Cooking with Kids returning July 30

Cooking with Kids, an all-ages summer series, is happening Tuesday, July 30, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Havre-Hill County Library, where the community will learn recipes involving a veggie scramble and yogurt parfaits with a lesson over dairy and protein.

Cooking with Kids is partnering with Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, and the Early Childhood Investment Team, or ECIT, in a once-a-month, summer series so people can not only learn healthy recipes, but also cook them with their kid and ask nutrition-related questions. This is also a time to involve kids in the kitchen through different jobs

“My favorite part is when the parents are shocked that their kids are eating something they usually wouldn’t eat,” Hill County Extension Agent/4-H Agent Jasmine Carbajal said. “I think it shows that if you really do involve them, it does happen and it gives parents new ideas.”

Cooking with Kids is a fairly new program. Carbajal started it in January at the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line.

She now has started it as a summer series, with the first session June 27 at Hillview Apartments.

People who attended last month’s session learned the recipe for colorful tacos and rainbow salad, following a lesson about eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables.

Carbajal is the Hill County family and consumer science extension agent. Her position includes working with food preservation and nutrition classes where she partners with WIC and mental health programs.

“My job excites me because I get to do a lot of things kind of under family and consumer science and then I get to do a lot of things under 4-H,” Carbajal said.

She has a teaching background and she holds a master’s degree in English as a second language and used to be a nutrition educator for the University of Wisconsin Extension agency.

“I was looking to kind of stay within nutrition because I love teaching and this job was just perfect,” Carbajal said. “I could work with youth through 4-H and then I could work with adults, which I love working with adults through all this other programming that I do, so it just kind of worked.”

Next month, the class will take place Wednesday, Aug. 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Van Orsdel United Methodist Church and will teach recipes involving healthy grain snacks, with a lesson following on whole grains.

“Seeing that the parents are really finding it useful and seeing that the kids are eating it, I think it all is awesome,” Carbajal said.

The classes are free and are open to all ages, but Carbajal said she recommends pre-registration so she can plan for food costs.

For more information and to register call Carbajal 400-2335.