As a high schooler my mom cautioned me to never let anyone know I can cook, or I'd never stop cooking.
Well, she was right.
When I got my first (and only) teaching job I used my cooking skills to carve out a spot for myself in my school. I made whole wheat waffles for my students at the end of every month, and we made crockpot hot chocolate after every unit test. As a coworker, I was always the first one to volunteer to make staff birthday cakes.
When I moved to 6th grade from 2nd, I inherited the Family Thanksgiving Lunch, where each student picks a dish and we cooked lunch for the adults that love them. (Please note, I teach in a tiny town where all of the employers are aware of this tradition and give time off for adults to participate in this event as well as the lower elementary's father involvement breakfast.) Before we get off for winter break, we take over our school's home ec room and make cookies for an upper elementary cookie exchange.
This year, while attending a local cultural healing event I was handed a food ability survey, and two questions jumped out at me. One question I haven't had a chance to do something about, but the other question asked if I didn't purchase new foods at the store because I didn't know how to cook with them.
Personally, I love cooking with new foods, and will purchase things I'm unfamiliar with specifically so I can learn new recipes. However, it's a learned behavior. As a child growing up in small Alaskan village, lettuce, celery, carrots, frozen veggies, apples, and the occasional banana or kiwi was the extent of my exposure to fruits and veggies. I was a senior in high school before I had spinach, and I was a freshmen in college before I had an avocado.
Because of this I'm a firm believer in early exposure to a variety of foods, so I approached my principal about using part of our donation budget from our local AC store to purchase and have the kids cook with unfamiliar foods. He thought it was a great idea, and the managers of the store jumped in with both feet. Now we cook weekly in the classroom with a variety of fresh fruits and veggies.
Here are some simple classroom cooking recipes for anyone who'd like to try out cooking in their classroom. A crockpot is all most of these recipes need; although, a blender or a food processor is needed for a few.
