Mommy & Me make meals
OSU food and nutrition courses kick off at East Liverpool school
Morning Journal/Stephanie Ujhelyi Renee Eichler, who conducted the Mommy and Me cooking class, shares information about how to safely use knives.
Gabby Boyd, 3, Leila Boyd, 5, and their grandmother, Betty Patterson, were among those who attended the program.
Violet Erich, 4, and her mother Beth
Hunter Estell, 10, and her sister Cameron, 9
Morning Journal/Stephanie Ujhelyi Renee Eichler, who conducted the Mommy and Me cooking class, shares information about how to safely use knives.
Gabby Boyd, 3, Leila Boyd, 5, and their grandmother, Betty Patterson, were among those who attended the program.
Violet Erich, 4, and her mother Beth
Hunter Estell, 10, and her sister Cameron, 9
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EAST LIVERPOOL -- Children can be notoriously picky in their dining choices.
City school district authorities acknowledge that, so they are teaming up with The Ohio State University Extension to educate family members and their offspring regarding food, nutrition and fitness during a nine-week program Wednesday afternoons.
The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education (EFNEP) program held its initial Mommy and Me cooking class recently at Potter Pete's cafe in Westgate Middle School, mixing some valuable mother-child time with some valuable information.
The classes, which are taught by EFNEP representative Renee Eichler, are based on the Eating Smart, Being Active curriculum from the Colorado State University Extension and the University of California at Davis, which focuses on an interactive approach regarding food and nutrition with physical activity during the nine-week series.
In the inaugural class, Eichler detailed what participants would learn through the series, taught them knife safety skills and led them in creating a vegetable stir-fry. Families received cutting boards to take home. She also offered tips, such as if your cutting board slides when you are using it, put a damp paper towel under it to hold it firmly in place on your counter.
Children helped to prepare a vegetable stir-fry by helping to clean the carrots, which adults later sliced into circles for inclusion; dumping pre-prepared mix of sweet peppers and zucchini and cooked brown rice into the electric skillet to saute together as well as helping to measure out ingredients for the sauce (broth, soy sauce, garlic powder and corn starch) that was later added to the stir-fry.
Participants were amazed how the once fluid solution thickened once it hit the heat and was stirred.
The big question was how did the suggested recipe go over.
Eichler encouraged them to take two or three bites before making their decision, although the verdict was overwhelmingly positive.
One child did miss the lack of protein present in the vegetable dish, a conscious decision by Eichler as she wanted to avoid potential opportunities for cross contamination this early in the series.
Families will learn how to prepare a recipe each week, which they can build on to create their own version. For example, next week, they will be preparing a spinach lasagna using cottage cheese instead of ricotta, as it is a more available, cost effective and versatile ingredient.
Some of the children did express some reservations regarding the spinach component, which others will take a wait-and-see approach as Eichler recommended.
Families also will embrace a $11 exercise one week, making grocery lists for ingredients totaling $11 or less from grocery flyers in an effort to prepare a meal for a family of four.
Participants will receive cookbooks and graduation certificates in culmination of the Mommy and Me classes in week nine, after receiving the education and small incentives, such as measuring cups; beach balls, which will encourage children to get active; and food thermometers along their journey through the course.
For more information, call 330-424-7291 or email eichler.33@osu.edu.