For The Future: The Cooking With Kids Foundation

Our goal is to expand the program to reach out to more organizations, thereby
including more children in learning our approach to healthy eating and good
nutrition. To facilitate this goal we will need to enable greater consistency when
adding new instructors to our staff. Developing and documenting Chef Lynda’s
curriculum so all instructors are teaching the same recipes, and using the same
worksheets and coloring aids in the same manner will allow for the rapid
expansion of this program while maintaining the quality our clients have come to
expect. Once the program is fully documented it will be provided for free to
organizations that reach out to at risk children in disadvantaged neighborhoods. It
is also our plan to offer this curriculum to schools and potential teachers
nationwide so as to reach as many children as possible.

Cooking with Kids Foundation Launches First Pilot Program.

In early November 2010, Cooking with Kids Foundation completed a  successful first step in the plans to bring classes in cooking and nutrition to underserved children in Contra Costa County. In cooperation with Monument Community First 5 Center, Chef Lynda taught a series of three classes featuring healthy snacks to a group of four and five year olds and their parents. All ingredients for the snacks ,were provided for the participants by the foundation with grants from the two local Trader Joe stores. All students received a cookbook and complete instructions, beginning with kitchen safety.   

According to Chef Lynda, she was very pleased to work with parents who were so aware of the need to provide children with healthful food, and the children were excited about being included in the hands on preparation of a different snack each week. Not only did each child take part in creating the snack, but beforehand, parents were encouraged to take their children shopping to find the snack ingredients in their local markets.

In class the children were introduced to the child’s food pyramid and snack ingredients were charted to make sure they filled a nutritional need.  While the parents created their own snack, Chef Lynda  gave the children samples of tropical fruits, different grains and a variety of herbs to identify, taste and describe.  They took their completed worksheets home share with other members of their family.

Banana mango smoothie was the first snack.  Each child followed the recipe as they helped cut up the banana, measure the mangoes, orange juice and yogurt.  They even managed to measure the few drops of vanilla. All were fascinated with the blender and the necessity of holding the lid while blending, this was a quick lesson in Physics. the blender provided a healthy portion for each to taste and take home.  Some tasted  lychee  nuts for the first time.

The second snack triple bran muffins offered a bit of a challenge since the center had no oven.  Chef Lynda brought a huge batch of prepared muffins, and then like the cooking programs, helped the children mix the ingredients for another batch.  Before tasting the muffins, the children and their parents  filled muffin cups to take home to bake. They were a tremendous hit with the children in class.  Reports the following week confirmed that the muffins were a hit with their families at home as well.

Chef Lynda felt the final snack veggie dip with fresh vegetables was the most rewarding.  The children prepared the dip using fresh herbs for seasoning.  Chef Lynda offered fresh cauliflower and broccoli along with samples that had been blanched. The children ate them both.  Children ate their favorites.  Some ate all the carrots and tomatoes and asked for more.  Others cleaned up the cauliflower first.

We are also involved in a grant supported program for underserved children at the
Junction Avenue School in Livermore.

If you would like to support the work of this foundation you may easily make a donation through paypal using a credit card.