#MIKidsCan Champion of the Month: Isabelle Sarkody
Julie Bitely
| 3 min read
Isabelle Sarkody has been her parents’ sous-chef since she was three years old.
“My dad lets me put ingredients together,” she said. “We like to cook from scratch because it’s healthier and you can control what you put in.”
Isabelle Sarkody, 7, ranked in the top five finalists of nearly 2,500 entries in the Future Chefs Healthy Breakfast Competition.
The seven-year-old is proud to say she can now make several meals on her own. So when her school, Yake Elementary School, offered a healthy breakfast cooking competition, she jumped at the opportunity.
A few months later, the second grader ranked in the top five nationwide finalists out of nearly 2,500 entries representing 1,300 elementary schools in 28 states.
“I was really excited and surprised,” Isabelle said. “My whole school was excited.”
The Future Chefs Healthy Breakfast Competition is sponsored by Sodexo, the food service provider for the Woodhaven-Brownstown School District.
Isabelle’s recipe, Egg-celent Breakfast Cupcakes with Yake Yogurt Bites and Gator Green Smoothie, is inspired by her school and mascot. The recipe has three parts:
- Egg-Celent Breakfast Cupcakes, made with eggs, Greek yogurt, mushrooms, cheese, ham and tortillas.
- Yake Yogurt Bites, made with granola, yogurt and pineapple.
- Gater-Green Smoothie, made with spinach, avocado, pineapple, honey and water.
To learn how to make Isabelle’s egg-celent breakfast, watch her video below. You can also scroll down to see the full recipes.
Isabelle’s mom, Christina Sarkody, said they love making these recipes ahead of time so they can easily grab something healthy throughout a busy week.
“They’re very, very simple,” Isabelle said of her Yake Yogurt Bites. “Any child would be able to make them. The only part that takes long is the freezing. But you could make them the night before and freeze them overnight.”
When Isabelle isn’t cooking, she loves to stay active – in and out of school.
“There’s this program at my school called the Healthy Kids Club,” Isabelle said. “Every Wednesday, we run laps and I try to beat my score of how many laps I did the week before.”
The club tracks their miles to theoretically “reach” a destination. Each time a student completes a lap, he or she grabs a rubber band. They tally the rubber bands at the end of the day to see how many miles they collectively ran.
“There’s a hundred something kids doing this,” said Isabelle. “We just recently reached our destination of running to Disneyland in California.”
The Healthy Kids Club is offered through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Building Healthy Communities program, a school-wide initiative that provides teachers and administrators with the tools and resources to help students build healthy habits that can be carried into adulthood.
In addition to participating in the Healthy Kids Club each week, Isabelle loves going to ballet class and riding her bike. She’s looking forward to warm weather so she can go swimming.
As for what’s next in Isabelle’s cooking career, she is working her way through 16-year-old Chef Remmi Smith’s cooking book. Chef Remmi was the first Future Chefs Healthy Breakfast Competition winner, and is one of Isabelle’s role models.
“One of my dreams is to meet her in person and cook with her,” said Isabelle.
Isabelle Sarkody was selected as the #MIKidsCan Champion of the Month for her passion for healthy cooking and her commitment to staying active through her school’s Healthy Kids Club. Do you know a child who deserves to be recognized for their commitment to living a healthy, active lifestyle? Nominate them at ahealthiermichigan.org/mikidscan.
