Let's Get Cookin'

Tracy Backstrom

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

11-4-2016

Campus Unit

College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines

Abstract

In O’Kelly Hall on a Saturday in October, five regional Girl Scout Troops met with students from the Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics (SAND) in the Nutrition and Dietetics Food Lab Kitchen to earn their “Simple Meals” Badge. To add this badge their collections, girls in grades 4 and 5 had to prepare a three-course meal consisting of a Scrambled Egg Wrap, Chefs Salad and Blueberry Yogurt Parfait. Stations were set up for each part of the meals with one extra just for sautéing peppers for the egg wraps. In groups of three and four, the girls manned their stations and began the cooking process. Everyone had a chance to participate.

In choosing meals in preparation for the event, SAND students’ biggest challenge was selecting something that everyone liked. “It was great to hear the girls' comments about how they would change the food to make it even more enjoyable,” said SAND Vice President Erin Lauckner.

This was the first event of its kind to be held at the University. A second event is scheduled in the spring with older girl scouts who will make more complicated meals. SAND hopes to host a Simple Meals Day each semester. The SAND students involved not only learned some teaching skills but they got to have a little fun as well. It was evident that the girls were excited and intrigued to be there and to be learning about how to cook healthy meals.

SAND is an association made up of nutrition and dietetics students who meet monthly to discuss nutrition topics and to explore service opportunities like this one. Other projects SAND has been involved in include helping the UND community by working with the wellness hub on their “toilet talks” and working with UND dining services to improve the nutrition of meals offered at dining centers and by campus catering.

Many thanks to the Girl Scout Troops who made Simple Meals Day a success: Troop 20015 East Grand Forks & Grand Forks, Troop 20058 Grand Forks AFB, Troop 20203 Grafton, Troop 20539 Grand Forks, and Troop 30940 West Fargo, Horace, Kindred and Fargo. It was a day that neither the SAND Students nor the Girl Scouts will ever forget: a day filled with fun, learning and most importantly, eating (healthy, that is).

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