Today marks the fourth cooking / baking class I’m holding this summer for kids. I’m having a blast sharing my passion for healthy, plant-based cooking to kids who aren’t vegetarian and aren’t necessarily big fans of vegetables. My goal is to get them to learn knife skills, cook with herbs and spices, and play around with unconventional ingredients such as beans, cashews, tofu, and homemade vegetarian sausages. It warms my heart to see them enjoy veggie meatballs, whole wheat pizzas, and lentils!
Four things I’ve learned so far:
- Kids will eat healthfully if you let them prep and cook food right from the start.
- You can’t impose your love for vegetables on them but you can tell them to try something unusual at least once before they decide they don’t like it.
- Kids will respect you if you treat and talk to them like adults (it also helps if you have a fat cat chilling in the garden begging for tummy rubs). One of my fears while preparing for these classes was that I might lose my cool. Back in my elementary school days, there definitely were occasions when my whole class would push our teachers’ buttons. We took pride in it, too. No button pushing in Cucina Revolucion, though. So far, so good!
- You won’t feel old until you spend time with people half or a third of your age.
True story:
6-year old kid from pasta class: “How old are you?”
Me: “How old do I look like?”
Kid: “38?”
Me: “WHAT!!”
Anyway.
I’d like to share some class photos with you. These classes make Kitchen Revolution truly feel like a revolution. Next week I have 11 kids for Mexican class and I cannot wait!
