Bannock Making with Kids in the Kitchen

We are so grateful and honour to have Barb Ahenakew from Muskeg Lake FN Treaty 6 to show us how her traditional bannock bread is made and that she learned to make from watching her Aunties and mom.

In the pictures below you can see our senior volunteers prepping lunch while Barbara gets the flour ready as she mentors Carrie our family program cook for bannock making.

Together with volunteers they learned from each other and then it was time for the little ones to join them in the kitchen with their caregivers.

The children helped to shape and cut the bannock and parents shared similar experiences from their homelands. There was fried bannock as-well as baked bannock recipes to be learned. I had the chance to sit with Barbara and discovered she is a great storyteller and an inspiring woman, mother and grandmother. I was taken by her gentleness and open heart and felt truly grateful to be in her presence. The bannock was delicious snd the experience a memorable one.

A bakers smile with love.

Thank you Barbara for sharing traditional bread with us. A true honor!

Reminiscing the holiday hampers- just yesterday it seems.

Reminiscing the holidays-seems like just yesterday. Yet, with today’s snowy weather makes me think of the wonderful victorious success we had at fundraising $7000 for our holiday hampers in December! Thank you to all our beautiful and fantastic donors💜.

Thank you Greater Vancouver Food Bank for supporting us with the grant to make this possible, thank you City Reach Food Bank Society for all your contributions of produce and extras and thank you Vancouver Food Runners for getting the food delivered to Frog Hollow by your amazing volunteers! Our circle of food hubs are dynamic!

We served 247 individuals (115 families) Holiday Hamper support over the holidays. It was the highlight of the year for me, I feel so blessed with the funds that we received to support our families in need, especially during these times with the rise of rent and food inflations, you would not believe the smiles on the families faces when they were provided with a bag of food and a gift card to make their holidays happier.

This is the beauty of outreach because the connection and the sense of belonging cultivated and foster trusting relationships. And as we sat together and they shared their stories of challenges and health interventions, it gave me an opportunity to provide resources and words of encouragement and empowerment. The families felt seen. They are struggling with the rise of rent and inflation of food so the hampers just made it all so much less stressful-not have to think about how they were going to provide over the holidays for the their families. One family said “this indeed is a Very Very Merry Merry Christmas. Another mom said over and over again “Wow! Wow!” and then she cried of relief. Several families expressed mental health challenges and how overwhelming it was for them- they added having this hamper took the load of the family and can focus more on thier loved ones”

The feedback goes on and on and the connection resulted in a much more meaningful interaction. It helped to connect so that they can understand our neighbourhood house is a safe space for all. The hugs and exchange of kindness and gratitude made this hamper extra special with the additional support from the food hub. My heart is full and I am forever grateful.

Protien

Sockeye salmon

Black beans

Chickpeas

Chicken

Breakfast items

Vegetables so good for you!

Grains

Dairy eggs and milk

Cookie recipe pre measured with recipe

Our wonderful volunteers packing and sorting.

Thank you to all of you that made it all possible🙏

It’s now January 17th, there’s almost two feet of snow outside here in Vancouver and it’s a great way to start the year… pure…clean… ready for new adventures!

I’m looking forward to see what happens this year, spring will be here soon, stay tuned!

Kale Salad Time-Always!

The beautiful thing about Kale is that you can eat it all year long because it grows all year long!

It just keeps on giving! Hence the name King of Vegetables!

I just harvested some kale and I made myself a delicious scrumptious salad that I will share with you💚

Washing the kale thoroughly is important, rinse again and again.

I remove the spine, it doesn’t taste that great in a salad but sometimes I save it for a stew to give it some flavour.

Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with an abundance of kale so I’ll stuff it in a freezer bag after I wash it and place it in the freezer, take it out the next day, crush it and put it back in the freezer. Now I have kale anytime I want… for my smoothies or stews!

My kale has been rinsed and drained from the water and ready to get the salad started.

Must massage the kale first, it is vital for a tasty kale salad. Drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil with a sprinkle of sea salt and massage for a couple of minutes .You will notice how much softer the texture of the kale gets, and oh the pleasing scent of the kale will enhance. This step will ensure the kale will be much more pleasant to eat.

