Food teachers / nutrition educators

It's my turn to cook | Food teachers / nutrition educators

Dear food teacher or nutrition educator

You have got to this site because, like me, you want the best for children... and you are possibly concerned that many have very little food skills other than how to buy a burger!

I am Glenda Gourley, mother of Claire, food writer, nutrition educator and ex-home economics teacher. I am passionate and enthusiastic about inspiring my child to inspire your child to cook. To find more about me visit my Blog

This is commonsense approach to give teenagers the cooking skills to look after themselves. These are basic life skills for all adolescents - recipes that will both motivate and inspire.

If you answer yes to any of the following then the resource I have developed will be a valuable tool for you...

Do you want to equip children with food skills that will last a lifetime?
Do you think most children have either few food skills or little interest in food (other than eating)? In other words they can range from being totally apathetic to loving good food - and even if they love good food they are not inspired enough to do anything about it.
Do you want children to get a basic grounding in nutrition? ( but... you know that if you mention 'nutrition' or 'this is good for you' they will instantly turn off)
Are you concerned that the food choices children make are not in the best interests of their own health?
Are you concerned that many children do not get the best food example from their parents? Are you keen to break the cycle?
Do you believe that having good food skills can save money?

My vision is to develop food preparation skills for teenagers and to foster personal responsibility. An eBook is an innovative way to get to teenagers - I have put in lots of photos for the bits that a bit harder to explain in words and have embedded video clips in the recipes so they can really see how to do things. Cool technology.

Presented by a teenager for teenagers, 'it's my turn to cook' hits hard at the core of the problem - let's get more children back in the kitchen cooking healthy food and taking personal responsibility for what they eat!

Originally trained as a home economics teacher, I am an award winning food, nutrition and education writer who has been involved in teaching children to cook. I have developed inspirational cooking and nutrition resources and strategies for over 20 years. I believe this technology is brilliant to impart knowledge to teenagers. Whilst my goal is always to impart skills and foster personal responsibility, different people respond to different messages - and there are none more fickle than teenagers!

I have teamed with my 15 year old daughter Claire, and 18 year old son Ben, to communicate simple tasty meal ideas which have the propensity to inspire. They consider issues that you or I may ever even think of!

Whilst taste, ease, nutrition and budget may be high on our radar - issues like being able impress friends, being able to make yourself look good by having healthy skin, being at a healthy weight, choosing foods which are sustainable - water conservation and carbon footprint, even having recipes electronically rather than on paper - are possibly jamming up the radar of our children.

It's easy to get bogged down with too much choice. If you do a Google for a recipe you end up getting around 3 million choices - how can anyone cope with that?? Most of us just give up and cook what you always cook. Some recipe books are just as bad - do you really want to know 1001 ways with eggs?

My goal is to distil this down to a non-overwhelming amount of information for the kids to relate to. I think it's far better to get about 10 or 15 GREAT ideas from someone they trust (pick us!!) and go for it. Whilst hesitant to use clichés like 'back to basics' or 'cooking from scratch', I believe it is important to develop an empathy with 'fresh is best' and 'keep it simple'.

I decided to start with potatoes as the first book in the series... Why? It's simple really. First and foremost... the vast majority of teenagers love potatoes so you are pitching to a receptive audience. They also have many other redeeming features - such as availability, affordability and nutrition. Whilst all the meals have potatoes in them, we have included a wide range of meals and incorporated lots of other foods - from awesome filled baked potatoes, scrummy soup, to-die-for wedges, and the best warm salad you can imagine.

The most important thing - is that once your child gains confidence with a food that they like, they WILL venture on to other foods... let's get these kids having some fun, enjoying what they cook, feeling the benefits of eating healthy food and racking up a few successes!

But don't just let me tell you - here is what other teachers or health professionals say about the book...

" At a time when teenagers are increasingly consuming ready meals & have lost the close connection with food, this highly readable book is packed with simple , practical & nutritious recipes. If all teenagers adopt this book, we are likely to see an increasingly healthy population world wide"

Prof Jeya Henry, Prof of Human Nutrition, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

"This is an excellent initiative that aims to instil some important life-skills at a critical time of a young person's development. Encouraging our youth to have fun and embrace healthy food can promote lifelong changes in attitude towards what they consume and their long term heart health."

Tony Duncan, Executive Director, The Heart Foundation

" I think this is fantastic to encourage children back into the kitchen - these recipes are easy to cook and have great appeal with teenagers"

Yvonne Townsend, Home Economics Teacher and President HETTANZ ( Home Economics and Technology Teachers Association NZ

Better still - see what teenagers say!

At $7.95 USD per eBook, this is about the price of a couple of coffees, yet together Claire and I will show you meals that you can use over and over again.

Actually whilst I am integrally involved in the planning and production, as far as your teenager is concerned, the whole message comes from Claire - after all - I am an adult and I will be 'out of touch' - right? I personally guarantee that Claire's nutrition messages are based on robust science, the techniques she shows are the most efficient, and the recipes are written without ambiguity.

We have removed all the guesswork for you and rigorously selected 15 meals that ...

We KNOW your teenagers will love.
We KNOW they taste great.
We KNOW they won't take much time.
We KNOW they won't take much effort.
We KNOW they will be able to make.
We KNOW they are good for them (healthy skin and healthy weight all come from eating the right foods).
We KNOW they are good for the planet.
We KNOW they will save them money.
We KNOW they will impress their friends - everyone loves a good cook!

With the Western world in the midst of an obesity epidemic and the current recession hitting, monetary cuts have been made to many nutrition and education programmes. In many countries fewer food teachers are being trained. Sounds grim. It is. It does not take a rocket scientist to work out what the problem is! I am continually frustrated that teaching children food skills is simply not a priority and yet it impacts so much on their lives.

Once you have registered we will e-mail you as new titles are added. Can't promise when they will be finished - you know how it is - it's a bit of a juggle for Claire to fit it in between school, sport and chilling out with her friends. But send me ideas for a new title or a 'must-have' recipe and we will get on to it! Your feedback would be most appreciated.

We have three fabulous options - either download the book

We have three purchase options for you, either download the eBook, purchase a beautifully gift boxed memory stick with eBook preloaded, or purchase a gift voucher.

Purchase the book now!

I hope you find this eBook as invaluable as I think you will. Claire does an awesome job inspiring children her age to get into it.

Wouldn't it be fabulous if we can show your child how to have a bit of fun and develop some passion for cooking? If anyone can - Claire can!

Have fun!
Glenda

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It's my turn to cook | Food teachers / nutrition educators