Activity: Learning to Cook Healthy Food

Cooking and eating nutritious food is an important part of caring for our bodies, and it can be a lot of fun, too! Work together to learn how to plan and prepare healthy meals.

As a group, review the guidelines about healthy eating in Doctrine and Covenants 89, Doctrine and Covenants 49:18–19, and the “Physical and Emotional Health” section of For the Strength of Youth.

Invite an experienced cook to teach your group how to plan meals, purchase ingredients, and use basic cooking skills. Practice these skills by cooking a nutritious meal—and then enjoy it together! Also think about sharing your meal with others.

As you plan this activity, please follow the counsel given in chapter 13 of Handbook 2: Administering the Church (2010) and review “Safety Recommendations for Church Activities.”

Please adapt activities as necessary to ensure all individuals are able to participate, belong, and contribute. Adjust the activity accordingly based on food allergies that may be present with members in your congregation.

• When fruits and vegetables are in season, they are healthier, tastier, and usually much cheaper. Make a list of fruits and vegetables that are in season in your area. Divide into small groups to plan a nutritious meal using fresh, seasonal ingredients. Make sure everyone has paper and pencil to write down their plans.
• Invite youth to bring a copy of their favorite healthy recipe. Collect the recipes and make copies for everyone. You could even compile them in a simple cookbook that participants could use as they go away to school, serve missions, or start their own families.
• Decide on a healthy recipe you’d like to make together, and then look up the ingredients you will need. As a group, go together to buy the ingredients. Make sure to buy enough for what you need but not so much that you waste food.

Encourage youth to talk about how what they are learning can help them and others grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Discussions can take place before, during, or after the activity and should last just a few minutes. You could ask questions like the following:

• Why is it important to cook nutritious food?
• When have you been blessed by cooking healthy meals?
• What else would you like to learn about cooking? How can you learn it?

• “Why does the Lord want me to be healthy?” (Come, Follow Me—For Aaronic Priesthood; Come, Follow Me—For Young Women)
• “Physical and Emotional Health,” For the Strength of Youth (booklet, 2011), 25–27.
• 1 Corinthians 3:16–17

• Learning to Cook Outdoors