On
Monday I had the great pleasure and honor to help out for the local Cooking
Matters program at Somersworth Middle School under coordinator Alexis Riffel.
It was the second week of the six week program so things are just getting
started up! During the after school program we had about a dozen middle school
students join in on the fun and interactive cooking and nutrition class. We
began the afternoon by sitting in a circle discussing what the group learned
last week, knife skills and preparing Asian vegetables. Then we began with the
lesson of the day: colorful fruits and vegetables! Before the lesson we prepped
sampler platters of kale chips, snow peas, sugar snap peas, persimmon, cactus
fruit, kumquats, kiwi, and star fruit. We then passed around the platters while
the kids decided which new food they wanted to taste together. The nutritionist
leading the lesson would let the kids openly describe this new food and to make
guesses as to what it was, and then explain after what it is and why it is a
healthy snack! It was a lot of fun to see the kids reactions to each of the
foods, some received a sweeping appeal while others got somewhat snubbed. I
really enjoyed how the majority of the kids made an effort to at least try each
of the foods on their plate.
The next activity got the group
jumping with excitement: the pizza challenge! We split the group up into two
teams who were each responsible for crafting their own pizza with the end goal
to be incorporating as many colorful veggies onto the pizza in a presentable
manner. After reviewing knife skills we let the groups wander off into their
masterpieces. It was great to see each team of five or more kids all working
together and allowing everyone to have a say as for what was going to go on the
pizzas. One of the boys came up to me and asked if he could put some of the
extra fruit from the sampling on the pizza….I told him he could put whatever
toppings he wanted! Because I mean…someone had to first come up with putting
pineapple on pizza, so who knows…maybe kiwi and star fruit will soon be popular
toppings!
While waiting for the pizzas to
cook, Alexis shared with the kids a drink recipe to try at home: mixing a small
amount of 100% grape juice with seltzer water. The kids went crazy over this
and seemed to understand when the nutritionist explained to them that this can
cut down on a lot of sugar per cup in comparison to having a full glass of
grape juice. It is a really great soda alternative for both kids and families
to adopt.
Excitement filled the air as the
pizzas came out of the oven. You could see the pride each of them had in
creating this delicious edible masterpiece! Each of them got to try a piece of
their own as well as a piece from the other group’s pizza. After the lesson the
kids all receive ingredient bags with all of the supplies as well as the recipe
to bring home to prepare sometime that week with their families. This is great
not only for helping to supply a family with food but to also encourage cooking
together at home and for the kids to share an experience with the ones they
love.
I am really happy to be working
with this great organization for the next month or two and I hope that I can
continue to help out in other ways in this organization.
Cooking Matters is a
branch of Share our Strength, a national organization with goals to end
hunger in America. They have a wonderful website with loads more information as
well as links for those looking to help out by donation or volunteering. Check
it out! http://cookingmatters.org/
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