Now this is odd…

Last week my little brother was stopped by an older kid to say she had just spent over an hour in her external Home Economics exam writing about me!!??? At about the same time I started getting texts from younger kids at school and frankly I couldn’t understand what they were about… all was revealed when we finally worked out that National NZQA Level 1 Home Economics exam paper (our national examinations for Year 11), had a whole unit analyzing  how I had influenced teenage eating habits.

WOW – sitting NZQA (Level 3) exams myself, I can tell you it felt very odd that some kids had to write about me… gotta say this was a huge honor – not to mention a bit humbling.

So to all the kids who stressed out when they saw the paper and who had to write about me - sorry  – I knew nothing about it and didn’t see  until a day later than you guys who sat it!!

Anyway, exams are over now and it is so good to chill out… I am having a bit of a break but am starting working on some exciting new projects for it’s My Turn To Cook Tonight for next year…

That's my little brother William on the cover with me!

If  your parents are thinking you should learn to be food savvy  - here is the thing I have co-wrtten a book for parents  with my mother.  My mother looks at the serious things ( nutrition, self esteem, eating too much junk food, food skills etc )  - I bring her back to earth so she remembers how kids think and operate…Together we have something that is really realistic!

 Life love food kids is a book is about a couple of journeys…

 There is my mother’s food journey – from when she was a little girl to now. It’s about what happens when childhood memories, the science of nutrition and the teaching of cooking get mixed up with family and life. 

 My part in her journey is about me getting ready to leave home and wanting to know enough about food so that I can look after myself. 

My favorite saying is ‘a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step’. This is really true about food – each time I have learnt a fact or how to do something has been a step towards my independence.

I think the lessons from our differing perspectives will help your parent to  help you travel along the same path as I have. It feels good to know I know enough about food to take good care of myself. 

Claire

PS – it will be on sale in about 4 weeks – watch this space!

As the Rugby World Cup gets nearer, rugby gets more fever pitch… just thought i’d let you know i am doing my bit to get all the kids excited about Rugby on my weekly Small black TV Show where I assist All Black Richard Kahui. in Cooking with Kaks.

Check out these two … Scrum Time potatoes – perfect to serve with a steak and some stir-fry vegetables …

Centers Chicken Wedges!

A guy likes a girl with a bit of meat on her bones! And your own body will love you if you eat more red meat.  NZ Beef and Lamb is the perfect way to help keep you looking and feeling great! Everyone knows that teenage girls prefer chicken to a steak….but don’t let the blood fool you. That juicy red piece of beef or lamb will provide you with a wide range of essential nutrients. Most importantly for us girls it has a huge amount of IRON.

Iron is essential to keep our blood healthy and helps keep us energised so you can spend more time having fun with your friends! If you eat your meat with a glass of OJ or put some kiwifruit in your salad you can absorb even more of that precious iron. By choosing lean meat cuts, you can save yourself from the fat AND can be sure its packed with protein. Protein help us to feel satisfied so you don’t need to eat heaps and you can save room for one of my yummy fruit desserts.

So girls-healthy blood and bundles of energy. I know what I’m having for dinner tonight!

Wow that was a big day – I think I helped over 400 kids to make Vietnamese Rolls at Storylines in Wellington – very ably helped by the fantastic Storylines team. Lots of fun and a lot of Vietnamese Spring Rolls.

If you want to see where I learnt to make then follow this link.

We had hundreds of kids and their parents come to the festival to meet authors and have a book signing – it was great to meet so many fans!! Thanks to all those who stopped by.

Chennoah Walford (Tauranga Girls' College) and Claire Gourley (Bethlehem College) were named as the runners-up to the TrustPower Youth Community Spirit Award.

The Gourley Girls did really well at the Tauranga Trustpower Community Awards: Both my aunty and I won awards!!

Aunty Anne  won Health and Well Being Runner Up for her stunning work on the Let’s get Growing project! It is a community project where people have ‘plots’ and garden together – a really cool idea and the gardeners all learn form each other.

I won the Youth Community Spirit Award – Runner Up for my work mentoring junior girls at school, coaching sport and inspiring kids to cook.

Anne Gourley is awarded Health and Well Being, Runner up, for the Let's Get Growing Community Garden Project.

I am a total sushi fan!! My favourite meal on the run is a plate of sushi.  Actually I love everything about sushi – the taste,  how it is good for me, and how its nice to eat with friends.

Usually I just buy it but today is school holidays and I have plenty of time. It’s also my Dad’s birthday,  so I have decided to make a whole lot. We are having a veritable feast with fresh salmon, teriyaki chicken, sesame beef, with lashings of vegetables – carrots, avocado, cucumber and peppers. All wrapped up in the yummy seaweed with squirt of  soy sauce and a dab of wasabi.  If all goes to plan I might put this in my next cookbook!

If you haven’t tried sushi very often – get into it – it’s one of those foods you can eat quite a bit of ‘cos it is so good for you! No guilt attached!!! hahaha – my sort of food.

ahah – this is in the latest edition of NZ Womans Weekly …

Last year I was judge and I am doing it again this year… I just thought you’d like to hear some of the things I think you need to consider…

Coming up… I’m going to blog about things to help you get ready

• hints for seniors – using different meat cookery skills for different cuts
• hints for juniors – using mince
• seasonings – every year the judges comment on a lack of seasoning…
• tips to avoid stress city – hints for cooking under pressure
• presentation and garnishing
• flavour combinations
• working methods for safety – check out my you Tube on Things you need to know so your food wont kill you
• balancing your burger to make it a nutritional goldmine