Including kids in kitchen activities can encourage healthy food selection and basic meal preparation skills. With more than one third of American children and adolescents considered overweight or obese and one quarter similarly effected in the United Kingdom, national and international efforts are underway to teach children basic cooking skills. Teaching youths to prepare and consume healthier foods could significantly improve their diets.
Recently announced plans for United Kingdom's compulsory cooking lessons and school lunches will begin in September 2014. All pupils between the ages of seven and 14 will be taught “cookery” as part of a new national curriculum with the goal of ensuring that every 14-year-old has the ability to cook 20 savory, healthy recipes and to understand the origins and nutritional benefit of food...
Recently announced plans for United Kingdom's compulsory cooking lessons and school lunches will begin in September 2014. All pupils between the ages of seven and 14 will be taught “cookery” as part of a new national curriculum with the goal of ensuring that every 14-year-old has the ability to cook 20 savory, healthy recipes and to understand the origins and nutritional benefit of food...
Part of the United Kingdom's Food Revolution has been sparked by a young chef who wants to teach every child about food. Watch Jamie Oliver's 2010 TED Prize Acceptance speech to learn more about his visionary efforts.
On this side of the pond, the renewed interest in teaching healthy cooking ironically follows a reduction in Family & Consumer Sciences programs that were previously termed “Home Economics” and taught primarily to girls when I was in high school. Fortunately both genders are now included in the culinary skill development movement.
Americans have benefited from Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard that began in California sixteen years ago. The program helps children learn about healthy eating through a school garden and teaching kitchen. It has become an inspiration for other youth gardening and healthy eating programs across the country.
Closer to my Baltimore home, there is a Days of Taste interactive program for fourth and fifth grade students that helps build a food and nutrition vocabulary. It’s sponsored by the American Institute of Wine and Food.
In your own home, the kitchen can become a wonderful learning center for children's food and nutrition.
Chop Chop magazine is a fun resource for getting kids cooking. Other helpful resources include:
I think of cooking as a basic survival skill that everyone needs to build as a foundation for healthy eating. And learning to bake healthy desserts is an enticing first step to get kids in the kitchen.
During a family visit to Upstate New York last month, my nephew’s fifth grade daughter Sophie delighted everyone at dessert time with an apple pie she made from scratch. She arrived at her grandparent’s house and proudly carried the pie into the kitchen to bake while dinner was being prepared. The apple pie was delicious and all of her relatives profusely complimented her baking skills. It was wonderful to see her beam with pride. Her younger brother and sister looked equally proud of their big sister's accomplishment. You'll likely enjoy making (and tasting!) the Apple Crumb Pie recipe that follows.
On this side of the pond, the renewed interest in teaching healthy cooking ironically follows a reduction in Family & Consumer Sciences programs that were previously termed “Home Economics” and taught primarily to girls when I was in high school. Fortunately both genders are now included in the culinary skill development movement.
Americans have benefited from Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard that began in California sixteen years ago. The program helps children learn about healthy eating through a school garden and teaching kitchen. It has become an inspiration for other youth gardening and healthy eating programs across the country.
Closer to my Baltimore home, there is a Days of Taste interactive program for fourth and fifth grade students that helps build a food and nutrition vocabulary. It’s sponsored by the American Institute of Wine and Food.
In your own home, the kitchen can become a wonderful learning center for children's food and nutrition.
Chop Chop magazine is a fun resource for getting kids cooking. Other helpful resources include:
- Kids Eat Right (opens slowly) - a Web site that provides science-based healthy eating information by nutrition professionals
- Simple Bites - a blog created by a community who believes in the importance of bringing the whole family together around the table on a daily basis
- Fun Food Fest - a set of recipes for teens and 'tweens that require minimal adult supervision
I think of cooking as a basic survival skill that everyone needs to build as a foundation for healthy eating. And learning to bake healthy desserts is an enticing first step to get kids in the kitchen.
