In collaboration with the New Orleans Home & Garden Show, Ochsner Eat Fit hosted the annual Eat Fit Junior Chef Cooking Challenge. Children ages 8-18 submitted recipes that met Eat Fit nutritional guidelines; three finalists were selected to compete in the Caesars Superdome on Saturday March 12th.
Each Jr. Chef contestant excelled in a particular category, so the Eat Fit panel of judges (which included WGNO’s own Brooke Laizer) opted to award each finalist with the ‘grand prize’ award, an on-air cooking segment with Brooke and Molly on FUELED Wellness + Nutrition on WGNO-TV’s Good Morning New Orleans! Each Jr. Chef recipe is featured on the Eat Fit mobile app, available free for download. Click on ‘RECIPES’ and type ‘Jr Chef’ in the search bar. To learn more about Eat Fit, visit www.OchsnerEatFit.com.
Delish Fish Dish with Spinach Parmesan Palmini by Louis Levine [aka Little Chef Louis] | 3rd grader at Samuel J. Green Elementary School
Louis won the category of best nutritional profile with his locally-caught fish, farmers market vegetables and hearts of palm pasta alternative.
“I really love cooking, and I want to prove to people that I can make good healthy food. I started learning to cook when I was two years old. I have a cooking internship with my kitchen teacher at school where I get to make food. I started a youtube channel called Little Chef Louis. When I cook something it feels great, like I’m in my own world.
I love sharing my meals with people, because I can share with them how good of a cook I am and I want them to feel happy because good food makes us happy. When I eat something that I made and it tastes really good I feel proud of myself for making good food.
I chose this recipe because I am really good at catching fish, I’m great at cooking fish, and I’m always looking for recipes for the fish I catch. I love cooking fish because it tastes really good. I’ve caught a lot of trout, and I think I’m good at cooking trout, and catfish. When I made this recipe for my family they all said they loved it, and said they wanted me to cook it again. Fish is also really healthy, with protein and good fat. Palmini is a pasta alternative made from hearts of palm and it tastes good. That’s why I chose this recipe.”
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FUELED Wellness + Nutrition is powered by Smoothie King. Learn about Eat Fit at Smoothie King; click here for the full list of Eat Fit options available at Smoothie King, proud sponsor of FUELED Wellness + Nutrition with Molly on WGNO.
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Molly Kimball, RD, CSSD is a registered dietitian + nutrition journalist in New Orleans, and founder of Ochsner Eat Fit nonprofit restaurant initiative. Tune in to her podcast, FUELED | Wellness + Nutrition and follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @MollyKimballRD. See more of Molly’s articles + TV segments at www.mollykimball.com, and sign up for Eat Fit Wellness Bites weekly newsletter, here.
