(January 11th--Jersey City) Chef Rene and Chef Christina of Bambino Chef inspired students to think more about their food choices and demonstrate how to create quick and healthy meals.
Chef Rene and Chef Christina discussed a variety of health-conscious decisions that students can start thinking about right away. The chefs identified the building blocks of healthy meals and what our bodies need. Chef Rene explained to students that nutritious and balanced meals would help them stay alert throughout their school days.
The chefs detailed the differences between unhealthy, sweet snacks and how our bodies react to them verse healthy snacks and how our bodies use them for fuel and energy.
Chef Rene also touched on the importance of staying hydrated. She stressed to the students the need to drink water, especially if students play sports, and debunked the myths behind “sports” and “energy drinks”.
“I drink a lot of Gatorade and Chef Rene really made me think about this. She said that we should be more careful at our age about drinking those types of drinks too often.
From now on I am only going to drink Gatorade it if I am working out,” Gigi Gonzalez, 6th grade stated.
Dianne Ovalles, 6th grade, shared, “I don’t really like to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, but I feel like now I have to start thinking about eating them more. I understand how important it is now.”
After a Q&A session, the students then began to make a quinoa salad filled with spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, and topped with lemon. Chef Rene and Chef Christina discussed the nutrients of each ingredient and the science behind how our bodies utilize each of them. They demonstrated how to properly portion and shared other ingredients that could be used in the salad.
“I devoured my salad! The lemon and the quinoa were so good together. I was very skeptical at first about the quinoa, but I really enjoyed it. I am going to ask my mom to make quinoa from now on. I am inspired to start choosing the salad option more often in the cafeteria now,” 6th grader Sibel Gitonga enthusiastically shared.
To learn more about Bambino Chef visit: https://www.bambinochef.com/.
