Kids Cooking Classes: Teaching kids the essentials skills and nutrition

*So excited to see one of my articles featured in this months

Good Living Magazine Tampa Bay. 

To see and read the article in the magazine you can click here. It is on pages 37-38. 

My youngest daughter, Graci,  who is 10 years-old couldn't wait for me to take her to the Kohl’s Cooks for Kids classes. Ever since her older sister, Randi, who is now 12 years-old attended the class two years ago, Graci has begged me to take her.  

Randi cooking dinner.
She took the class when
she was 10. Now she is 12.

Graci sees her sister taking over the kitchen these days cooking fabulous meals for our family and wanted to learn the basics of cooking like Randi did when she went to the cooking classes.

Grace Polson and Graci washing dishes
after making a meal during one
of the classes.

Kohl’s Cooks for Kids, is a free children’s nutrition and cooking course sponsored by Fit4AllKids at All Children’s Hospital for kids ages eight and up. It is one night a week for five weeks. The classes fill up pretty fast, so you have to register in advance.

 Parents attend with their child, so you learn together lessons about healthy eating. Parents are mainly there to help and supervise, but the kids do all the work and cook the food. They also wash the dishes!

Graci receiving her certificate the
last night of class. She is with
Amanda Babonas, Terry Edwards and
McKenna Lalomia.

The classes usually have about 18 people including the children and their parents. Graci had the same instructor Randi had from two years ago, Terry Edwards or as the kids call her "Miss Terry." You can tell she loves teaching kids about cooking as her enthusiasm is seen each week talking to kids about nutrition and healthy eating. She also had two wonderful assistants who helped out with Graci's classes, Amanda Babonas and McKenna Lalomia.

Each week the children learned about the five food groups and why we need to eat from each one. As a parent, getting my kids to eat healthy foods can sometimes be hard, but during these classes something magical happened. They are now eating foods they would never even try before.

Graci making cheese quesadillas in class.

The one rule Ms. Terry had is the kids have to try  at least one bite of the food they make. If they don’t want any more that’s ok, as long as they tried it. What’s funny is some of the kids said “Really...do I have to try it?” and by the end of the night they were asking for more food.

Each week, one of the kids at each table is picked to be the chef for the night. Being the chef is something all the kids love. The chef is in charge of cooking the meal. Graci was chef for two of the weeks meals, the Asian lettuce wraps and white chili. Both recipes were easy and prepared in less than 30 minutes.  

Graci practicing her
cooking skills at home.

The kids had to chop, cut and dice everything including the peppers and onions. The parents made sure they didn’t slice any fingers. The kids also measured all the ingredients using the measuring spoons and cups. Once everything was ready, the kids put it in the pan for Graci to cook. Once it was finished, everyone tried it.  The kids couldn’t get enough of it. They loved it.

Each week, the kids took home the recipe for the meal they made and for homework the kids had to make it for their family and share it with a friend. During the course of the five weeks, the kids were given cooking utensils to help in the kitchen. They received an apron, measuring spoons, apple corer slicer, potato peeler, pizza cutter and a cook book.

I highly recommend these classes.  Not only did we learn about nutrition and cooking, but I was able to spend quality time with each of my daughters and we met new friends. Now we have a quick, simple and healthy meals my daughters and I can make together at home. I also saw how my oldest daughter's cooking has taken off since this class two years ago. I call her "Chef Randi" because she is in the kitchen cooking all the time. I can see Graci will be the next chef in the family, now that she's learned the essentials of cooking and enjoys it.

There are several classes offered each year throughout Pinellas County. Kohl’s is a big sponsor of All Children’s and helps with this program, so it is free to families. To find out more about Kohl’s Cooks for Kids go to www.hopkinsallchildrens.org or to register for a class you can email achFit4Allkids@jhmi.edu.

Easy and healthy meals delivered to your door

Fresh ingredients delivered to our front door 

I don't know about you, but every night it is a hassle to think about what to cook the family for dinner. I work from home, have two young kids and I am busy running my girls to extracurricular activities after school, so making a healthy meal sometimes gets put on the back burner.

I have been trying to get my meals for the week on Sunday and make them ahead of time or find simple recipes for the crock pot. It's hard because when I go to the grocery store with some of my new recipes, sometimes I don't know what some of the ingredients even are that I am trying to find. It can get frustrating. I also overbuy the amount of food I need and end up wasting food sometimes.

