Montco Girl's Cooking Wins Her Trip To White House

Lower Merion, PA -- Lower Merion's Ava Terosky, 9, was one of 56 kids who attended the White House Kids State Dinner as part of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge.

Kids ages 8-12 were invited to submit recipes for healthy meals.

More than 1,200 kids submitted recipes.

"The competition was stiff," First Lady Michelle Obama told the winners. "You should be very proud of yourselves. You earned these spots at these tables."

The First Lady told the kids that the White House did everything to make sure the event mirrored a real state dinner, complete with a receiving line, fancy table settings and entertainment — a live performance of "The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic."

Ava's recipe, Sunny's Omelette and Bo's Patriotic Parfait, was inspired by her love of her sister and her country.

“My little sister Caitlin was born with a serious heart problem and got a pacemaker at one day old,” Ava said, according to the White House's page for the event. “My mom, dad, and the doctors were worried, especially because she was a very picky eater, even as a baby. So, my dad and I work hard to create healthy, animal-shaped meals that Caitlin will eat—she loves animals!"

"When my mom told me about this contest, my first thought was making a healthy meal that Caitlin would love, which meant a breakfast-at-lunch theme in the shape of Bo and Sunny Obama. A lot of my ingredients are from Pennsylvania, including the eggs, mushrooms, and fruit. It’s shaped like Portuguese Water Dogs because what kid doesn’t like breakfast for lunch in the shape of adorable dogs?”

See a list of all the winners and links to their recipes.

Here's the recipe and preparation instructions for Ava's creation, courtesy of PBS:

Ingredients:
For the Omelettes:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
• 4 ounces baby spinach
• Sprig fresh thyme, or pinch dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
• Ketchup (optional)

For the Patriotic Parfait (not pictured):

• 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
• 2/3 cup favorite low-sugar granola
• 6 strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 medium apple, peeled, cored and sliced
• ½ cup blueberries

Preparation:

1. To make the Omelette Filling: In a large nonstick skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat, add the mushrooms and thyme to the pan and cook for 3 minutes. Add the spinach, salt, and pepper to taste, and cook for 2 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted but still bright green. Transfer to a plate.
2. To make the Omelettes: Break 2 eggs into a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste, and whisk with a fork. In the same pan you cooked the veggies in, melt 1 teaspoon of butter over medium heat. Add the eggs to the pan and as they cook, continuously lift and swirl the pan so that the liquid portion of the eggs goes all the way around the edge of the pan to form a circle. Continue cooking about 30 seconds more, then flip using a spatula. You can either add ½ the veggie filling now and fold the eggs over, or do as we do, and cook 30 seconds on the second side, slide the omelets from pan onto a plate, and top with the filling. Make the second omelets with the remaining teaspoon butter and two eggs. Cut omelettes into four dog shapes using a large cookie cutter or use any type of cookie cutter. Top each with half of the filling if you didn’t do the traditional fill-and-fold method.
3. To make Patriotic Parfaits: In two flat bowls, divide the honey and yogurt, and stir to combine. Fill a cookie cutter—we used a dog shape—with granola. Surround with strawberries, apple, and blueberries.

Nutrition Facts: 578 calories; 28g fat; 50g carbohydrates; 35g protein