Making healthy meals that kids want to eat can sometimes be a challenge, but our Patachou Foundation cook Maddie makes it look easy. Each week, our volunteers pick up Maddie’s creations from our Production Kitchen and serve them to students eight schools around Indy. Not only do these dishes need to meet nutrition requirements, they also need to be yummy and get kids excited about eating real food.
So how does Maddie create healthy, flavorful foods that kids will enjoy? She has a few go-to tricks up her sleeve. A fall favorite, her Shepherd’s Pie subs in ground turkey, veggies, and lentils for the traditional beef filling. She also adds a bit of Worcestershire sauce for extra flavor. On top, a thin layer of mashed potatoes (with a touch of cream and butter so it gets nice and crispy). Shepherd’s pie is always a crowd favorite. “I’d give this 1,0000 thumbs up!” said one student.
To cut back on sugar, Maddie substitutes honey in her recipes and makes sauces like barbeque sauce for the baked BBQ chicken or her ginger-tahini salad dressing from scratch.
Each week, our volunteers report back to Maddie on what the kids say about her dishes. She often uses this valuable feedback when tweaking new recipes. The reviews are almost all glowing and Maddie has become kind of a rock star to our students. “Can you tell Maddie that she’s the best chef in the world?” “Do you think that I could be a chef one day?”
We are so excited to serve some of Maddie’s newest dishes this semester, including baked barbeque chicken, braised pork burritos, and corn and bean salad.
Want to help us serve Maddie’s meals? Apply now to join our team of volunteers.
