Venture Academy students complete Eat Smart Idaho unit
Venture Academy junior Jolie Spindler gives a hummus cup an investigative whiff Wednesday evening during the school's Eat Smart Idaho exhibition night. Students showcased recipes they made from scratch and shared some of their culinary experiences.
DEVIN WEEKS/Press
Juniors Kevin Lindelof, right, and Jose Barragan Reyes on Wednesday team up to cut vegetables that were paired with the Eat Smart Idaho hummus recipe for Venture Academy’s exhibit night.
COEUR d'ALENE — White chicken chili, energy bites, hummus, water infused with strawberries and jalapeños (yes, jalapeños!).
When it comes to culinary creativity, the world is Venture Academy students' oysters.
"A lot of times if you follow the recipe, everything turns out good," Venture junior Kevin Lindelof said Wednesday.
Lindelof and his classmates spent the past few weeks participating in cooking and nutrition classes with nutrition professor Shelly Johnson and the University of Idaho Extension Eat Smart Idaho program.
During the culminating event on exhibit night, students shared samples of foods and beverages they whipped up and discussed their cooking experiences.
"The pan lasagna was pretty cool," junior Jolie Spindler said.
Lindelof said he was pleased to learn how to read nutrition facts and decipher product labels.
"I didn't even know what those percentages meant, and they're the daily percentages we're supposed to be getting in," he said. "I was surprised, to be honest."
Lindelof said what he most enjoys about cooking is the preparation.
"I'm a pizza chef outside of school," he said. "I just love to prep all the food, cut all the food and when I start cooking it makes it way easier knowing that I prepped all the food."
Spindler said the program was educational about the foods we put into our bodies "and what we need to be fueled for the day."
"It might be cheaper to eat at home than McDonald's, for example," she said. "It's cheaper than fast food. And you'll have leftovers if you have a lot of it."
The Eat Smart Idaho unit comprises several lessons for students to learn their way around a kitchen before striking out on their own.
"They were such a joy to have in class," Johnson said of the Venture students. "The hands-on piece is really where they became fully engaged. It was really phenomenal to see — they came in with a good skillset already, but we enhanced that over time."
Juniors Kevin Lindelof, right, and Jose Barragan Reyes on Wednesday team up to cut vegetables that were paired with the Eat Smart Idaho hummus recipe for Venture Academy’s exhibit night.