Add some cherry tomatoes and cucumbers, sliced them up thin.

I love goat feta cheese, I sprinkled some of it on top… how much you ask, well it all depends on how much you love it!

Now I added pecans, dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds. We’re almost done!

Fresh lemon juice is now added, make sure you strain the seeds. I used half a lemon because I was making a salad for four. I sprinkled a little pepper and tasted to see if it needed a little bit more salt.
But just a little. Now toss and enjoy!!

Now that’s one way of making a kale salad. You can use all kind of varieties on your kale, you can be as creative as you want. As long as you start off with massaging the kale with olive oil and a little bit of sea salt then you can do whatever your taste buds desire.

Sometimes I just add proteins such as cubes of chicken breast with some chia & flax seeds and an avocado!

Hope that helps. Remember: Love your kale, she’s always there for you!

Yesterdays Seeds, Tomorrows Harvest

I attempted to save seeds once again. This time it was those beautiful sweet delicious ruby red cherry tomatoes from a plant that I purchased from an organic store last year. The tomato plant grew like crazy, it was really challenging to harvest the tomatoes because it was just so big! It took over half the garden! Probably because I planted two plants side-by-side.

Buckets of tomatoes grew, I got sooo much out of it. They were just always delicious all summer long, right into the end of October, at that point is when I decided to save some seeds. This is how.

I cut open a couple of the cherry tomatoes and spread the seeds out on a paper towel and got rid of the gel the best I could. I waited till they were very very thoroughly dry.

I folded the napkin and put it in a Ziploc bag and labelled it and stored it in a wooden drawer that actually sits on top of the fridge.

Next I mixed potting soil with mushroom manure and see soil and placed it in a seed starter makeshift tray, the plastic trays are coming from a green salad mix container that I decided to reuse the container.
I gently tore bits of paper towel with a seed attached, push them into the soil with the fat end of a pencil and then water.

Let’s wait and see what happens. I so hope that those luscious tomatoes will take root and sprout so that we can all enjoy the harvest💚

Happy gardening everyone and remember when you plant your seeds and it does not grow it is not a reflection on you! You are always a gardener, born a gardener, if what you sow does not grow-well then it’s gotta mean its just a bad seed. Try again and again.

Gardening is experiential, it’s never perfect, not ever, take risks and watch the magic grow!

love eva

Seeds to Seedlings

We planted seeds with the youth and the families in the Drop In and we started with sunflower seeds, broad beans, and bush beans. We had only sea soil on hand and we’re not sure if that was a good soil since it was so heavy. It took the seeds only a week and our seeds began to sprout beautifully. Five days later they grew 6-8 taller!! Look at them now! So tall they are definitely ready to be transplanted!

Celebrate Earth Week at the Gardeners Hangout!

Celebrating Earth Week with the launching of our annual Garden Hangout program down at Clinton Park every Wednesday from 10 to 12!

Come on down! We have seed sharing and seedlings to provide. A garden work party too! Located at 2690 Grant street, by the field house.

If you got some muscles you like to put to work, I would love some help turning the soil, or if you would like to help with some weeding, that would be beautiful. 💚

Looking forward to seeing you all next week to celebrate Earth Week, a beautiful time of year!

In recognition of this beautiful land and gratitude for where we work, live, play and garden-we say thank you🙏.

Our welcoming and inclusive community is located in the vibrant Hastings-Sunrise and north Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhoods of East Vancouver, on the traditional, unceded and occupied territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Much love, eva aboud

Welcome to Frog Hollow’s Community Connections Blog

Check out our Calendar of Events It’s updated regularly.

For more information see our About Us page.

 

Yes Chef Love

The participants cooked a Mexican themed rice bowl with chicken, rice, Pico de Gallo, guacamole and sour cream! Carrot muffins for dessert. A joy to see new participants coming together from all walks of life.

They creatively utilized rescued vegetables donated from our local partner including food from our food bank pantry. The energy in the kitchen was high while prepping meals for our 30 seniors. We deliver to their homes with the help of our wonderful volunteers.

I got to say I wish I was in the kitchen with them cooking, it looked like a lot of fun! And, it tasted delicious, nothing like a home cooked meal! I can’t wait to see the smiles on their faces when i knock on their door.

