Half Way Full

It is crazy to think that my practicum is already more than half way over. I still feel like I am just getting to know the kids. However, the steps I have taken so far to maximize my experience is to make sure everyone is having fun. Getting to know the children’s eating habits gave me a sensible idea on their outlook on health in general. It is always a fun time cooking and making snacks with them. So far most of the kids are hungry learners and are willing to try whatever we make as a group.

For the beautiful season of fall in Keene, Hannah and I had some cooking ideas revolving around pumpkins. We made pumpkin bars and a pumpkin dip. The pumpkin bars were delectable. The kids mixed in chocolate chips and gluten free oats with pumpkin sauce along with other spices. All of the kids loved their creation and so did I. My favorite project so far has to be the pumpkin bars.

The pumpkin dip had similar feedback to the veggie dip we made earlier. However, since we used graham crackers to dip, the flavors were more exhilarating when mixed with the pumpkin dip.

Our most recent project was english muffin pizzas. For this recipe we made our first template about the food. It includes the ingredients, directions on how to make the food and a few health benefits from it.

The kids were given halves of english muffins, pizza red sauce, mozzarella cheese, chopped up peppers, broccoli and mushrooms to add to their mini pizzas. Surprisingly more than 2/3 of the kids put veggies on their pizzas. One girl came up to me saying “I love mushrooms!” I just starting eating mushrooms last year. These kids keep surprising me.

The easy part of this "internship"is that cooking simple snacks doesn't take much effort. What can be challenging are kids who are stubborn and choose not to participate. This takes time away from other kids who are interested in the given cooking project. However, it is fun to see a huge smile on a child's face who enjoys crafting healthy snacks.  

Satisfying Their Tastebuds

The kids are starting to enjoy and participate in the healthy food projects a lot more since the start of this practicum. They are having fun making and eating their creations. They were all having a blast a couple of weeks ago when they were making whole grain oatmeal cookies.

As I was cleaning a couple children asked for the recipe. This made me stop in place and put me in the mindset of amazement. These kids want to learn and grow. The site wants us to teach these kids how to chef up healthy snacks in a fun and exciting way. These ideas being implemented is needed because this is the youth of our nation. Healthy living is a must in a child's life. Going off that, this gave me and Hannah the idea to craft a recipe book, newsletters/templates and a bulletin board. These needs for the site is essential because the children can always refer back to what and how we made each snack. 

The week after we made a fruit salsa and a veggie dip. The kids mixed in berries, apples, diced kiwis and some brown sugar. The kids mashed all the ingredients together and made a sweet delicious salsa. They dipped in with cinnamon crackers for a savory taste. Since the kids love their sweet fruits this was a great recipe to chef up.

Here's a video of one of the kids cutting a golden macintosh apple.

The veggie dip did not go as well as the fruit salsa. You know kids and their veggies, only a select few really enjoyed the snack, others still ate it, but did not seem to enjoy the dup. The dip contained plain greek yogurt, parsley, garlic power, onion power, salt and black pepper. The kids all had fun mixing in the ingredients in large bowls. Prepping the snack always seems to go well with the kids, even though there is always a decent size mess at the end. Once all the ingredients were mixed together kids were given celery, cucumbers and carrots to dip.

As cooking days go on the kids seem to be always looking forward to the next, so this puts a huge smile on my face. Guiding these children to make healthier snack choices is why I am here at this site. If they are satisfied, I am completely content.