HelloFresh box with 3 meals

I have seen advertisements for meals that get delivered to your home by a company called HelloFresh and decided to try it out. How could I resist with a $40 off coupon? I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't know anyone else who had tried it yet, so I decided I would see how it worked.

The regular cost for a family of four with three ready to make meals including the meats and shipping  is $105. Since I had the $40 coupon, it was $65. This is a service you sign up for and the food can get delivered weekly, monthly or whatever you want and on the day you want it delivered. It works out to be about $8.75 per person per meal if you buy for a family of four three meals a week without any discounts. With the $40 off the fist box it ended up being $5.41 per person per person per meal. You can also buy the meals for a                                                           family of two. 

Here are the boxes each meal came in
plus the meats 

I had it delivered on Monday, so we could have the meals during the week. I couldn't wait for the package, because I was excited to have healthy meals at my fingertips. When the box arrived, I was very impressed. Each meal had it's own separate box labeled with the ingredients inside. The meats were separate. The package also included a card with each recipe including photos. I love photos because then I know what to do and what it should look like when finished.

Randi last year
learning how to cook at
All Children's Fit4Allkids

Last year my 11-year-old daughter Randi, took the AllChildren's Fit4Allkids cooking classes and learned the basics for cooking. I decided this might be fun for her to do since she loves to cook. We tried it out and she did great. I helped her a little and oversaw the process, but overall she was able to make the meals on her own. It was an experience for her and the whole family benefited from the wonderful healthy meals. Randi made sausage and broccolini orecchiette with pesto and apricot-glazed chicken. These two meals were scrumptious. The cook time was suppose to be 30 minutes. It took Randi about an hour. I think as we make more meals we will get faster.

Randi cooked this
sausage and broccolini orecchiette with
pesto

I will say the portions were also really good. The sausage meal gave us leftovers for another day. I think it tasted even better the second day.

Loved Randi's presentation of
apricot-glazed chicken

I decied to try my cooking skills and
made the Lemongrass beef stir-fry

Overall, this was a pleasant surprise to my cooking dilemma. I have everything delivered right to my door and it's fresh. I don't have to look for ingredients at the store and I don't waste food. It's awesome! The meals are so simple, even my 11-year-old can cook them, and it's a great way to share the cooking experience.

I also found, I can share a special code with friends and they get $40 of their first box and I can get $20 off my next box. You can also send up to four friends a free meal after you get your first two orders. I thought that was pretty good too. Here's the code to start today and get $40 off your first box. Got to HelloFresh and enter this code X7TYB3.

Cooking fresh and healthy meals just got easier

HelloFresh came right to the door with ingredients and recipes

I don't know about you, but every night it is a hassle to think about what to cook the family for dinner. I work from home, have two young kids and I am busy running my girls to extracurricular activities after school, so making a healthy meal sometimes gets put on the back burner.

I have been trying to get my meals for the week planned out on Sunday and make them ahead of time, but that doesn't happen too often. What frustrates me is sometimes is trying to find the ingredients for some of the recipes. I also overbuy the amount of food I need and end up sometimes wasting food.

I have seen advertisements for meals that get delivered to your home are already prepared and some you make. I decided to try out a company called HelloFresh. They deliver all the ingredients for healthy meals to your door and you prepare them. I also a coupon for the company, so why not try it out. 

Randi at All Children's Fit4Allkids
cooking classes

Last year my 11-year-old daughter Randi, took the AllChildren's Fit4Allkids cooking classes and learned the basics for cooking. I decided this might be fun for her to do since she loves to cook.

You get to pick how many meals you want for the week and the day you want the food delivered, so I chose three meals and a Monday delivery, so we could have the meals during the week. I couldn't wait for the package, because I was excited to have healthy meals at my fingertips. When the box arrived, I was very impressed. Each meal had it's own separate box labeled with the ingredients inside. The meats were separate. The package also included a card with each recipe including photos. This made it easy for Randi since everything was laid out and she could follow along with the photos and now what the meal should look like when she finished.

