Publix Cooking Schools

The Benefits of Cooking with Your Children at Publix

Have you ever heard of Publix Cooking School? Most children love to be near with every move you make, so why not make that time productive by sharing in the experience of cooking. If you are like me, I commute to work, school, and then to after school activities; which limits me with little to no time to cook, especially if I want my child to eat at a decent time. The art of cooking in our generation will not be like our parents' days  when we learned to cook in the comfort of our home. Unfortunately, it’s sad but true!

THE BENEFITS OF COOKING WITH YOUR KIDS

However, don’t worry! The community has answered our prayers and there is a boom of programs that allow us non-cooking parents to enjoy the great memories with our kids. Through creative, innovative and inviting programs, we parents are able to enjoy cooking with our kids. Our kid’s natural curiosity provides parents with the perfect opportunity to capitalize on a great learning experience--the art and science of cooking, right at our neighborhood Publix Grocery Store. They have now created The Apron Cooking Schools at the Winter Park Publix and Dr. Phillips Publix, in which children and adults can enjoy and learn the art of cooking.

Improve your child’s mathematical abilities: Learning about taking measurements from a recipe requires knowing addition, fractions, and improving techniques in multiplication. During the fun of cooking, kids do not even recognize they are learning critical math principles.

Improve your child’s reading comprehension: Being able to follow step-by-step directions in order to complete the task correctly is vital. Understanding the measurements of the ingredients and adding them in order, are all important components to yielding the finished food product. Helping your child to improve his or her reading comprehension skills will be beneficial throughout life.

Another Aspect of Life Science: Cooking is a hands on creative science experiment. Too much of any of the ingredients can create a totally different outcome; which could result in an outcome not so appetizing. Cooking provides an opportunity for kids to get a hands-on experience with basic science.

Improve their Self-Esteem: Cooking together allows kids to learn and grow in awareness of a new skill and receive instant gratification when they complete a job that has been successful. This will instill in your children a healthy self-esteem.

Improve their Communication Skills: Cooking together with your children allows opportunities to enjoy your children in a fun-filled way creating memories, learning about each other and team building; ultimately aiding your children to develop into well-rounded kids.

Improve their Life Skills: Cooking is a life skill, much like driving a car, learning to read or swimming. As children grow and get closer to adulthood, the job of feeding becomes theirs. Start the cooking lessons at a young age so the transition to adult cook is easy later on.

Have Fun, Fun, Fun! Cooking is fun! Having fun with your child, especially with programs such as the Apron Publix Cooking Schools, builds positive memories and you get to eat great food.  What’s nice about the Publix’s Apron Cooking School is that you can recreate your cooking experience at home. All of the ingredients are right in the store, where shopping is always a pleasure.

PUBLIX APRON COOKING SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Check out Publix Aprons Cooking Schools. Available in select Publix locations, their kitchens are a place to have fun learning, practicing skills and enjoying great food. Their classes cover a world of cuisines and a baker's dozens of techniques. They offer something for everyone, from kids, couples, kitchen novices, to hardcore foodies.

The class we experienced with a group of friends was Big Chef /Little Chef. This is a parent and child class for children aged 5-12 years old. During our class, we indulged in an Italian experience.

Our lead chef was Chef Neil Smith located at the Dr. Phillips Publix. When we arrived, there was a lovely display to sign-in and gather our cooking aprons to begin on our fun!

The Menu

On the menu we made homemade spaghetti with meatballs and Ragú sauce; classic bruschetta on garlic bread with grilled shrimp; antipasti salad; chocolate dipped cannoli's with powdered sugar and Chantilly cream.

With all the benefits of teaching kids to cook and no limits with starting, what are you waiting for?