Sacred Heart

Today, we had the privilege of joining the grade 7 class at Sacred Heart school. The class was very energetic and we really enjoyed our visit!

We began the day with an experiment where we filled water bottles with warm water, yeast and sugar and attached balloons to the top of the water bottles. We let them all sit in a row at the front of the classroom and by the end of our visit the balloons were all inflated!

Next, we talked about many people's favorite food: Pizza! We talked about ways to make pizza more healthy like home made pizza sauce, extra veggies, and using whole wheat naan bread instead of white crust. We also learned about the cheese making process.

After that, the class made their way to the kitchen and we began making our healthy pizzas. The students broke up into four groups and they spread sauce on the pitas, washed spinach, sliced veggies including peppers, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms and grated cheese. The students were able to practice safe knife handling too. Once all of the pizzas were made we put them in the oven and made our way back to the classroom.

We finished the day with a game of nutrition Jeopardy and then enjoyed the pizzas we made together. The students agreed that the healthier version was still delicious.

Thanks for having us Grade 7's. It's been a slice!

Big Brothers Big Sisters

On February 6, 2016, we spent the day with 6 big brothers and big sisters along with their littles. This was our first outreach event of the new year and it took place at Pj's Restaurant in the atrium on The University of Guelph Campus.



The day began with the group getting to know each other.  A scavenger hunt took place, where the littles had to search the room for hidden tips and information about nutritious food, food safety and organic farming. After this activity we started cooking in The Pj's kitchen. The group started with making zucchini, carrot muffins, that used apple sauce to make them very moist! After the muffins were made and cooled, bigs and littles decorated them with cream cheese frosting and yummy treats. This was a way to show the littles how to make a healthier version of a cupcake or muffin.









 Half of the group then started to work on vegetarian chili, filled with lots of vegetables and beans. Another group worked on a meat chili, made with ground beef. Many of the littles learned new food skills with the help of their bigs. Fresh focaccia, topped with rosemary was also prepared to accompany the chili. We were fortunate that one of the bigs was a trained chef, as she helped us with the bread recipe. It was a learning experience for everyone involved. Littles learned about the importance of composting and the chili recipe taught the littles that a variety of vegetables, such as carrots, peppers, zucchini and tomatoes can be added to a dish to make it healthier. We also did a science experiment with the group that demonstrated that yeast and sugar water, gives off carbon dioxide which can fill a balloon. This characteristic of yeast  gives bread its airy quality.






After the meal was prepared, the group sat down to share the meal together. Everything tasted very delicious, and the bigs and the littles were proud of what they had cooked. This event was a huge success and the bigs provided feedback that they enjoyed cooking with their littles.

We would like to thank Big Brothers Big Sisters of Guelph for participating in this event along with our wonderful volunteers who helped us make this day a huge success.