Randi made the first recipe, which was sausage and broccolini orecchiette with pesto. She washed all the vegetables, cut them up, boiled water and cooked the vegetable and sausage. I helped her a little with the pasta, but other than that she did everything. The whole meal took about an hour. The card said 25 minutes, but since we were doing this the first time it took us a little longer.

Randi's apricot-glazed chicken

What was impressive to me and my husband was her presentation of the meal on the plate. It looked just liked the photos. And it tasted fabulous.  Even my other daughter, Graci age 10 who is a little picky when it comes to food, liked it.

She was so happy how everything turned out and so proud of what she accomplished, she couldn't wait to cook the next day.  The next meal was apricot-glazed chicken. This meal was even better and her presentation on this one was outstanding.

I enjoyed helping oversee the process, but overall she was able to make the meals on her own. I look back at the wonderful impact the All Children's Fit4Allkids family cooking classes had on Randi and am thankful for it. What's amazing is it is the classes are free and offered to kids throughout Pinellas County. Click here to enroll for a free class or call 727.898.7451. 

Overall, this was a pleasant surprise to my cooking dilemma. I have everything delivered right to my door and it's fresh. I don't have to look for ingredients at the store and I don't waste food. It's awesome! I found something my 11-year-old can cook, and it is a great way to learn and share the cooking experience. The whole family benefited from these wonderful healthy meals.

If you would like to receive $40 off your first order of HelloFresh put in the code X7TYB3.

***I did the math and the regular cost for a family of four with three ready to make meals including the meats and shipping  is $105. Since I had the $40 coupon, it was $65. This is a service you sign up for and the food can get delivered weekly, monthly or whatever you want and on the day you want it delivered.  It works out to be about $8.75 per person per meal if you buy for a family of four three meals a week without any discounts. With the $40 off the fist box it ended up being $5.41 per person per person per meal. You can also do for a family of two.

Click here for my previous story about All Children's Fit4Allkids.  

Kid’s learning about nutrition a fun way!

I was so excited this week to take my ten year-old daughter, Randi to the Kohl’s Cooks for Kids class this week. We tried to get into the last session, but it filled up quickly. I can see why after attending the first class. If you haven’t heard about it, Kohl’s Cooks for Kids is a children’s nutrition and cooking course sponsored by Fit4AllKids at All Children’s Hospital. It is one night a week for five weeks. Parents attend with their child, so you learn together lessons about healthy eating. Parents are there to help and supervise, but the kids do all the work and cook the food. They clean up too!

Chef for the night!

Our class included four tables of parents and kids about 18 people. Our leader from Fit4KidsAllKids was Miss Terry and she was awesome! She got everyone involved and really explained to the children about the five food groups and why we need to eat from each one. As a parent, getting my kids to eat healthy foods can sometimes be hard. Both of my two daughters can be picky eaters. I do have to say they are doing better this year at trying more foods. My daughter Randi is actually eating salad. She wouldn’t touch it before.  The one rule Ms. Terry has is that she asks the kids to at least try one bite of the food they are making. If they don’t want any more that’s ok, as long as they tried it. What’s funny is some of the kids gave a look like “’Really...do I have to try it?” and by the end of the night they were asking for more food.

Anyway, each table picked a kid chef for the night. Randi was the chef for the night. She was so excited. This meant that she had to be in charge of the meal we were preparing. The meal we prepared was a healthy Mexican Bulgar and Chicken recipe. Buglar is a wheat grain that is high in fiber and low-fat. It is used like rice. The kids had to chop, slice and dice everything including the peppers and onions. The parents made sure they didn’t slice any fingers. They also had to measure the ingredients using the measuring spoons and cups. It was great seeing the kids work together to prepare this delicious meal.

After the ingredients were cut and measured, they were put in the pan.  My daughter carefully watched and stirred the food. She than served it to everyone to try. The kids couldn’t get enough of it. They loved it.

We all received the recipe to take home and try with the rest of our family. The homework for the class is to cook the recipe for your family and share it with a friend. The kids were also given a set of their own measuring spoons. 

My youngest daughter loved
it too! 

It was such a wonderful night because I was not only able to spend quality time with my daughter, but we were also able to take home some nutritional tips. Now we have a quick and simple meal that my daughter and I can make for the family.

My daughter made dinner for the family and her sister loved it. She almost liked the plate!

