Chef Lee Burton helps Yissel Fuentes of Redlands with her pizza dough at the Burrage Manison, Tuesday August 24, 2011. Chef Burton showed Micah House's 4th - 5th grade kids how to cook healthy pizza. (John Valenzuela/Staff Photographer
08/24/2011 – Ten-year-old Yissel Fuentes fiddled excitedly with a small piece of dough Wednesday to create her very own mini-pizza as part of a special healthy eating class sponsored by Micah House.
Held at the historic Burrage Mansion, Fuentes and close to a dozen of her peers looked on as local chef Lee Burton provided instructions – and secrets – on how to create the “perfect pizza.”
Using healthy ingredients from wheat dough mix to fresh vegetables, each participant was able to create their own concoction with several volunteers.”We wanted to do two things – introduce (our students) to healthy eating and healthy cooking,” said Dianna Lawson, chapel program coordinator for Micah House. “We went ahead and chose the pizza because it was suggested by Chef (Burton) because it is a popular food, one that everyone is familiar with, but we took it to another level.
“We’re introducing them to other ingredients that they may not have otherwise tried.This is another way to show kids how to experience life. I like them to not only go to school and come to our program after, but have practical living experiences.”
Micah House Photo Gallery: Pizza Making at the Burrage Manison
Burton provided Micah House with a suggested shopping list of ingredients, while event coordinators asked participants what specific toppings they liked or favored.
The most requested topping – zucchini.
“I bring kids zucchini (from my community garden) every week, so everyone wanted it because they were familiar with it,” Lawson said. “But then we started asking them about green peppers and mushrooms and different ingredients.
“At first, not a lot of hands went up. But when we went to the store and they were able to see the ingredients in person and have the chef explain it to them, it connected the dots.”
Participants shopped for toppings and other necessities the day before the class with Trader Joe’s providing the nonprofit organization with funds to buy requested ingredients.
The Trinity Community Foundation chipped in as well, Lawson said.
For more information on Micah House, visit www.micahhouseredlands.org.
kristina.hernandez@inlandnewspapers.com
909-793-3221, ext. 317
