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Cooking With Max
by Sharon Bargas
At some point, what parent doesn’t look at their child playing and envision their future as a doctor, architect, actress or possibly author. Sienna Nania really didn’t have to wait for her child to express his career aspiration and pursue them. Seven-year-old Max Nania began cooking before he turned three years old.
“We really believe that the heart of any home is the kitchen,” says Nania. “I’ve always found it to be fun allowing the kids to get involved with the preparation around meals.”
Not native to Omaha, the Nania family moved here from Altanta. According to Nania, Max had severe asthma so she spent a great deal of time with him indoors during days with bad smog conditions. A vegetarian herself, she started investigating foods that would be best for Max to hopefully alleviate symptoms of his asthma. After spending time experimenting with certain foods, she noticed that Max began to show interest in creating recipes.
“All kids like to make stuff and know it's even more fun if you can eat the stuff that you make,” says Nania. “So, I always encouraged Max to use his creativity and make fun recipes to keep him interested in healthy foods.”
Max and his mom would read together and, for fun, would occasionally make up recipes to go along with the stories. When Max was a first grader, he needed to practice his handwriting, so he started writing down the recipes he'd concocted. Realizing Max had a special talent, they found a literary agent and a publisher that saw great potential in Max’s collection of vegetarian recipes and before the family knew it, he became the author of Cooking With Max.
In the cookbook, children – and parents- will find recipes for such mouthwatering concoctions as Crunchy Bugs & Cheese and Extremely Wicked Ice Cream. According to Nania, these are all dishes and desserts that kids can make with just a little grown-up supervision. Additionally, children can learn how to make an Inside Out Ice Cream Sandwich, Disappearing Veggies, Tarzan Wraps, Pirate Pasta, and much more. The cookbook shows young readers and their parents how to make the most of healthy foods, noted Nania.
Nania says that she cannot take credit for the recipes, but she played a role by providing tips for Moms to keep the cooking process safe and to help turn the kitchen into a fun classroom.
“The kitchen is my favorite room in the house, because the kitchen is where as a family we talk, laugh, cook and eat their meals together,” says Narnia.
Although people are in awe of Max’s talents, Nania is quick to point out that Max is a typical second grader. He is a Cub Scout who likes video games, comics, chapter books, soccer and the Atlanta Braves.
The Power of the Kitchen!
Narnia is not alone in seeing the power of family time in the kitchen. Finding time for parents and children to cook together in the kitchen has become more difficult because of everyone’s busy schedules.
It's true that cooking with children requires time, patience, but many experts think it is well worth the effort. For one thing, cooking with children can help get them become interested in trying healthy foods they might normally refuse to eat. A spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, says she has seen this happen countless times.
Indeed, cooking with children can be the gift that keeps on giving; it has both short-term and long-term payoffs. Some of the short-term benefits:
- It encourages kids to try healthy foods
- Kids feel like they are accomplishing something and contributing to the family
- Kids are more likely to sit down to a family meal when they helped prepare it
- Parents get to spend quality time with their kids
- Kids aren't spending time in front of the TV or computer while they're cooking
- Kids generally aren't eating junk food when they're cooking a meal at home
Max is Helping out in the Community!
Feeling very blessed, he is giving back to the community that has been so supportive of him. With the guidance of his parents, Max has chosen several non-profits to get involved with over the last few years. One organization is the Red Cross. He created a recipe and dedicated it to help promote the importance of getting blood donor’s iron up so they can donate. The recipe is entitled Super Hero Salad and, of course, includes green spinach.
Another organization the family is proud to work with is the Omaha Food Bank. Max plans to spend his summer cooking with other children at the ‘Kid’s Café’.
He has become so passionate about his volunteer work that when people buy his
cookbook on the Web site, Cooking With Max and a link to his myspace page,
he plans to donate all his royalties to support the Food Bank. Expect to see
more of Max in upcoming recipe books including, Snax with Max, a collection
of other recipes collected since his first cookbook, and Eat Your Alphabet,
inspired by his younger brother, Ian, these recipes are geared towards very young children.
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