Simple Nutrition Insights

Air Fryers and Balanced Diets for Kids

• Leonila • Episode 41

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Want to know how your kids can master the basics of nutrition while having a blast this summer? Join me, Leonila Campos, as I unravel the incredible journey behind our transformative summer camp for fifth to eighth graders, designed to empower young minds with essential life skills. Over the past three years, our program, "Fuel Up and Be Fit," has evolved into a beacon of health and wellness for the local unified school district. This year, we're teaching kids to whip up simple, nutritious meals using air fryers—skills that will not only enrich their summer but also inspire healthier choices at home and beyond.

Discover the magic of balanced meals and their profound impact on brain development and academic performance. I’ll share the delicious and nutritious options we serve at camp, from mini pancakes with turkey bacon to grilled chicken salads, and how these meals have shattered food stereotypes and broadened young palates. Our brief yet powerful nutrition education sessions demystify the five food groups, ensuring students understand their health benefits and are excited to try new foods. Tune in for invaluable insights that every parent and educator can use to improve children's nutrition and cooking skills.

Chef Audrey's Info

Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to this podcast and share with a friend. If you would like to know more about my services, please message at fueledbyleo@gmail.com

My YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0SqBP44jMNYSzlcJjOKJdg

Speaker 1:

Hey, hey, welcome back to another episode in the Simple Nutrition Insights Podcast. I am your host, leonila Campos, registered dietitian, and today I want to share my experience with doing a summer camp for a local unified school district. So we've been doing these summer camps and winter camps too. This summer is our third year and we are loving it. So the first year that we did it, we had a small group of of students, right, and the purpose of these camps right now, these are free camps that the school district you know they have a grant to offer students, right, different a variety of summer camps to come and like, learn about things and just be out of the streets, right, have a warm meal or a cold meal, but a meal nonetheless. And so I remember the first year when we did it this is like three years ago there were a smaller amount of vendors right at the school district contracts with to provide services or camps to the students, and this is a free cost to the students or the parents, right, they don't have to pay anything. And so the first year, you know, we were so excited. We are excited every time we do it. And year after year, right, we were so excited, we are excited every time we do it and year after year. Right, we change things, and so our program. The name of our program has changed over the years, right, but this year we decided to call our program Fuel Up and Be Fit. Right, and it is a combination of fitness, a combination of nutrition, education and cooking, so children or students really enjoy that right.

Speaker 1:

The first year when we had it, we had the concept is the same. Right, there's again. There are many vendors in different camps. Right, it's not all nutrition or fitness. They have a variety of things. They have to make a piñata or how to dance or STEM, like so many. Now, this year I think they have like over 100 vendors providing camps, right, providing opportunities for the students in this school district to just explore different things, learn and, most importantly, right, have something to do during the summer, because it is about eight weeks that students are out of school and so, um, what better thing to do than then go and learn something? Right? Anyway, our camp has always been nutrition, fitness and cooking and we've received a lot of positive feedback, right, as a right, as a creator of this camp, I see the progression of, and it's even just in a matter of a week, right, or a matter of three weeks, because the summer campus is three weeks long. We see how much children, how much students learn right in terms of nutrition, in terms of moving their bodies, in terms of learning how to cook you know for themselves, depending on what grade they are Like.

Speaker 1:

For example, this year, our age or grade levels are from fifth to eighth grade right, and so the idea of us bringing this camp to students is to really teach them cooking skills that they can use at home in a safe way, and it doesn't require using the stove right. We decided to use air fryers right. Air fryers are so user-friendly, they're simple to use, you can make all kinds of things, and so, with the air fryers, while we are showing students is that, hey, if you want to make a pita pizza, you know, in the air fryer, this is how you do it Right, and you have a warm meal for yourself. Or you want to bake a cake? Right in the air fryer, you can do that. This is how you do it in a simpler, safe way. Maybe you want to do a lasagna Right? This is how you do it safe way. Maybe you want to do a lasagna right, this is how you do it. So the idea here, right, is to teach these students how to cook simple meals for themselves. These are skills that are needed not only at this age, where they're learning how to make their own decisions, but this is long-term right.

