Fit2cook4Kids: Broad Rock Middle School

I am excited to be back at Fit2cook4Kids for a second week of camp!

The next two weeks of camp are being held at Broad Rock Middle School in Wakefield. The campers at Broad Rock are so eager to learn. They already seem like pro's! I was greeted warmly by some of the thoughtful campers. They decorated a cup for me and filled it with their freshly made strawberry water. What a treat!

Today when I arrived they were creating my FAVORITE sushi and spring roll recipes. They did a phenomenal job preparing the sushi rolls. The campers even gave me a lesson in rolling sushi. I have to say, mine didn't look nearly as tasty and their creations. I'm going to have to practice my sushi chef skills!

After lunch was prepared, we took a walk through the South Kingstown Community Garden to take a look at all of the local produce growing right on the school campus! The campers were surprised to see the variety of local produce grown right in their town.

After lunch and a challenging game of Tea Time, a banker from People's Credit Union came in to teach the participants financial literacy. They learned about debit and credit cards, certificates of deposit, savings and checking accounts and the difference between banks and credit unions.

While the campers were in Yoga with Jessica, Ryan and I shot some footage at Narragansett Beach down the street. Stay tuned for some videos about Fit2cook4Kids and my involvement as Miss Rhode Island! In the meantime, here is a screen shot from the interview!

You can see more of what we're doing at Fit2cook4Kids, by checking out the videos that have been made of camp in session.

Stay healthy and happy,

Kelsey Fournier, Miss RI 2012

Exercising on The Rhode Show!

I had a blast returning to The Rhode Show on Monday! The co-hosts Mary Larsen, Will Gilbert and Michaela Johnson are always so friendly and entertaining.

This time I joined the segment to share with families some exercises tips. All of the exercises can be done anywhere.. in your living room, backyard, kitchen or even during commercial breaks! No equipment needed.

Mary and I performed these exercises outside on the set while battling the hot and humid mid-July weather! It was also my first time exercising in a sash, as you can tell from the technical difficulties I had attempting to switch exercises with it on. Never a dull moment, but always lots of fun!

Did I mention they were making ice cream sundaes in the segment after me? Pretty tempting, especially after exercising outside!

For the exercises and video, click here!




*For more info about The Rhode Show

Fit2Cook4Kids: Day Two

It is the second day of camp at Fit2Cook4Kids in Greenville! The campers were excited to start cooking breakfast this morning. The day started off with eggs in a nest. It was my first time trying this recipe and it was delicious! The eggs came from local Rhode Island farms which raised their chickens on a vegetarian diet. It is great to teach the campers to buy fresh, local ingredients when possible! They also made peanut butter and jelly muffins, which had a gooey strawberry jelly center. Yum!

As soon as breakfast was over, it was time to start cooking lunch! Recipes of the day, vegetable sushi, spring rolls and chicken low mein! I was very excited for today’s lunch since sushi is my favorite food! There were many laughs today while making lunch. The group had some fun making the spring rolls. The rice paper was hard to roll which led to many funky shaped rolls. They were delicious nonetheless. The campers did a great job cutting all of the ingredients into small, fine pieces to fit inside the sushi rolls. After some trial and error, the group was able to successfully roll sushi with the bamboo mats. The sushi was so tasty, it felt like we had taken a trip to a Japanese restaurant!

For today’s fitness class, I taught some of my dance moves to the group. I taught a cardio dance class to get their hearts pumping! It is always fun to dance along to some upbeat music. Michael Jackson, of course, made the play list! The end of class ended with a cool down and stretching segment to help lower their heart rate back to a relaxed state.

