Easy solution to kids picky eating problems? Make them the chef
By Judith Dunbar Hines June 21, 2011 11:16AM
Students Ruby Gutierrez (from left), Lidia Sanchez and Gerardo Garcia of Richards Career Academy are part of the team that won the Healthy Schools Campaign Cooking Up Change contest. (Jean Lachat~Sun-Times)
From the Farmstand
The year-round Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand, 66 E. Randolph, offers Midwest-grown foods and other locally produced edibles, including those used in this recipe. Cooking classes are offered through the World Kitchen program (chicagoworldkitchen.org). Reach the Farmstand at (312) 742-8419, or go to chicagofarmstand.com.
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Updated: September 20, 2011 12:28AM
So the kids have been out of school for a week and already they are repeating that dreaded phrase, “I’m bored.” There’s camp and vacation and family reunions, but what else?
Taste of Chicago, which opens June 24 and runs through July 1, seems like a great family activity. But after the first few booths, the little ones get restive, and they aren’t one bit interested in that big turkey leg Dad finds so fascinating.
What to do? Check out the big, white tent at the north end of Millennium Park, where you’ll find a range of activities for kids. In the contained space, they can hula hoop or build a tall skyscraper with wooden blocks to wear off a little of that energy gained from the Taste ice cream tasting.
The Family Fun tent is open every day, rain or shine, from June to September, with different musical acts and themed activities every week. And next week during the Taste, those activities will all be focused on cooking and growing produce.
No doubt you have read statistics that show that kids who have a say in what they eat and help cook or even grow some of their own foods eventually eat more varied and nutritious foods.
At the tent next week, kids can pick up a sticker that declares “I’m a Carrot Tot,” then choose an activity table where they can decorate their own chef’s hat, glue dried spices onto art projects, play food bingo, have fun with food-safe, edible play-dough or make a necklace (which can become a mini-garden later on).
Cooking demonstrations featuring kid-friendly recipes will take place June 27 through July 1.
A highlight of the week will be the visiting Chicago Truck Farm, a garden built on the bed of a pick-up truck retrofitted to use biofuel converted from restaurant cooking oil. Visitors will be able to do some gardening, learn about the plants and how to use them and take home a seed starter kit. Get a little dirty — we won’t complain.
Students from Richards Career Academy, winners of the Healthy Schools Campaign Cooking Up Change contest, will be on hand to demonstrate their winning recipes on June 28.
Their challenge was to make a lunch menu (soup, salad and entree) that appeals to high schoolers, using ingredients available to school food programs. The meal must meet federal nutrition guidelines and fall within the $1 budget.
The Richards team — Gerardo Garcia, Ruby Gutierrez, Claudia Ramirez and Lidia Sanchez — won a trip to Washington, D.C., where their lunch was served at the USDA and to members of Congress. The meal also was served earlier this year in all Chicago public
high schools.
Come meet and congratulate the students from Richards. And if your house has junior cooks looking for something they can help you make for dinner, try these winning recipes at home. You, and they, will be impressed with the results.
Judith Dunbar Hines is director of culinary arts and events for the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, which operates Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand.
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