Teaching elementary cooking need recipes (non-sweets)

Fruit Salad? My kids love helping me put one of them together. I'm a baker so no help from me LOL.

Geina x

Maybe try updating/making healthier some of their favorite dishes. Mac and cheese (do with quinoa), lasagna (eggplant or zucchini as the "pasta"), tacos, chicken fingers, etc.

Spaghetti squash and meat sauce (from scratch - that'd take some time). Or do meatballs - kids love to get their hands dirty!

As a kid, I loved to make popcorn toppings (melted PB, garlic parmesan butter, etc). You could make popcorn and a couple of toppings.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/almond_crusted_chicken_fingers.html

Twice baked potatoes (you could do the first round of baking in the microwave to speed it up). Top with homemade salsa, shredded cheese, frozen (cooked) veggies, etc.

English muffin pizzas.

Veggie dips (ranch dip, french onion, honey mustard, etc).

Here's a website I found after a little googling! http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/

GOOD LUCK!

Pizza is good as it will teach them that pizza does not have to be greasy or a take out meal. You could start off with a pizza making game where they have cut out cardboard circles and they can draw or stick on possible toppings, but give them a goal or guideline of minimum of 2 veges, max of 2 or 3 meats. You could have 2 weeks for pizzas, as you could also have them plan out a sweet pizza, then make the bases in week1, week 2 make the pizzas. They would love the act of making their own dough and there was a nice recipe for homemade flat breads using greek yogurt on here recently that works well and is healthy. I would suggest asking for volunteer adult helpers if you do use recipes that involve weighing/measuring. Was a teacher in the UK and 30 7 to 9 year olds was tough when it came to cooking. Sandwiches is an easy and obvious one. Maybe you could organise the time so that they spend the last 20 minutes planning for next week's cooking - that way you know ahead what ingredients you need and you can tell them that truffle pizza is not going to happen on your budget!

The last week could be a picnic - they can prepare their own food and then you could eat out with them. Or your theme for the whole club could be a picnic and you could have them make foods and freeze them to be eaten at the picnic. Sausage rolls, meat and vegetable kebabs, rice salad, pasta salad, chicken fingers, pizza, muffins. Then on the day they could make quick and fresh things like fruit kebabs, rice crispie treats.

You could have games linked to foods - pin the pizza topping on the pizza, pictionary but the topic is foods, do some artwork/collage work of different food, play the bean game if you have room they run around and you call out a bean eg jumping and they jump, then go back to running, then another broad, they puff out their cheeks and arms, baked they go on the ground arms and legs spread as if on toast, coffee beans they cough, string beans up on their toes arms pointing up to the sky sucking in their cheeks to look skinny and so on. The ones not quick enough are out till you end up with a winner. Pass the parcel but the prizes are chef related like a proper chef hat, wooden spoon, apron, etc.

Good luck, it is surprisingly hard work, some kids have never even picked up a butter knife to make their own sandwich let alone done anything more advanced than that, I had some that couldn't even mix things together, but they will love it and it such a valuable thing for them to learn about healthy choices and enjoying the process and gaining some independence.

I work at I guess what you'd all an alternative school and we're doing a summer program. They have me teaching a cooking class (if someone didn't do it they wouldn't get one). The kids I have cannot, and I mean under no circumstances, use a knife sharper then a butter knife. I'm also trying to expose them to healthier foods and eating habits so I'm trying to stay away from the sweets and the baking (baking is very precise). So I got to thinking who do I know that might have some easy elementary level cooking recipes and it hit me the people on MFP might be able to help. So I'm looking for healthy to semi-healthy easy recipes that I might be able to use to get my kids interested in cooking and eating right. There parameters are that it cant have a lot of cutting because I have to do any and all of that and their really shouldn't be a sharp knife in the room, it should be healthy, I do have budget constraints I have 7 weeks and $500 to do 14 recipes, and lastly I have an hour and twenty minutes to fill. Also if anyone knows of any fun games to play with food or nutrition I'm open to suggestions. Today for instance I blindfolded them and we played guess what you're eating (which they loved). So please if anyone knows of any games or recipes either reply to this or send me a message to my account here. To anyone who helps thank you in advance! My kids will be grateful they are really loving the class and I want to keep it that way.

* Banana pancake (The children may choose to omit the PB if they're allergic):http://glutenfreefix.com/3-ingredient-banana-pancakes/2403/


* Cauliflower pizza (It's different to regular pizza many may have already made@home:[http://rubyreduction.com/2012/02/27/cauliflower-pizza-crust/


* Ice cream made from frozen bananas (Froyo/blender/food processor):http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-creamy-ice-cream-w-93414


* Fresh Pasta Dough for Ravioli (You could make this ahead of time along with a simple filling eg roasted squash):http://www.bhg.com/recipe/eggs/fresh-pasta-dough-for-ravioli/ The rolling + stuffing Ravioli (Active creative play) and the cooking part (intellectual play/active learning)


* German-Chocolate Fudge Brownie ~ No sugar ~No Butter ~ No Flour: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/02/08/german-chocolate-fudge-bites/


* Chicken Nuggets:http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/04/healthy-baked-chicken-nuggets.html


* Pigs in a blanket:http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/healthy-homemade-pigs-in-a-blanket


* Pop Tarts:http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/homemade-healthy-poptarts

[Photo sources: Stated websites]
ETA: Cooking is always fun for children, when they can enjoy the fruits of their toils of learning or at least take a sample home to share with their parents. Have fun!!