There are several classes offered each year throughout Pinellas County. Kohl’s is a big sponsor of All Children’s and helps with this program so it is free to families. To find out more about Kohl’s Cooks for Kids click here. If you would like a free cookbook click here. If you would like the chicken and bulgur recipe click here. If you are interested in the classes you can email Kohl's Cooks for Kids at Fit4Allkids@allkids.org. 

Enjoy!

Kohl's Cooks For Kids Free Family Cooking Class

I thought I would pass this information about a Free family cooking class. It is sponsored by All Children's Hospital Fit4AllKids' and Kohl's for Kids.

It is a special 5-week series of cooking designed for children ages 8 and up. It focuses on good nutrition, making healthy choices and gaining valuable culinary skills.

These classes help children gain confidence in the kitchen and parents get an opportunity to make mealtime family time.

The classes start on January 22nd.

To enroll call 727-767-2014 or email Fit4AllKids@allkids.org

The classes are from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p., at
Anona Aftercare Center at Anona Methodist Church, 13233 Indian Rocks Road, Largo, FL 33774.

For other classes and information about Fit4AllKids click here.

Being a healthy role model for our kids

I think being overweight is hard on anybody, but especially moms. I know because I had an extra 30 pounds of weight on me after having my second daughter. I think some of the weight never left after having my first daughter sixteen months before. Weight can creep up on you and before you know it, your clothes aren’t fitting anymore and you’re buying larger sizes.

I didn’t want to be part of America’s statistics for obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention they say over the past twenty years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity and that more than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (12.5 million) children and adolescents aged 2-19 are obese.

I knew I needed to do something about my weight, so I joined Weight Watchers. I went every Saturday to meetings and weighed in for about eight months until I lost the weight.  Seven years later, I am still down 30 pounds. I tell you this because I have met so many people along the way, who all want the same thing-- to lose weight and be healthy.  After reaching my goal, I wanted to help others learn how to lose weight, so I started leading Weight Watchers meetings.

One person I want to tell you about is a 42-year-old woman named Michelle Burrell. She came to my meetings a little over a year ago and since then has lost 85 pounds. Incredible! She is a single mother of two. She has a 16-year-old son Shawn and an 8-year-old daughter, Elana. Elana is about 80 pounds. I tease Burrell and say she lost her daughter. One day, I even had Burrell put her daughter on her back and try to carry her around. It was hard for her to do. For years, Burrell has been carrying that extra weight. 

Michelle Burrell before
 losing 85 pounds 

Before losing weight, Burrell says the list was endless of what was hard for her to do because she was overweight. Now she eats healthy and exercises almost every day. She found an exercise she loves to do. She takes trampoline cardio classes at Airheads Trampoline Arena in Largo a few times a week and runs the other days. This is a person who told me a year ago, she was winded after going up stars. She couldn’t bend down before to polish her toenails. Burrell is continuing her journey of losing weight. She says she’s half way there. I am so proud of her and her accomplishments so far. Her life is changing. Just recently Burrell completed a half marathon, which is just one of her many big accomplishments. Her biggest she says is feeling comfortable enough to go to the beach with her daughter and being physically able to build a sandcastle.

Michelle Burrell 85 pounds lighter by
eating healthy and exercising

What is so important is that Burrell is a role model for her daughter. Her daughter is seeing her mom eat healthy and exercise. Her daughter wants to do the same. Burrell says her daughter goes to trampoline class and even runs with her. Elana is also grabbing for the fruit instead of cookies.

When we are eating healthy and exercising our kids will usually follow what we do. We need to set good examples and buy foods that are healthy. I know I feel better when I eat healthy and exercise. I want to be a positive influence on my kids.

I found a few programs locally that you may want to check into that are free for kids.  All Children’s Hospital has a program called Fit4allkids  to help children manage their weight and make healthy good choices. They also offer free online cooking videos with recipes called Cook eKitchen.  All Children’s teamed up with Kohl’s and has free cooking classes for kids called Kohl’s Cooks for Kids. They run once a week for five weeks. The next class is April 10^th in Largo. I even noticed Walgreens rewards you for getting active with their Walk with Walgreens program.

There are programs available to help you, but it’s up to us to make healthy eating and exercise a part of our life and our children’s lives.