News Type: Volunteers on View

Humans of Brighter Bites (March 2017, 3 of 3)

Posted on March 24, 2017 by -

march-2017-3-of-3

“This is my sixth year of teaching. When I first came, the snacks and stuff my students would bring and the way they ate was so different. I’ve definitely seen a change. I mean my kids get excited when we get a bag of oranges. They’re like, ‘Can we put this to the side for snack?’ They are really good about not just wanting to eat everything at once. Before, it was anything they could have. I think it’s because they were hungry and not eating well. Anything they ate was all full of sugar so they were constantly hungry, where now they’re not as hungry because they’re eating more nutritious food. So definitely I think that they’ve gotten healthier.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (March 2017, 2 of 3)

Posted on March 23, 2017 by -

march-2017-2-of-3

“I remember a few years ago, I made homemade mashed potatoes for the first time, because my now fiance and I had this argument. He’s like, ‘The boxed ones are the same.’ I was like, ‘No, the fresh mashed potatoes are so much better.’ And now I regret saying that because now I always have to make the fresh ones. Now I’m engaged and over the years of us being together, the way he eats has changed because he eats with my family a lot and I cook a lot. I don’t buy chips or things like that, so the way he eats has changed. And now he’s like, ‘Gosh, did I eat bad when I was growing up?’ And I’m like, ‘It’s just different. We come from different places.’”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (March 2017, 1 of 3)

Posted on March 22, 2017 by -

march-2017-1-of-3

“I grew up with two parents that are both foreigners. My mom’s from Malaysia – she grew up Indian – and then my dad is Dutch. So we ate a lot of Indian food growing up. Curries and spices and Tandoori chicken. I would say we ate really healthy. We ate lots of vegetables. We cooked a lot at home. She would go to a couple local Indian stores and buy spices – a lot of turmeric and garam masala. I just remember eating at home a lot and cooking a lot. I remember we didn’t have a Diet Coke until we were in middle school and that was because we finally had a babysitter. So yeah, I had a good, healthy experience growing up.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (February 2017, 3 of 3)

Posted on February 27, 2017 by -

part-3-i-and-a

“It’s called maqluba. It’s my favorite food for people to try for the first time. Every Friday, it’s a special day. All the family will come and visit. You have maqluba for every dinner. It’s very important. I make different food, but actually we like maqluba just too much. Everything closes, like stores. Everybody goes to pray, to the mosque. They come back home, all the families, and eat dinner. Visit and share. And if you find someone that doesn’t cook, you leave some of yours and give it to them. I have my neighbors in the United States – they’re not Muslim, but it’s okay. We have many years together. I always cook for them.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (February 2017, 2 of 3)

Posted on February 26, 2017 by -

part-2-i-and-a

“For the bread, I make it in my house. But when I have the big family over, yes, I have to go outside and put too much on the table. I buy my food at HEB. Good place! Good price! And every Sunday, we eat outside the house. My kids, they like Chik-Fil-A. And for me, I rest a little bit. You know, I don’t have to cook or clean. Sometimes they ask for pizza. We make pizza at home sometimes, but you can’t believe how the kitchen looks when my kids finish. But it’s okay, I give them a try. Everybody’s happy because everybody’s doing the pizza how they like it. Too much sauce or too much cheese. That’s fun. But it’s too tiring for me to clean, a lot of dishes.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (February 2017, 1 of 3)

Posted on February 25, 2017 by -

part-1-i-and-a

“The breakfast is different in my country. You have fresh bread and you make it with cheese. You eat black olives and green olives. For lunch – heavy. Lunch is good with vegetables and everything. For dinner, we don’t make anything too heavy, some cheese. I need to lose weight. But for Ramadan, you can’t think about that. One month for Ramadan, we fast all day from 5 am to 8 pm. Only eating at night. But there is too much good food, too many different foods, too many sweets. Every night is a different salad, different soup, different juices. Because you’re hungry, you get too many ideas of what you want to eat. You have to do extra work, but it’s good because every night all the family is together. You’re feeling something, I don’t know. Something inside feels happy all month. I’m not tired. Never.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (February 2017, 1 of 3)

Posted on February 4, 2017 by -

part-1-i-and-a

“The breakfast is different in my country. You have fresh bread and you make it with cheese. You eat black olives and green olives. For lunch – heavy. Lunch is good with vegetables and everything. For dinner, we don’t make anything too heavy, some cheese. I need to lose weight. But for Ramadan, you can’t think about that. One month for Ramadan, we fast all day from 5 am to 8 pm. Only eating at night. But there is too much good food, too many different foods, too many sweets. Every night is a different salad, different soup, different juices. Because you’re hungry, you get too many ideas of what you want to eat. You have to do extra work, but it’s good because every night all the family is together. You’re feeling something, I don’t know. Something inside feels happy all month. I’m not tired. Never.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (January 2017, 3 of 3)

Posted on January 20, 2017 by -

human-of-bb-3

“I work nights. I’m sleeping during the day. So when I cook, I start cooking around 4. Dinner will be ready when my wife gets home. Because I have high blood pressure and I’m a diabetic, fried foods are pretty much out. I may fry every once in a while, but we mostly bake in our house. Baked chicken, pork steak, and steak. I don’t like barbecuing brisket because it takes too long. I can’t eat fish, I’m allergic. The doctor be like, ‘You need to eat fish.’ But I’m like, ‘I can’t, I’m allergic to it.’ I break out and be in the hospital. You ever see the elephant man? That’d be me right there. But me, I love cooking. I’m the cook. Yeah, when I cook, I’m in my own world.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

Humans of Brighter Bites (January 2017, 2 of 3)

Posted on January 19, 2017 by -

human-of-bb-2

“My little ones – macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly. If I bake some chicken or bake some pork steaks or spaghetti, my stepson will not eat it. Peanut butter and jelly – that’s what he eats every day for lunch. He don’t eat the school cafeteria food. I give him a piece of chicken and he says, ‘Uh! That’s gross!’ He’ll pull the cheese off the pizza and just put the toppings back on, and then he’ll eat the pizza. But when I first met his mom, he used to eat everything. His favorite was sausage and beans. He don’t even eat that anymore. But he’ll go into McDonald’s. He’ll eat a hamburger from McDonald’s. Everybody eats hamburgers from McDonald’s.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.

 

Humans of Brighter Bites (January 2017, 1 of 3)

Posted on January 18, 2017 by -

humans-of-bb-1

“I grew up in the country. Back then it was legal to have animals in your backyard. I remember the big old garden, the big old chicken coop, the hog pen on the side, and peach tree. We weren’t allowed to eat the peaches. We used to sneak them anyway. My grandma and grandpa had fresh vegetables. So we ate fresh chicken, fresh eggs, vegetables. My grandmamma cooked every day from scratch. Homemade pancakes – she would use the flour, the eggs – biscuits, and bread. My mom cooked, she liked to fry – fried chicken, pork chops, hamburgers. She used to make her own donuts. I ate everything when I grew up. I grew up eating pig feet, chitlins, collards greens, grits, bacon, and eggs for breakfast. Nowadays, they want cereal. Kids these days, they don’t know good cooking.”

 

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.