Teaching Kids to Cook Changes Everything | Behind the Brand

Katie, it's so lovely to be speaking with you. You were a part of last year's Organuary, and we did a great podcast interview with you where you gave so much value. So I highly encourage everyone check that episode out, which we'll put in the show notes for this. But I, I'm just so excited to have you back because while we are pushing and supporting people and eating organ meats one day a week for 4 weeks, We're also supporting a lifestyle change and there's nothing more important than cooking from home. And so I'm so excited to have Raising Healthy Families because that is what you're doing, but I would love to hear like how did you get here? Like what— what— what puts you on this mission of supporting people through eating and cooking real food?

Well, I'm at year 20 of parenting which is crazy because I'm like 26, right?

No.

Um, I mean, year 20 of parenting. And so really the journey has been me raising my kids and realizing that there's just no handbook for what we're doing, that we can't look to our parents because they didn't have the internet and social media and they didn't have, you know, the big food companies weren't as nefarious in the '80s, right? So even when it comes to food, There's just no handbook for raising kids in this, you know, 2025, 2026, in this world we're in. And so as I was fumbling through my own child-rearing, you know, journey, I realized, gosh, people need community, people need support, people need advice. People want to hear from others who are like one step ahead of them. I think that's where we, we kind of prefer to learn, not from the person who's like doing it perfectly. Although social media makes it feel like we want to learn from those doing it perfectly, but we really don't. We want to learn from someone who's a step or two ahead, who's just been in the trenches of where we are. And I'm a teacher by trade. My, my— I have a heart of a teacher. And so that's kind of how I got into, like, as I was fumbling along in the kitchen, how do I feed this new baby, like, wholesome foods? I'm just constantly teaching in my brain. And so that became— A blog and it became courses and it became a membership. And so I'm just constantly trying to figure out like, what do I know that can help other people? Because I just want to be a helper.

Yeah, that's what's so fun about your platform is it's not just about you teaching, like, but you're a curator. You're bringing in other people and supporting them. I mean, you have a multitude of programs within Raising Healthy Families. Can you talk a little bit about those programs?

Right. Well, we started out 10 years ago with Kids Cook Real Food, and that's our basic course to teach kids to cook. It works for ages 2 to teen. And I just thought at that time, 10 years ago, you know, what are the basic tools that kids need in their toolbox to be able to approach a recipe with confidence? I wanted to see families coming together in the kitchen. I wanted to see that shoulder-to-shoulder work ethic where we get to hear kids' stories, we get to see them build confidence. And as I suspected, many parents were like, I'm learning things too, you know, because we weren't always taught to cook either.

Yeah.

So it's been a beautiful journey watching families grow through our Kids Cook Real Food course. Um, and through that, then I began to help parents of picky eaters because I realized, gosh, if your kid's not eating well, you're like, you're not ready to say, oh, I wanna teach them to cook. You're like, I just need them to eat one piece of broccoli or, or one piece of meat. Like there are so many meat-averse kids. And so I thought I, I went and got some training in picky eating and used, you know, again, my experience as a parent. And so I have a book coming out next year, The Picky Eater Playbook. And so that's been like part of the journey. And now I'm, my house is full of teenagers. I have 3 teens in the house. Well, the 20-year-old's not a teen anymore, but it feels like he, he could be.

Yeah, right. Just out of that teen— Just barely.

So, so I've had a house with 3 teenagers just a breath ago, and it felt like it was time to then create Teens Cook Real Food.

So it's different, right? Teen— teens are at a different level and expertise and interest around it, right? What— or what I— maybe I should ask you, what is the real difference you see between when someone's a teen and preteen?

When kids want to learn to cook, it's for fun, and parents kind of want that for them, both for like a little breath of independence and confidence and a little help around the house. Like, like, I can't— The mom's thinking, I just can't do everything. Like, this kid needs to be able to make his or her own snack or lunch sometimes. But once they're teens, the parent's motivation changes, and I'm hoping the teen's motivation does too, where it's like, oh my goodness, I have 3 more years with this human being in my house, and I would like to launch them well. You know, I want them to be able to handle themselves in a college dorm room or their own apartment and not be frozen pizza and ramen noodles all the time. Or the other sense is like, uh-oh, what if they don't launch at all? Like, what if they stay in my house till they're 26 or 36?

Which is happening.

And so parents have this, this urgency in the teen years of like, I need to seriously step up my game and passing on ownership of health so that kids care, teens care about their health, and passing on the skills they need to care for the ownership of their health.

I love that. It really is important. This is how we pass down health perspectives, uh, education around, you know, what we need as humans to survive. Like, this is how we do it. Do you find that your kids, and just in general being in this space for so long, do you find that kids learn the best by being in the kitchen and working with you? Or even before that, you simply modeling it as an adult? Like, like, which do you think kind of moves the needle the most initially?

