Keystone Kids

Cooks and Chefs Pilot Project 

School Year 2005/2006

Descriptions 

Keystone Cooks - During March-May 2006, Head Start teachers in six (6) Keystone Color Me Healthy classrooms demonstrated to children how to make a healthful recipe during "Circle Time". The teacher talked about the health benefits of the ingredients.  The children sampled the recipe that was made either at lunch or snack time.  Parents also sampled the recipe when they picked up their children.  The parents took home the recipe and a nutrition fact sheet.

Keystone Chefs - A local chef visited two Family Literacy classrooms three times each, to teach parents healthy cooking skills and how to increase the nutritional value and flavor of meals by adding fruits, vegetables, or beans to meals. Participants took home all ingredients to repeat the skill and recipe for their families. On days the chef was not there, Family Literacy staff taught participants the benefits of fruits and vegetables as a tool for weight management, and how to apply the recipes at home as meals.  They also taught shopping tips, reading food labels, and other nutrition topics on days that the Chef was not visiting the classroom.

Recipes:

Butterfly Salad
Curly Broccoli Bake
Happy Trails Fruit Munchies
Mock Mashed Potatoes
Raspberry- Apple Crumble
Spinach Balls
Sweet Potato Fries
Zucchini Raisin Muffins
 
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Evaluation – According to classroom teachers, the Cooks program was not as successful as the Chefs program because the Chefs program had a stronger impact on the home environment.  The Chefs program was an overwhelming success for class room teachers and participants.  Over a year later, people continue to talk about the program and ask for it to be repeated.  Formal evaluation statistics have not yet been compiled.  The Chef’s program is being considered as a future component of the Keystone Kids Go! initiative.

CHECK BACK FOR FUTURE CHEF PROJECTS!