Speaker 1:

Kids need to learn how to do these things for themselves as they continue to get older, as they go to college or as they become adults, because when we don't have the skills to do those things right, it's easier to go and buy fast food. It's easier to go and just buy frozen food, right. But the amazing thing that we are seeing with these students is that they're able to try the foods that they're making and they can say this is simple, I can totally do that, right. Or I can ask my mom to give me an air fryer. I can show my family that I can do these things Right, and so I really like that. Because when I'm so passionate about nutrition and fitness and cooking and you know showing students how to do those things for themselves and cooking, and you know showing students how to do those things for themselves, but just them being able to be like, wow, this is what I made, and there are some kids that save some of what they make and they take it to their family, right, or they take it to their mom or siblings. You know, I heard a younger kid said you know, I'm saving this for my siblings, and that was super sweet, right, he thought about his siblings and he wanted to share that with them. And so that is just amazing.

Speaker 1:

And usually you know the way that we start our day, because, as a summer camp, our summer camp goes from eight in the morning to 5 pm, right. And the district has said you know, if you're a full camp or even half camp, you have to provide a breakfast and a snack, or breakfast, lunch and snacks. And so, because our camp is full day, we provide breakfast, lunch and snack. Now, as a dietician, I make sure that the meals that we're providing these students are balanced Right. So I make sure that we have a protein, I make sure that we have a fruit or a vegetable, that we provide, you know, grains, or that we provide high calcium, high vitamin D foods. So, for example, with a breakfast, right, and I make sure that I create and I plan for these meals because I want to be able to guide my volunteers, guide my staff to create these meals right, and so, excuse me, my son is right next to me, it's Sunday, and so I think you're used to having him join me Anyway.

Speaker 1:

So, for example, one of the days we did mini pancakes with turkey bacon, orange slices and milk right Pretty well balanced breakfast. Another day, we did bag and milk right Pretty well-balanced breakfast. Another day we did bagel pizzas right Breakfast pizzas and we had turkey sausage and milk. Some other day we had turkey sausage and we had French toast and milk. And the last day, right because we had ingredients for the different breakfast that we had made for the day or for the week. We just made everything and we allowed the students to choose what they wanted to do French toast, pizza, bagels, eggs and turkey bacon and milk and juice. So it's just amazing to see, you know, that they're eating these meals right, because there's so much research behind the importance of breakfast right for students, for the development of the brain. Academically Although we're not, you know, we're not doing like math and English but kids still need that energy right, the fuel for their developing brains, and so to me, I think that it's extremely important they make sure that they have the nutrition that they need right To last throughout the day.

Speaker 1:

And then for lunch, you know, I said let's try chicken, a grilled chicken salad, right, and see what. See the feedback. Oftentimes you think about children or students. Oh oh no, they're not going to eat a salad, but, believe it or not, every single student took a plate right and they ate it, and the feedback was like this was really good. I really enjoyed the salad, you know, we added we obviously we had dressing for whoever wanted dressing, and some crunchiness from tortilla, tortilla strips and obviously a mixed mixed lettuces, and then the grilled chicken and cheese if they wanted cheese. So, and for the side they had, they had chips, right, if they wanted to have chips, and then, um, lemonade. So it's really a balanced lunch, right and something.

Speaker 1:

If they like it, right, they can let their parents know. Hey, I tried a chicken salad and I really enjoyed it right. Sometimes, as parents and I do this with my kids too, you know I don't think they're going to like salad, and I learned, actually, with my youngest child, who's almost four, that he was eating salad in childcare and daycare and I was like so, so surprised, because he's usually really picky when it comes to vegetables, but we assume right without giving it a try. And so I think that is a message to take home that offering these foods right, even if we think that they're not going to like it or they're not going to try it we don't know right, and children change over time, just like adults, and so maybe they're not liking it, maybe they didn't like it at that moment, but now they do, which is great. Let's offer it. So that was an example.

