By: Jen Cooper

One of the most popular events of the summer of 2008 made its return in 2009, this time bigger and better than before. The Pujols Family Foundation hosted its Batter Up! cooking classes again this summer but instead of it just being available to girls with Down syndrome, the boys got a chance to get in on the fun as well.

A series of twelve cooking classes were held from the middle of June through the end of July at two Dierbergs School of Cooking locations. Girls and boys with Down syndrome, 13 and older, were invited to attend with a parent. There were mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, mothers and sons and fathers and daughters. It was a great opportunity for some of the parents who do not usually get to participate in Foundation events, to do something fun with their child.

Half of the classes featured a “Build a Better Burger Bash” menu that included lean and mean burgers, crispy oven fries, picnic baked beans and a ruby red fruit salad. They made delicious peanut butter cup cupcakes for dessert and refreshing strawberry lemonade to drink. The other classes made an “Almost Like a Restaurant” menu that featured easy chicken parmesan, Chinese fried rice, Mexican flatbread pizzas and a café fruit and greens salad. A refreshing non-fried ice cream was for dessert and they also enjoyed the strawberry lemonade.

The theme of the cooking classes was to prepare and enjoy delicious food that was made in a healthier way. Pujols Family Foundation program manager, Jen Cooper says, “We are all confronted with needing to make better food choices for our health. To be successful, it’s not about being on a diet but making better choices everyday. Hopefully these menus are letting these families see that they can still enjoy the foods they like but in a healthier way.”

While wearing their own Batter Up! apron, each parent and child got a chance to help prepare the different recipes in the two hour class. Then everyone got to enjoy all of the hard work that they did. Everyone had a fantastic time and walked away with a set of their own recipes to continue to use at home.

A special thank you to all of the instructors at Dierbergs for another enjoyable run of classes!

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