By Bobby Ellis
bobby.ellis@education.ky.gov
The Kentucky Department of Education’s Division of School and Community Nutrition (SCN) teamed up with the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) to host a series of hands-on training sessions for school nutrition professionals during the summer break.
And while that is certainly a mouthful to read, the resulting labs made for a mouthful of good food at the workshop that took place at Henry County High School.
The classes and labs focused on helping school chefs and nutrition professionals gain experience with cooking from scratch, as well as introducing them to dishes using more fruits, vegetables and meat alternatives.
“It’s been very interesting,” said Mark Miller, a chef at Trimble County schools. “Trying these different seasonings without salt and learning about the meat alternatives, it’s just a good way to open up your mind to different options. I think it would be a good experience for anybody working in a kitchen.”
During the labs portion of the workshop, chefs and cooks made different recipes, such as meatless chili and eagle pizza, to be handed out to students signing up for classes.
“It was really good, I really liked the vegetarian (eagle) pizza,” said Victoria Williams, a senior at Henry County. “I’m a vegetarian so it gets a little difficult sometimes to find food being made here at the school to eat. I’d be excited to see more food being made like this.”
Cherry tomatoes are chopped up during the lab portion of a hands-on summer training session for school nutrition professionals put on by the Kentucky Department of Education in partnership with the Institute of Child Nutrition at Henry County High School.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
Mark MIller, a cook at Trimble County schools, right, puts corn on eagle pizzas.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
School nutrition professionals make meals with meat alternatives during the nutrition training lab at Henry County High School.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
Kelsy Harmon, a chef at New Castle Elementary (Henry County), makes eagle pizza as part of the nutrition training lab at Henry County High School.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
Joey Parks, center, spoons out beans and corn during the nutrition training lab.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
School nutrition professionals work on making eagle pizza, a pizza made with meat alternatives, during the nutritional training lab.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
Barbara Burkhardt, a cook at Trimble County Elementary School, puts food into an oven to cook.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
Joey Parks, a cook at Henry County Elementary, mixes chili during the nutrition training lab. The lab topics included culinary basics, scratch cooking and meat alternatives.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
Kristin Watkins, a professional chef from Memphis, Tenn., tells Henry County High School students different food options to try as part of a taste testing portion of a nutrition workshop lab.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
Victoria Williams, left, and Kierstin Prentice try food made by the cooks and chefs at the nutrition training lab at Henry County High School.
Photo by Bobby Ellis, Aug. 1, 2018
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