During a family visit to Upstate New York last month, my nephew’s fifth grade daughter Sophie delighted everyone at dessert time with an apple pie she made from scratch. She arrived at her grandparent’s house and proudly carried the pie into the kitchen to bake while dinner was being prepared. The apple pie was delicious and all of her relatives profusely complimented her baking skills. It was wonderful to see her beam with pride. Her younger brother and sister looked equally proud of their big sister's accomplishment. You'll likely enjoy making (and tasting!) the Apple Crumb Pie recipe that follows.
Sophie’s Apple Crumb Pie
Sophie is pictured above conducting a bake sale on Memorial Day weekend. She sold out and donated her proceeds to benefit a rain forest foundation.
Oil Pastry
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 2/3 cup vegetable oil
5 Tablespoons ice water
Sift flour and salt. Beat together oil and water until thick and creamy. Pour over entire surface of flour immediately. Mix with fork to form ball.
Makes pastry for one 8 or 9 inch double-crust pie. This oil pastry is much healthier than pie crusts made with solid fats such as butter or shortening.
Apple Crumb Pie
4 large, tart apples
1 oil pastry recipe
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar (this not a typo!)
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/4 to 1/2 cup coconut (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Pare apples; cut in eighths (or smaller) and arrange in 9 inch pastry lined pie pan. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon; sprinkle over apples.
Sift 1/2 cup sugar with flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Top with coconut or pastry (using coconut is easier for kids to manage than arranging an upper pie crust). Place pie plate on another pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes (be sure the bottom crust is baked well). Apples will start to bubble when ready.
Nutrition Information per serving:
Serving size: 1/10th of a 9 inch pie. Yield: 10 servings
Calories: 407
Calories from Fat: 162
Total Fat: 18 grams (28% Daily Value*)
Dietary Fiber: 3.4 grams (14% Daily Value)
Sodium: 278 mg (12% Daily Value)
Sugar: 30 grams**
*NOTE: 5% Daily Value or less is considered LOW; 20% Daily Value or more is HIGH
Recipe Analysis Summary:
Good points:
Low in cholesterol
Includes some fiber
Not so good point:
**High in sugar (that's why they call it dessert!). One serving of this pie has 7.5 teaspoons of sugar
(4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon)
Be Well,
Mary
P.S. Please ignore the text box below; your comments are always welcome here.
Sophie is pictured above conducting a bake sale on Memorial Day weekend. She sold out and donated her proceeds to benefit a rain forest foundation.
Oil Pastry
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 2/3 cup vegetable oil
5 Tablespoons ice water
Sift flour and salt. Beat together oil and water until thick and creamy. Pour over entire surface of flour immediately. Mix with fork to form ball.
Makes pastry for one 8 or 9 inch double-crust pie. This oil pastry is much healthier than pie crusts made with solid fats such as butter or shortening.
Apple Crumb Pie
4 large, tart apples
1 oil pastry recipe
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar (this not a typo!)
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/4 to 1/2 cup coconut (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Pare apples; cut in eighths (or smaller) and arrange in 9 inch pastry lined pie pan. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon; sprinkle over apples.
Sift 1/2 cup sugar with flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Top with coconut or pastry (using coconut is easier for kids to manage than arranging an upper pie crust). Place pie plate on another pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes (be sure the bottom crust is baked well). Apples will start to bubble when ready.
Nutrition Information per serving:
Serving size: 1/10th of a 9 inch pie. Yield: 10 servings
Calories: 407
Calories from Fat: 162
Total Fat: 18 grams (28% Daily Value*)
Dietary Fiber: 3.4 grams (14% Daily Value)
Sodium: 278 mg (12% Daily Value)
Sugar: 30 grams**
*NOTE: 5% Daily Value or less is considered LOW; 20% Daily Value or more is HIGH
Recipe Analysis Summary:
Good points:
Low in cholesterol
Includes some fiber
Not so good point:
**High in sugar (that's why they call it dessert!). One serving of this pie has 7.5 teaspoons of sugar
(4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon)
Be Well,
Mary
P.S. Please ignore the text box below; your comments are always welcome here.
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