardens praised for therapeutic qualities,  In a study, 30 gardeners performed stressful tasks than worked in a garden. The result? Solitary cortisol level decreased (stressed decreased)

·      

Don’t you want “civic spaces that grow food, provide valuable open space, and serve as dynamic classrooms for NYC school children?”  (Grow NYC)

PROGRAMS ALREADY IN PLACE

Urban Agriculture Program Link

http://www.grownyc.org

http://www.greenthumbnyc.org

Let’s all join the conversation about urban gardening in the Greater New York City Area! Tweet me @thinkzoeboost or insta me at @thinkzoeboost so we can talk more about this really relevant issue!

Namaste,
Zoe

Do You Want To Be In The Mac & Cheese Hall Of Fame?

Hey everyone! So for my latest catering gig on Friday, I decide to whip out the absolute best recipe in my arsenal: my momma's famous macaroni and cheese. Her favorite chef/person in the whole wide world is Ina Garden, aka Barefoot Contessa, and this is an abridged and edited version of her mac & cheese. Enjoy! 

Ingredients

2 cups grated Gruyere cheese

Olive Oil to line the pan

1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese 

1 cup grated cheddar cheese 

1 cup Homemade croutons, or Italian breadcrumbs

1/2 cup flour 

1 quart whole milk, or almond milk 

Pinch of Salt, Pepper, and Nutmeg to Taste

1 pound macaroni, cavatappi, or shells 

2 organic tomatoes, sliced

1 stick unsalted butter 

Let's Do The Do! 

First, let's boil and salt about four cups of  water for the pasta. Also, pour your 1 quart of milk into a separate sauce pan on the stove on medium heat and set aside. When bubbles start coming to surface in the salted water, add your pasta. You want your pasta al-dente, slightly hard still as it still has thirty-minutes in the oven to cook. This pasta takes about 6-8 minutes to be al-dente. Then, drain your pasta, spraying cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking process. In a large pot on the stove, melt your butter, stirring constantly.

 
Whisk in your flour, for at least 2 minutes. Now, in at least five increments, add in your milk, stirring constantly to maintain the thickness. Once thick and milky, take it off the burner and add your cheese and spices, whisking. Grab your large casserole pan, lined with olive oil, butter, or coconut oil, and drop that macaroni and cheese like its hot. Add your breadcrumbs on top, and line your tomatoes beautifully as the final layer. Place into the oven at 425 degrees, for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. Enjoy!

Namaste, Zoe

*Thank you all so much for reading and enjoying ThinkZoeBoost. If you enjoyed this post and others, feel free to like ThinkZoeBoost on Facebook,  Twitter, Instagram and contact via Email for more recipes, life-hacks, and inspiration. 

How To: 5 Thanksgiving Recipes In An Hour #vegan

Hello everyone!

I've missed you all, my readers! I hope all your Thanksgivings', (if you celebrate it) were fabulous and full of good friends, family and wonderful food! But, after all that cooking, you probably are desiring some super easy, casserole type dishes that last for weeks in fridge, right? All of these recipes are holiday related, comfort-food, vegan, healthy, and above all, super yummy. Enjoy my #boosters!

1. ALL OF YOUR INGREDIENTS OUT AND BOUGHT AND DONE 
Have all of your ingredients on the cooktop, ready to be prepared. It a restaurant chef's tip to being productive, and cooking a lot of really good food in short amount of time. Shhhh: don't tell them I told you. 

A Mean Green Bean Casserole! Blog post this week coming'

2.  MAKE A LISTY, LIST DARLIN'

Make sure to make a to-do list to break down all your dishes into steps! You'll thank me later. 

Orange Glazed Sesame Carrots 

3. PREP FIRST ALWAYS
Chop your damn carrots, celery, all of your ingredients before assembling sauces and casseroles. It is worth taking time to do the mushrooms right, particularly with this.
  

Quinoa With Kale and Tomato

4. THE USE THE GOOD OLE' STOVE TOP
You can simultaneously have things on stove happening with things in the oven, just make sure you have loud, obnoxious timer on the oven to alert you when something is about to burn or turn golden brown. Important information. 

Check out my instagram @ThinkZoeBoost for this awesome recipe, and check out my former blog post on pumpkin oat bars! 

5.  EMBRACE DISASTER!
If something doesn't work  out, is burnt, broiled incorrectly, and just plain f**king disgusting, it's okay! Just order some delicious take-out, and laugh it off with your dinner guests. It happens even to the best of us. This cranberry sauce turned out to taste like cornstarch! 

Namaste,

Zoe 

*Thank you all so much for reading and enjoying ThinkZoeBoost. If you enjoyed this post and others, feel free to like ThinkZoeBoost on Facebook,  Twitter, Instagram and contact via Email for more recipes, life-hacks, and inspiration.