 

Here are some song selections that I love to use to cool down and relax:

Beautiful Flower, By India Arie

Man in the Mirror (Acoustic Version), By James Morrison

Brighter than the Sun, By Colbie Caillat

Hey, Soul Sister, By Train

Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen), By Baz Luhrmann

*When cooling down, it helps to lay down on a comfortable surface and dim/turn off the lights. Feel free to put a pillow behind your head for support and a light blanket for warmth. Be conscious of your breathing, taking deep inhalations in and exhaling out slowly. Use this time to think about all of the wonderful things that happened to you today. With every breathe in be mindful and thankful for all of your blessings. When exhaling, envision yourself releasing all of your worries, fears and problems from your mind and body. This will help you to reach a much more calm state and fill yourself with positive energy to take on the rest of this beautiful day!

One of the senior campers, Nicole!

Our littlest camper, Alyssa picked me a flower from the garden outside. She is so thoughtful!

Fit2Cook4Kids: Learning the Basics

I am so excited to spend my summer working with Fit2Cook4Kids, a summer camp that empowers middle school children to stay active, eat healthy and communicate effectively! 

I could not have picked a better program to team up with during my year of service.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has nearly tripled in the last three decades and continues to be on the rise. As a health and fitness professional, I feel it is my personal responsibility to educate others on the importance of healthy eating and daily activity. These are habits that need to be instilled in our youth at a young age in order to create positive behavior changes. Fit2Cook4Kids is the PERFECT program to make these changes in our youth today.

There are so many beneficial components of this program that I don't know where to begin! The summer camp incorporates healthy cooking lessons with culinary chefs, nutrition lessons, fitness classes and a variety of communication skills.

Today we arrived at Saint Philip School in Greenville for our first day of summer camp! The campers were warmly greeted by Karen Salvatore, the founder of Food and Truth, and also a former Miss Rhode Island. The day started off with basic cooking lessons with Abigail Reedy, a recent graduate of Johnson and Wales University with an BS in Culinary Nutrition. Abby taught the campers how to properly wash and sanitize cooking materials to meet health code requirements. They also learned the basics of knife safety which they demonstrated their understanding during our lunch preparation.
Abby helped the campers to prepare whole wheat apple pancakes and homemade granola to top yogurt and fruit for breakfast. The pancakes were also vegan! We were all amazed at how delicious our healthy, homemade options were!

Later in the the morning, the campers started to prepare lunch for the day. Now it was time for the campers to put their morning lessons to work! The campers used their teamwork skills to prep all of the ingredients. The kitchen was filled with campers slicing onions, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic. They didn't even tear up when chopping the onions. They were pretty impressive! The recipe of the day was veggie bean burgers with a healthy lime mayonnaise. Hand cut baked sweet potato wedges were made as a side dish.
*Abigail's DELICIOUS recipes can be found here! http://www.foodandtruth.org/reedy.html

Along with healthy cooking comes tea time, an educational game that makes you think before you speak! During Tea Time, someone asks a question which in turn needs to be answered by each person using proper grammar. Filler words, slang and contractions are not allowed! Every word has to be anunciated. If the judges catch any of the above, that person is out until ultimately there is one person standing. The Tea Time game is such a beneficial activity to help fix bad habits. I didn't realize how hard it was until it was my turn to speak!

After lunch was finished and the kitchen was cleaned up, it was time for a fitness activity. Jessica, the yoga instructor, took the campers through a variety of exercises. The participants got to learn new stretching, breathing and balancing exercises. They even got to take turns selecting an exercise for the group to perform! After stretching, Jessica led the class through some relaxation exercises where the kids visualized themselves in their "happy place". My favorite part of the yoga session was the lesson about gratitude that Jessica shared with the campers. Each person had to share one thing they were grateful for today, whether it be big or small. It was amazing to hear the variety of answers among the group. Many were thankful for the opportunity to learn to cook healthy, delicious meals. Jessica made a valuable point at the end of her class, "Remember to be grateful for at least one thing everyday. Therefore when we are feeling down, we will always have something to lift us up".

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such amazing students and teachers on a common goal, to create a healthier generation through healthy eating and physical activity!

For more information about Fit2Cook4Kids, visit http://www.foodandtruth.org/
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