Speaker 1:

We also made noodles with meat sauce and we added spinach to it. Now, spinach is something that kids might not want, right, but we added it and we said, hey, it's totally okay, if you don't like it, you can put it on the side and you can just eat your noodles with your meat sauce. And I want to say, probably 99% of the students ate it without picking the spinach out. And that's another great way to add veggies right. Obviously, you can add them in the sauce and blend it, and that's a great way to add veggies right. Obviously, you can add them in the sauce and blend it, and that's a way to increase vegetables. But the idea is for them to recognize that, hey, I'm eating a vegetable and I actually enjoy it. I can add it next time too, and so that was pretty awesome to see that.

Speaker 1:

So we made different breakfast meals, different lunch meals, and their snacks are balanced, too, right, just as I've talked in this podcast what a balanced meal is, what a balanced snack is, I make sure that these snacks are pretty balanced for the students too. So if we're having goldfishes okay, we'll have a string cheese with it. Or if we're having yogurt, we're having fruit or granola with that. Or if we are having what are some of the things that we've added. Or if we had graham crackers right, we add some kind of fruit with it. And so they are getting nourished with their main meals, but also they get to try the foods that we make right. Again, we've made a cake, a transvegetarian cake in the air fryer with the brownies right, and we did a pita pizzas right. That one was a great one. Even I had a student that the mom really liked it and she wanted to know what we use, which is a great thing, right, the students are sharing that with the parents, and so that's something that they can add into their menu, because the students are liking it.

Speaker 1:

So then there's more variety of meals and for a nutrition session, right, which is very brief. We know, we understand that, that. You know this is a fun camp and sometimes sitting down and writing things or learning something can be like, oh, I don't want to do that, but they're actually where, like they responded so positively, it was really brief, right? I think 15, 20 minutes, where we just sat down and we talked about the five food groups, right, and learn about the amounts, we learn about the health benefit of each food group. For example, calcium is for strong bones, right, and fruits and veggies provide fiber and keeps us strong bones, and things like that. Because they also need to learn these things, right. I know some schools are really good at teaching them about health, teaching them about nutrition, but not all schools have that opportunity and we know that that is extremely important, right, children need to learn about these things, and so we spent again 15, 20 minutes, right. So we spent again 15, 20 minutes, right, just talking about the five food groups that are important in our health and like where we can get these food groups or where we can get these foods, and that's enough. That's enough for them to remember. They have a booklet that they can take home and reflect back if they need to, and so it has been really great.

Speaker 1:

I was really nervous, you know, even though we've been doing this for three years, I was really nervous about it. You know, each time we get different students some students that we've had in previous camps come back, and so that is rewarding to see them, and so it's so funny because, you know, the first day everybody's so shy and they're like not talking to anybody and like, by the third day they're like friends with everybody, right, and like playing together and just like having such a good time and they get so comfortable with us, and so I think that is great. Right, we usually again the breakdown of the schedule. Right, we have breakfast and then they get to like settle down for a little bit and then we go outside, we do a few laps around the field, right, to get get our bodies going, and then we come back into the classroom and we do our fitness activity. It's interesting because, last you know, this past week I was in charge of doing the fitness activity because my sister, who is usually in charge of that area, still had to work. So I had to put on the fitness hat, right, and try to make it as fun as I could. My sister is so good at that, and so I really missed her doing that. I'm thankful that she's going to be joining me this upcoming week in the last session of summer camp.

Speaker 1:

But you know, it's so amazing to see that even the kids that you think are not so active, right, they were doing it, they were doing the exercises. Right, I showed them how to modify the exercise to make sure that you know we're doing pushups or if we were doing planks. Right, we modify them so they're able to do that. Now, these are things, these are exercises that they can continue to do at home. Right, because children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day, and sometimes that doesn't get done right, for whatever reason, and so making sure that when they're with us, we're showing them how to move their bodies, how to take care of their bodies in many ways, is important, and so we also took lots of breaks, right, children, students of any age, need a lot of breaks. Right, so that way they don't get bored of doing one thing over and over or for a longer period of time, because then we lose them. So we would take breaks, you know, 10, 15 minute breaks between each thing that we needed to do and just for them to bond and have a good time, and that was great.