Creating the environment is huge, and that's especially if we're talking about not just cooking but that taking ownership of one's health. Um, the, the common thread that I'm— I'm just in final edits for my picky eating book, so it's like heavy on my mind. The thread is we have to create a family culture Where family dinners are important, where we eat, you know, real food. We, what our kids see us eat becomes knit into their habits. And when they are 26, they won't be think, they don't even have to think like, what should I eat? Hopefully by then they are, but there's just habits. And so the habits in the environment that we create as parents from newborn to high school is critical. It's super critical. And so I would, I would. I would put the weight on that one, on creating that model that here's how we eat, here's how we think, here's how we converse and communicate. And then eventually, yes, I mean, we'd love to see some like actual instruction in the skills, right? Because we can't really just like habitually learn to use a chef's knife safely. Like, that's not something that just comes naturally, instinctually. Um, but ideally, some of the motivation. is there. It was so interesting. Um, I actually hired 8 teenagers from our local high school to film Teens Cook Real Food.

Wow.

And some of them cooked, some of them had gardens, and some of them were mac and cheese babies, like no experience in the kitchen. And so I'm, I'm just picturing like I taught how to make meatballs and I tell the kids, the teens straight up like, listen, the closer you get to being a grownup, the more you're gonna start to tell yourself like, maybe I should eat my vegetables. But I don't want to eat my vegetables, or maybe I should eat organ meats. But I don't want to eat organ meats. And so sometimes as adults, I said this is what adulting is. Like tell them the secret. You trick yourself too. And so the meatball recipe has like shredded carrots and shredded zucchini and almond flour and all these nutrient dense stuff. And I say in the video, and a kid to my right had no cooking experience at all. And I said, you know, if I was making this for me, I would put in liver powder and collagen and stuff. And I glance at him and I go, should we do liver? And he like. He jumps back, he goes, no! I'm like, it's okay, we don't have to go that far today. But it's fun watching that back because I'm like, just the fact, just saying the words liver powder to like your average American teenager is, I think, a good thing. It helps them know that organ meats exist.

Right.

Because they're at the point where like most of them don't even know they're there.

That's such a good point. Well, to that end, So here, here people are watching this while they're in Organuary and they're being encouraged and supported in eating and trying organ meats once a week. So do you have any tips? Let's just assume that, that this is families, okay? And they're, they're trying to incorporate this for the whole family, not just the individual. But do you have any tips that the family can maybe be supported with during this process of introducing a new food potentially to their family?

Yeah, I mean, with organ meats, powder counts, right?

Yeah, yeah, no, blood counts, and, and even like, um, jerky that has the organ meats already in it, ancestral blends, anything counts as long as there's some offal in it.

Nice. Well, I've used, uh, you mentioned jerky Ancestral blends of like ground meats and powders. And I've used all of those in the past year, but my children and my teenagers only know about it like 10% of the time. So quite honestly, I, I never recommend parents of picky eaters to hide vegetables. I don't think it's a good idea. However, I don't know, organ meats are different. Just hide them. Put, put the blend, put the powders or the Ancestral blends. Into dishes with lots of flavor anyway. So highly seasoned taco meat or like enchiladas with lots of sauce or chili, like that's where you're gonna hide it. Like don't put it in a burger, not if you have kids with sensitive palates. Um, we just tried some meat sticks with Organ Meats this week actually for the first time and we loved them. The boys loved them. My daughter is the one who has a more sensitive palate and unfortunately I made a big mistake. I left them sitting on the counter for a week.

So she read it.

So, cuz it took a week for us all to be in the same place at the same time with me remembering about it. And so, when I brought it up, she was like, nope, not passing my lips. And, I thought, darn it, if she hadn't read the words. So, don't let certain children of yours read the words.

Well, I think that's a good point though. It's like use your intelligence around your kids. If you know this kid is sensitive to texture, then okay, I'm not going to grate the organ meat or blend it into my ground meats because they might experience a different texture. But if, uh, this kid, uh, knows, you know, they like flavor, then to your point, like putting some in chili or adding pluck or something that has flavor that has the organ meats in it is gonna be better for that kid. So I like that though. Just be, be true to the kids or the family you're cooking for and, and don't be afraid to hide it if that's true to how your family responds. I know plenty of women have told me like, my husband is so So I, he doesn't even know what Pluck is. They always tell me this. I just put it on his food and he likes it and he doesn't even know it's organ meats. I'm like, great. Yeah.

And never lie about it. Like if anyone calls you on it, fess up. Like I would never, ever, ever pull the, pull the wool over, like with my words, like actually lie. But I don't tell them that there's a half teaspoon of thyme in my soup. You know what I'm saying? Like I don't go through the ingredients, therefore it doesn't feel like a lie if I shake in a little Awful Blend powder and Pluck and all the things.

Yeah, no, totally, totally. Um, you have this book coming. Uh, when is that launching? When can people get their hands on that?

