Teen Cooking Challenge Winners Announced

Teen Cooking Challenge Winners Announced

The winners of this year’s Just Cook Create a Family Meal Challenge have been announced with five talented teens taking out the top accolades.

Students had the option of entering four different categories in the Just Cook Create a Family Meal Challenge including the I Love Eggs Challenge, Tegal Challenge, Sanitarium Challenge and Beef + Lamb NZ Challenge.

Just Cook Create a Family Meal Challenge organisers, The New Zealand Nutrition Foundation (NZNF), received hundreds of entries for the popular competition from around New Zealand. The top prize went to Kizzie Amoore, Dana Herbison and Libby Harrison (14) from Epsom Girls Grammar School (Auckland) for their Chicken Balls with Miso Rice and Salad which was entered in the Tegel Challenge category. Second place went to Amanda Holden and Bex Butler from Upper Hutt College (Wellington) for their Kumara Rosti with Vegetarian Beans in the Sanitarium Challenge category.

Both first and second place winners will receive an iPod Touch and a selection of cookbooks. Their schools will also benefit with the first placed winners receiving a Kenwood Titanium Major Kitchen Machine (RRP $1800) for their school and the second place winners a Kenwood Multi Pro Excel Food Processor (RRP $1,000).

“With so many of our young people becoming kitchen strangers, the Just Cook Create a Family Meal Challenge is a positive platform to build young Kiwis confidence in the kitchen,” says NZNF Dietitian Sarah Hanrahan. “The Challenge encourages young people to create quick, delicious and affordable meals for the whole family- a vital skill to learn.”

Students were invited to submit an original recipe, for a family of five, based on the ingredients from the Just Cook Food List – a selection of pantry and fridge/freezer essentials that all New Zealand households should have on hand as compiled by the NZNF.

“We were extremely impressed by the calibre of entries across the board,” says Hanrahan. “The entry from Kizzie, Dana and Libby showed great flavours and good example of making a more expensive ingredient go further. What was outstanding about this entry was the fact the girls started with a perennial favourite, the chicken nugget, and thought about how to make a delicious, family friendly alternative.”

The judges deemed Amanda and Bex’s entry to be a great use of basic pantry items. “At $2.38 per serve this dish was not only economical but also delicious with a high nutrition factor,” says Hanrahan.

The Just Cook Create a Family Meal Challenge is one of four initiatives in the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation’s Just Cook Programme which is now in its third year.

ENDS

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