As I dropped off to a few seniors living right next door, one of them said to me in such a cheerful way ” boy oh boy am I hungry” and the other said sternly, “you tell those youth that I appreciate them!”

Well it certainly pays off, the seniors felt the love and we feel good.

Well… its time to clean up!

Until next time.

Prepping-getting ready!

Super cook team!

Lets eat together.

A little bit of everything

Scraping the bowl

Packing 30 meals for our seniors

A special order

Bagging the muffins

Im ready to deliver to the folks next door!

Need Help With Your Taxes? Try These Free Tax Clinics

Dread tax season and all its paperwork? Fear losing important benefits if you don’t finish your taxes on time?

If you have a modest income and a fairly simple tax situation, there are several free clinics which can complete your taxes for you.

Free tax clinics are being offered in Vancouver by:​

Akali Singh Sikh Society
Collingwood Neighbourhood House
Community Assistance Foundation
Disability Alliance BC
Gordon Neighbourhood House
Guru Nanak Resource Centre
Langara Accounting Club
Little Mountain Neighbourhood House
Multicultural Helping House
Oromian Canadian Association of BC
South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
Tenth Church
UBC Tax Assistance Clinic
West End Seniors’ Network

You should bring government issued photo ID and all tax slips and receipts. Also check if the clinic requires an appointment or has a particular income threshold.

For more info on these clinics (schedules, requirements, etc.) click here. If you’re outside Vancouver and want to find a clinic nearby, try this search tool.

love and peace,

eva

Eva Aboud | Community Outreach Coordinator

Food Security Coordinator | Facility Manager

2131 Renfrew Street, Vancouver, BC V5M 4M5

Cell: 604-761-9828  Office: 604-251-1225

eva@froghollow.bc.ca | www.froghollow.bc.ca

https://communityconnection.wordpress.com/

Facebook | Newsletter |Instagram

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Our welcoming and inclusive community is located in the vibrant Hastings-Sunrise and north Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhoods of East Vancouver, on the traditional, unceded and occupied territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Harvest Festival / with the famous Veggie Contest!

It was a blast! Magic everywhere!

Each year the harvest festival gets better because we get better together as a community and the more we foster relationships and make connections the more the love grows and resonates throughout the community. In addition,  our Stakeholders getting together and extending their resources to the community and networking with each other empowers us all.

👍check out FrogHollowCreates IG

www.instagram.com/p/CxE2biUL0t1/

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I want to highlight the Hastings Sunrise Community Food Network. We work together developing better and stronger relationships in the Hastings Sunrise community♥️ Thank you

https://www.facebook.com/HastingsSunriseCommunityFoodNetwork?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Apple Love

Provided free apples to the community at the Gardeners Hangout from
The Vancouver Fruit Tree project!

Cat from VFTP dropped off tons of apples!

We made apple chips in the dehydrator thanks to our to Youth Volunteer’s helping us out.

We sliced the apples really thin and placed them in our dehydrators, turned them on and waited a whole day for them to dehydrate.
They were delicious!
We served 100 individuals out at the Gardeners hangout!

We had a Canning Workshop making applesauce and apple crumbling with a group of participants. Thanks to Lisa Patterson from Hastings Community Center, she facilitated and did a great job!

Carefully filling the sanitized jars

It’s a quite a bit of apples and a lot of pealing!

The Apple crumbling was the best, absolutely scrumptious!

We gave away baskets and baskets of apples to the community with recipes.
It was a lovely time of year♥️

Crunch!!!

Friendship Gathering

April 14th was our first and last gathering since the pandemic. We used to meet once a month on this occasion. We have contributed a small amount for the event. Some volunteer to buy the necessary groceries the day before and we have good cooks to volunteer in the kitchen. Also some help with the cleaning afterwards. Everybody helps to have a delicious lunch and a nice chat. But this was stopped because of COVID 19 and we do have a large sum left. So on the day we decided to have takes out instead as we do have enough money to spend on food for all. Though it will be our last gathering I wish our friendship are forever. Talking about friendship, sorry to have sad news about the passing of an old friend, a very nice, caring, knowledgeable and wonderful lady Betty Murray. She will be deeply missed. Our condolences to her family.