If all goes well, it'll be fall of 2026. Okay, so it's a long publishing cycle with Familius Press, but it's— the title is The Picky Eater Playbook, and the idea is that there are— there are short steps that people can take one day at a time for 30 days, or 1 week at a time. You can really take it at your own pace, but it should be a really practical, practical way for parents to set that environment and to be truthful with their kids and to use the right language and use the right words. And really, it's not about getting vegetables or organ meats past the kids' lips. It's about giving the kids an opportunity to build a really healthy relationship with food while keeping a really healthy relationship with— between the humans, between— the parents and the children. And so if everything is done well, you know, they leave your house at 18 and they know how to try new foods. They're not scared of food. They understand that food fuels their body and they might not eat everything put in front of them, but they're also not someone who can't go to a party or potluck because they only eat 5 things, you know? So we really try to hit that middle ground. And I know you used to be a picky eater. We've talked about that.

Yeah.

And now you, I'm assuming you have a healthy relationship with food and build that for your kids. So that's my goal is to help parents take the stress out of mealtime, keep the relationships sound, both between the humans and between the children and their food. And I think that will give them the best chance of going into adulthood with ownership of their health and with some real skills and some real tools to feed themselves well.

Yeah, I love that. It's so important. And I gotta, I just want to reiterate something you said earlier, because I know people who have promoted and even written books about picky eating for kids who don't have kids.

Oh.

Like, they literally have no kids, and yet they're writing a book about how to deal with kids that are picky eaters. And I'm like, how do you know that? So I, I, I really do— you, you kind of brought it up earlier, if like, You are living this. This is not just theory. It's like, this is part of your life and you have a teaching background. So your, you know, your mission is like, hey, this is, this is where I struggled, but now I'm past that struggle. I now have tools and I want to teach those tools to you. And I think that that's the kind of person I like to learn from, is the person that's actually lived it. That's me.

Yeah, I know. I liked to be Really authentic with my audience. I, you know, I share all my struggles and my failings, and I think that helps people, especially in this age, like as AI is ramping up and, you know, everything we see, it's kind of like, is that real? And so, you know, I'm very real. My kids are very real. They have faults too. But as we're trying to write this parenting handbook together, I think it takes a village, and it's really nice to all be together, which is what the one thing we didn't talk about is Life Skills Now.

Right.

And you've been part of that. And that's where I pulled together like 50 to 70 experts per year to really blow it up and teach not only health and food, but moving into gardening and finances and entrepreneurship and emotional regulation and just any life skill that kids need. And again, that was, what does my audience want? What are parents out there saying? And they were saying, well, we're teaching our kids to cook with your class because we want them to have life skills. And I'm like, Ooh, there's lots of life skills, you know? And then as my kids started getting older, I thought, gosh, they need to know about money. They need to understand how to manage their own stress. Like there's so many, so many. So we have over 350 skills now.

Incredible. Yeah, I, I, it's something I had thought about years ago of, of wanting to create some kind of practical university, you know, the things that we're, that we really all need, the skills that are really important, probably even more important than like geometry, you know, Like there's certain other things we learn in school that we don't really ever use in real life, but like real life skills. But then you were doing it. So I was like, great, let's just push, like, let's just support, you know, getting Katie's message out because it's such an important topic. And to me, it's something that we're not imparting, you know, life is not imparting these skills to kids. So it's glorious when someone like yourself who not only has kids, but cares about ensuring that specific skills are imparted to these, you know, kids as they grow that cares about foundational health, cares about foundational grounding with faith and/or just, you know, belief in something bigger than yourself. You know, you, you're bringing what we— I would say we clump as family values, you know, from health all the way to spirituality and practicality, you know, skills. And so I really appreciate what you're doing, and I'm so happy that we can bring what you're doing to everyone this month in Organuary. So I thank you for participating. Um, how can people like follow you and just get tied into your kind of world so that they are prepared when you do come out with this book?

Yeah, raisinghealthyfamilies.com is, is the hub for everything. And so you can check out the podcast, The Healthy Parenting Handbook, there. Um, and the Life Skills Now, which, I mean, I just— you were so authentic in that because I hope people can see your Life Skills Now workshop because your girls helped teach it. And so it was such a, just a deep sense of family and food and togetherness. And it's so, so, so sweet. Um, and, and yeah, the Kids Cook Real Food, the Teens Cook Real Food, the Picky Eating book. I'm so like, I have so much fun trying new things. Can you tell? Like, my team's like, maybe you should slow down. But we are, as parents, we need all these resources. So raisinghealthyfamilies.com will be the place to find it all.

Awesome. Well, thank you again. And, uh, I, I, I'm excited for whoever wins this challenge because you're actually gonna get access to many of these programs. But don't let winning this challenge stop you from still looking into these, these programs because I actually like Life Skills Now. That's a free program initially, right?

Every year. Yes. Every June we put the entire new season out for free for a full week. Um, and so that's— we have 4 seasons so far. This will be season 5 coming up in June 2026.

Incredible. Wow. So yeah, so everyone just know, because you signed up for Organuary, you're gonna get that information. You're gonna, you're gonna basically learn when Life Skills Now launches, and you'll have the opportunity to join that for free, uh, just, just by, uh, following us now. So thank you again, Katie, and, um, and thank you all, and good luck with Organuary. Oh, oops.