Teach children to cook... create healthy adults....

Want your children to grow up to be healthy adults? Teach them to cook....


I really enjoyed this article from the Province this week. It talks about involving children in grocery shopping and food preparation and cooking at a young age to help promote healthy eating and lifestyle. I find this to be very true, even more so as I teach Home Ec this year. Learning about the sugars in drinks and the Canada Food Guide and portions tat make a serving of vegetables for example. The article writes:

The occasional lucky person takes to cooking like a duck to water. But for most of us, it's a skill that needs to be taught. And the sooner children start to learn, the easier things tend to go.

"It has implications down the road," says Kate Comeau, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for Dietitians of Canada, the professional body that represents roughly 6,000 dietitians in this country.

"You can learn to cook as an adult ... but if we can start kids earlier, we tend to see healthier adults."

Tasks need to be geared to the child's age and abilities. Tearing lettuce is something a really young child can help with. Once they are able, getting children to read a recipe aloud provides opportunities to explain measurements and cooking terms.

Read article here

Home Ec: Currently Cooking: Rustic Apple tarts and fried rice

Last week we made 'Rustic Apple Tarts' with our Grade 8s. They make their own dough on day one and then day two they fill their tarts. I have to say, VERY delicious!!!

Our grade 6/7s made fried rice. Day one was chopping veggies and preparing while day two was frying everything up - pretty delicious! I think if we had the budget to add chicken or a meat, it would have been even better!

As part of the 'Re Think Your Drink' and 'SIP Smart' lessons, we make healthy smoothies each term so students can taste how even avocado, kale, spinach, berries and rice milk can taste delicious!

Speaking of smoothies, this article about smoothies was pretty interesting... I think people forget that even though fruit is providing natural sugars, it is still sugar (albeit better than added sugars) moderation is key.

This week we are finishing up our holiday baking (sugar cookies and shortbread) before Winter Break. January is term three... I can't believe how quickly these Home Ec terms go by! 8 or so weeks! Crazy! And they are only 40 minute blocks each day!

Home Ec: Checking In #homeecteacher

Wow, October is half way over, I feel like I am finally getting my head wrapped around the ins and outs or teaching Home Ec again! I meant to post more sooner, but just haven't had the time... but I want to post more! As a new home ec teacher, I am learning so much and want to share it with others who may find themselves teaching home ec, but also to seek ideas from those of you more experienced home ec teachers =)

My job share partner teachers M-W and typically does the recipe and demo with the students along with the lessons. My Thurs and Fri is typically cooking/lab days and on off weeks continuation of the lessons.

We are doing just foods/cooking, not sewing, which I have taught in the past (Sock Monkeys for 6/7s, PJ pants for 8s)

I wanted to share some of the labs we have made. I didn't get photos of the cheese scones, quesadilla, fruit tarts or berry muffins, however, I do have some of our other labs....

Grade 6/7s did fruit crisps... messy but delicious!

Grade 8s did pizza pockets. Dough was Day 1, Stuffing was Day 2

Grade 6/7s made personal/co-operative pizzas

My face says it all... this was my FIRST lab day, It felt so great to see all the students enjoying their muffins!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins - these were so yummy!

So, although things are VERY busy, they are going very well! I am really enjoying Home Ec and as first term comes to an end in a couple weeks, I feel like second term will be a blast now that I am used to my new position!!

HOME EC: Egg substitutes....

Now that I am teaching Home Ec  I have started to do a lot of research on tidbits for new Home Ec teachers.

This came in my email from a colleague and I thought this may be useful if ever I am in this situation...

Here are some vegan alternatives that work just as well, if not better than eggs...

What is a good substitute for eggs?
2 tbsp cornstarch = 1 egg
2 tbsp arrowroot flour = 1 egg
2 tbsp potato starch = 1 egg
1 heaping tbsp soy powder + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg
1 tbsp soy milk powder + 1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg.
1 banana = 1 egg in cakes.
1 tbsp milled flax seed and 3 tbsp water = 1 egg. Light, fluffy cakes!

Source: http://homeec414.wikispaces.com/Egg+Substitutes
(Ms. Lightburn is a colleague of mine who is a great resource for Home Ec teachers)

Here is another list of ideas in a handy poster that I found on pintrest:

Home Ec: New Posts Coming

So as I mentioned in a previous post, I am teaching Home Ec this year to grades 6/7 and grade 8. I am only there two times a week as I job share, and half the day is Student Services and half the day is Home Ec.

That being said, the two days I am there are mostly "LAB DAYS" which means the students are all cooking.

I am not much of a baker or cook at home, my husband does a lot of that, but one of the keys to Home Ec Labs, as I am learning, is classroom management, supervision, organization and time management.

Maybe I am not the best cook, but those things I am very skilled at.

This week was my first lab with the kids. Grade 6/7s did twice baked stuffed potatoes and Grade 8s did a two day lab making banana-chocolate chip muffins.

I am excited to announce that things went very smoothly. I had the youth worker come in for an extra set of hands and eyes, my job share partner was very organized and had everything ready to go and everything turned out delicious and on time!

I am starting to connect with other Home Ec teachers through social media, especially twitter, and feel more creative in the things we can plan for term two.

What is awesome about teaching "EXPO" or Explorations, is that I get to connect with every student in the school by the end of the year and it is something most of them look forward to doing.

We get 8 weeks with each group and they are 40 minute blocks five days a week.

Anyhow, I plan to start posting occasional "HOME EC" features on my blog so stay tuned!