Katonah's Cooking With Kids

Talk about using your noodle.

Having kids participate in the kitchen has long been touted as a way to get them to try new foods and eat more healthfully. But local mom and new cooking class instructor Meredith Outwater plans to accomplish much more in her classes.

Each session combines cooking, crafts, a fitness activity and in many cases, a literary or cultural component.

"There is a strong educational element to all of my classes," said Outwater, a 37-year-old former financial services executive. "Whether it's learning about different countries or cultures, exploring the arts or incorporating science experiments, I do enormous amounts of research to identify the best books and find fun, related projects."

Outwater, who grew up in Bedford Hills and attended Fox Lane High School, left the business world about a year ago. She wanted to pursue something that felt more meaningful, so she made a list of what she liked to do best: Cook, garden, play with kids and fitness activities.

And born.

Without any formal background or training, Outwater said she feels prepared to teach based on her own experience cooking at home, being the mother of two children, ages 5 and 7, chairing the edible garden at and planting and maintaining her own garden at home. After seeing her in action, she said many parents ask her if she used to teach.

"Looking back I think, I should have been a teacher," she said. "We all find our way, eventually."

Outwater started last summer with a Tiny Tots class centered around her garden, and is currently offering classes for preschoolers, kindergarteners and gradeschoolers up to third grade: a preschool session called "Books for Little Cooks," "A Taste of Asia," "Let's Bake," and "Kitchen Chemistry" for the K - 3 set. Many of her students are from KES—she picks them up from school and walks them across the street to her house—but she has a few students from other schools and enrollment is open to any interested youngster.

Classes are kept to a small group of 8-10 in order to maximize hands-on learning, said Outwater.

In a recent preschool class, little cooks read “Cook a Doodle Do” which featured "Iguana the pig," and many kitchen utensils. The students had experience with the kitchen accessories, made their own strawberry shortcake cups and created a play.

And yes, kids are trying new foods—though they are never forced to do so.

"So far, almost all of the kids are willing to try what they make," said Outwater. "They don't always like it but I definitely see an openness to tasting. In some cases, kids have discovered new foods they didn't know they liked. I had several kids come around to black beans, pesto is a hit, veggie sushi was enjoyed by most, and I even had some kids eating veggie borscht—from our "trip" to Russia."

In her spring sessions, kids will help plant her garden, which includes a variety of fruits and vegetables including blueberries, peas, green beans, okra, spinach, brussel sprouts.

For more information or to sign up for classes visit the Katonah's Cooking website.