Cooking Club at Smilow Rainier Vista

This summer, in partnership with Coyote Central, middle school Club members at our Smilow Rainier Vista Club learned how to cook healthy and delicious food in a six-week cooking program.

The program focused on making vegan options accessible and enticing for kids. To achieve that goal, it was important that all the food was healthy, tasty, easy to make, and most importantly, kid-friendly. Local farms donated all the food for the program and extra produce for kids to take home to their families.

At the beginning of the program, kids enjoyed classic foods like brownies and pizza, only to be shocked to learn they didn’t include any meat or dairy ingredients!  Once they experienced how flavorful vegan food could be, they were excited to learn how they could make tasty and healthy food themselves. Throughout the classes, kids learned kitchen basics like chopping and understanding different cooking temperatures and methods. They also learned about nutrition and what our bodies need to be healthy.

To cap the end of the program, the students participated in a final cook-off. They competed with each other to prepare the best appetizer and dessert. One ambitious student prepared a tiramisu that left everyone wanting more! The satisfied tasters cleaned all the plates, enjoying every last bite of these nutritional and delectable goodies.