New Class: Raw Kids in the Kitchen

[maraw]

Hi everyone! I have just put the finishing touches on a new class I am offering called "Raw Kids in the Kitchen." Details below:

When: All Four Thursdays in July = one class
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Where: My home, just outside of Houston, near Richmond/Rosenberg area
Ages: 6-10, no "cooking" experience necessary
Cost: $145 per child - no supply fee or hidden costs

Some of the subjects we will be covering include,

- Giggle in the Garden - Beginning gardening
- Mind your Manners ‘round the Mango - table manners
- Nine Gold Nuggets of Nutrition - nutritional lessons
- The Case of the Jumping Germs - basic hygeine/importance of washing hands and food
- “Mommy! There’s Math in the Kitchen!” - fractions/addition/multiplication
- EgorÂ’s Edible Science Experiments - fun kitchen science
- and moreÂ… - crafts, scavenger hunts, learning to serve others, trying new things, making friends, etc.

Each week we will spend time
cooking, reading, measuring, eating, playing, painting, learning and growing.
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Class sizes are small and space is limited.
***Please call me at 281-344-1720 or 832-368-7099 for more information. Registration fees and forms need to be received no later than June 30. Food allergies and sensitivities can be accommodated and will be respected.

[maraw]

I should have mentioned above, I have five spots left for this class.

[fiddle80]

Hi-
I don't live any where near Texas but am very interested in your information and excitement with raw kids in the kitchen. Do you travel with this? Do you have a book? Would you like to share this information somehow? I've struggled with getting my now 4 1/2 yr old and almost 3 yr old to eat raw. We started off a regular vegetarian SAD family. My daughter is a food seperatist-she doesn't like things mixed, together, touching, or in any way put together so raw dishes are hard to come up with. I started raw Feb 2005 but started eating cooked stuff here and there around the holidays and am now struggling with my own self-disrespect that keeps me eating cooked.
Long winded-but any info on helping with kids would be greatly appreciated.

[maraw]

I wish I could travel with this program, but with my children as young as they are, that is not practical for me at this time - maybe someday...

In the meantime, I am happy to share what I have learned with you. And by the way, I have started writing an outline for a book - I would love to see it published before the end of 2007. We'll see...

But for now, I am happy to share a few raw "tricks" that worked with my children. I have one that likes her good identifyable as well as separated, so I feel your pain. The way I began our new way of eating, was really simple in the beginning. I gave them things like watermelon and pineapple for dinner. Tomatoes, carrots and kale chips for lunch. Really simple. I focused on things I knew they liked. My older two were the hold-outs. They still wanted cooked foods from time to time, so I did both at every meal. I still do from time to time. But my 3 and 2 year olds really took easily to the salads and pate type dishes. My 6 year-old really likes preparing the foods and is much more likely to try something if she can see and tastes each ingredient that goes into it. Alissa's cheddar cheese is a good example. She loves macadamia nuts and thought they tastes like mac and cheese. She really likes the stuff. She is actually the reason I put the class together. The inspiration originated with her in mind.

Of course, the younger they are, the easier it is to make this transition. But I also find that being honest and upfront with them is key. We explain to our kids that we want them to be healthy and strong like super-heros and eating the right foods is the best way to start that process. They all seemed to accept that pretty easily. Plus, we removed everything in the house that might tempt them to make a less-desirable choice. The hardest thing for us is when we go to friends' houses for visits and they have candy, etc. You have to make some hard person choices in those cases.

Let me know if you need any other ideas, recipes, or have specific questions. I know there are lots of people here that would be willing to share their personal experiences with you too.

Best wishes,
Anna

[fiddle80]

What do you think is the best thing to leave out first? Pasta/breads or dairy? or just go cold "turkey" -so to speak? My younger one eats most anything. He got a lot of "raw nursing" in, which I think helped him acquire a taste for raw. (nursing while I was all raw)
Does your husband eat raw too? Mine doesn't which makes it hard to explain to the kids....but he is willing to, mostly.

[Tombi]

Bless you Anna,

It is so good to see you back on the board! I love love love what you are doing. Isaak would too! We wish you nothing but success...and i know you will have it.

Miss you! Big hugs!!
Ntombi

[maraw]

What do you think is the best thing to leave out first? Pasta/breads or dairy? or just go cold "turkey" -so to speak?

For my family, it was easier to just go cold turkey. I did the big garbage bag dump and simply removed it all. Having said that, I would still give them brown rice and steamed veggies from time to time until they felt more comfortable with some of them raw - there are still a few veggies I can't get them to eat raw, so I steam or stir-fry them. One thing that I did notice was that my kids seemed salt deprived. I'm not a big salt fan, but one morning I made something and my daughter asked for parmesan to spinkle over it. I gave a lot of thought to her request and thought maybe she needed the flavor of it - salty. So, I gave her a pinch of sea salt and that did the trick. As much as my kids run around here sweating all over the place, I should have been a little more sensitive to it. I'm not suggesting you load them down with sea salt, mind you, but it help to increase the flavor of food without cheese.

In answering you more directly, cheese was the hardest to remove for us, so I would start with that - everything else will seem a lot easier after that. Plus, I gave some really fun names to some of our veggie dishes: green monster chips (dehydrated kale); soldier cannon balls (nut "meat" balls); sunflower worms (spiralized squash); etc.

My husband does eat raw with me, and I know how much easier it is when that happens. It much be much more difficult when you are aligned dietarily speaking. Keeping trying - he's bound to find something raw he really likes to encourage him to make the switch.

Ntombi - thanks for the sweet words of encouragement. I really miss you and everyone from New Hamshire. I wish we were back there now. Already it seems a lifetime ago. I cut open an avocado today and made the stuffed portobellos - couldn't help but think of you... ;) Let me know how things are going. I'll look forward to hearing - you have much to offer the world.

Anna

[Portia2012]

Is there much of a raw foods theme for children out there as of yet? I would love to start seeing this incorporated more, so that we can reach them at younger ages, and get a head start on illnesses.


~Portia~

[shine72]

Is there much of a raw foods theme for children out there as of yet? I would love to start seeing this incorporated more, so that we can reach them at younger ages, and get a head start on illnesses.


~Portia~

Portia -

I don't know if you noticed the date as to how old this thread is, but Maraw doesn't get on as much as she used to.

I'm going to start doing classes for homeschoolers after I move, so that's one way it can be done. As a side note, I hadn't thought to do it, I had another unschooling mom approach me about it. So that was really cool!:D