Vegan Cooking Options with Chef Ashley
Ashley at camp. She does it all!
Before participating in Hometown Stomping Ground, I was very intimidated by the idea of cooking with kids. I don’t have much experience working with kids directly, especially in a kitchen setting and especially over this weird thing called Zoom. If I’m being honest here, I was pretty nervous. I had never run an option at SG before, and I wasn’t totally sure how to foster a fun environment in a hectic space like a kitchen, while simultaneously remembering to position my laptop in a way so the campers could actually see what I was doing. Let’s just say running an option like this was out of my comfort zone.
These fears and insecurities pretty much dissolved half way through the first option I ran: smoothies. I texted Klee the day before wondering if any kids would even show up. “Do kids like smoothies?” “Will they think this is stupid?” I was nervous! Logging into Zoom and immediately turning bright red like I do, I started to see camper after camper log in and in each camper’s little square on Zoom I could see their blender there with them. I was so stoked to see how many campers were not only logging into the option to hang out, but were actually participating and creating their own smoothie along with me. It was a blast.
Ashley’s cooking class on Zoom! Don’t miss it on season two!
Being stuck inside without knowing what the future holds is pretty stressful right now, but cooking meals in my kitchen is the most calming and centered time of my day. Cooking allows me to tune out the rest of the world and focus on my favorite creative outlet: food. It has always been the one activity I can turn to when I’m stressed, sad, angry, happy, or pretty much any other emotion that I’m trying to process in a healthy way. Seriously, ask my mom how many gross concoctions I made her try when I was a kid, and how many messes I left for her to clean up. (Mom’s are the best)
Seeing how pumped the campers get over their creations brings me so much joy; like the kind that brings you those smiles that hurt your face. I truly hope that these cooking options provide campers with a fun and calming outlet during this weird and scary time, like it does for me. I hope it’s a space where they feel in control and can create something they’re super pumped about. I hope the food we make nourishes the mind as much as it does the body.
Thank you for holding space for me to make food and get out of my comfort zone and have a stupid amount of fun while cooking with your camper.
Below are some of the recipes that I’ve used during our online cooking options. They are all easily customizable, meaning that you can substitute what you have in your kitchen if you don’t have all the exact ingredients. I know that we all use and love different ingredients, so play around with the recipes and make them work for you!
For me, cooking is all about experimenting, trial and error, and trying new things! Put on some music and get cookin!
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 3/4 cups flour of choice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup light flavored olive oil or warmed coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup organic sugar (pure cane or coconut sugar)
4 small or 3 large bananas (preferably overripe), mashed
splash of almond milk
1/4 cup or so chocolate chips
Recipe I used with instructions: here
Smoothies
Easily customizable depending on what you have!
Blueprint for a great smoothie: banana base + frozen fruit + greens + liquid (milk or water)
Ideas: frozen banana, frozen berries, spinach/kale/collard greens, almond milk, seeds (flax, chia, hemp), peanut/almond butter, cacao, yogurt, etc.
This is an awesome way to pack in a lot of fruits/veggies/extra nutrients while only tasting the yummy fruit
3 Ingredient Blender Banana Pancakes
Ingredients:
1.5 bananas
1 cup of oats
1 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
Blend ingredients in a blender and pour into a pan to cook like normal pancakes. Can add chocolate chips, blueberries, more bananas, etc!
French fries w/ classic burger dipping sauce
Potatoes (I use russet but you can use any kind here)
Seasonings of choice (my go-to potato seasonings are: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika. Some other great ideas: curry powder, turmeric, rosemary, thyme, nutritional yeast)
1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil
Preheat the oven to 450.
Slice the potatoes into whatever shape you want (I cut them into long strips like french fries). Place the potatoes into a big bowl and add the seasonings and olive oil. Mix all together so the potatoes are even coated. Place on a baking sheet and spread out evenly. Bake for 20 minutes. Then take out and flip over, then bake again for another 5-10 minutes until nice and crispy!
For the sauce:
½ cup ketchup
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dill pickle relish
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce (such as Frank’s)
Mix all together in a bowl. Serve with fries!