Speaker 1:

But you know what's the whole purpose of me telling you all of this information? Right, the purpose is that children learn in different ways, right, and we give them the opportunity to try different things, to try different foods, to try different flavors, to teach them the skills that they're going to need for as they get older. That it's worth it, right. And so, if maybe you can even probably request these at your school district, right, like, hey, I know there's a school district that has been, you know, doing a summer camp and children really enjoy it, I think, as parents, right, we have a huge impact in our school district and maybe it's something that you might not see right away, but you will see, right, eventually if you continue to ask, if continue to request, because we know that just summer camps in general are pretty pricey and expensive, right. But if it's something that the students are going to learn the skills that they're going to get and they're going to have fun while doing it, I think it's totally worth it.

Speaker 1:

But, again's really teaching them these skills, even if they don't go to a summer camp? Right, if you have the opportunity to teach students, or to teach your students or your children about these skills? Right, like the healthy way to move your body or like really simple recipes that you can do at home in the air fryer. Right, or the skills that you're going to need once you leave the house. Right, or once you go to college or as you become an adult. I'm seeing this more and more.

Speaker 1:

Right, kids have no idea how to do these things. Kids have no idea how to use a knife properly or how to steer things, even simple as steering something right. When we did our cake, you know, we had kids delegate what each student was going to do within their own teams. Right, so giving them that leadership opportunity, that engagement, and so there were some kids that were having a difficulty, you know, cracking an egg or mixing things right, or measuring things, and so these are skills that you need. You need as you get things right, or measuring things, and so these are skills that you need. You need as you get older right, and so it's so important to have them.

Speaker 1:

Definitely, even, I think, as parents right, we're busy and, including myself, sometimes my older kid my oldest kid wants to help me cook, right. But if I'm busy and like I just want to get dinner done or whatever meal done, it's hard for me to stop and like, allow him to do that right. But I understand more and more that for him to want to do it right and show the interest and develop these skills, even as a boy, especially as a boy, right, it's so important for him to learn those skills right, learn how to make himself a meal, because, boy, that is going to be tough right, as he gets, as he becomes an adult and or as he leaves to college, right, I will have no control over what he eats. And so if I provide him with those tools, even having a tiny air fryer in his room, right, he's able to do all kinds of recipes with that. So this is extremely important. I'm so passionate about it, I'm so thankful to be part of the school district, you know group of vendors and that allowed me, you know, allowed my company to be able to show students how to take care of their bodies in so many levels, in so many ways. It's such an honor and so, yeah, oh, my goodness, I'm so passionate about it.

Speaker 1:

The other thing, too, is that this year I decided to bring in a professional chef to show them how to do a charcuterie board. So this professional chef, chef Audrey again, we're inno. So if you need a personal chef to teach your kids how to cook or to make your meals, or to have a nice romantic meal at home or dinner at home, I'll add her information in the show notes you can reach out to her. She's amazing, and so she taught the kids, the students, how to create their own charcuterie board and she taught them about cheese right, I can't think of the name of the cheese that she used, but she taught them about the cheese and the creation of the cheese, but also how to cut food right. Each kid had their own cutting board and a knife and, you know, she showed him how to do that. That was a hit too. I learned lots from her as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's important to partner with other community organizations to continue to teach children right About all these amazing things. Anyway, I just wanted to come and share that with you. I thought that was very impactful and just really seeing you know how students are not getting these tools, these skills that they're going to need as they get older, such as what is a balanced meal, such as how to make a simple meal in an air fryer, or have you know how to make my own meals right, or how to move my body right In a safe and positive way. I think that is also super important too. So, anyway, I think that's it for today. We have two more weeks of summer camp and I'll let you know how the last week goes and any other things that I'm learning along the way. So stay safe, my friend, stay strong, and I'll talk to you in another episode. Take care, bye, bye for now.