On Wednesday afternoon, 18 pint-sized chefs filled the kitchens at Redmond Junior High School to face off in Lake Washington School District‘s (LWSD) 5th Annual Kids Can Cook contest.

Fourth- and fifth- graders from seven Redmond, Woodinville and Sammamish elementary schools gathered to create healthy, kid-friendly snacks and put their creations to the test before their families, friends and three judges from the district.

From sandwiches and trail mix to soup and seafood, the students brought original ideas to the table and weren’t afraid to take risks with their recipes.

“It’s fun to watch and see how creative they are,” said contest organizer Jane Markham, a food service area manager for LWSD. “…They’re very creative and (in) the way they present the food as well.”

Markham said Kids Can Cook encourages students to create healthy, easy-to-make snacks and gets them to think about what they put in their food and ultimately their bodies.

“It’s a good lesson to be taught,” she said.

Kriss Wells, whose daughter Lauren represented Elizabeth Blackwell Elementary School in Sammamish Wednesday afternoon, agreed. She said learning how to eat healthy and prepare healthy snacks and foods is very important for kids to learn at a young age.

“I think it’s huge,” she said.

For Redmond resident Ella Mainwaring Foster, a fourth grader at Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary School in Woodinville, she said it’s important for kids to learn how to cook healthy meals because they’re going to have to do it at some point in their lives.

“So we might as well learn now,” the 10-year-old said.

Her creation, “Ella’s Silly Sandwich Sticks,” which consisted of sandwich fixings wrapped around breadsticks, won the contest’s overall Judges’ Choice Award and Ella felt very honored.

“I felt really glad and happy because I worked really hard and I really liked doing it,” she said.

Ella was one of five students to receive an award this year. The other four recipients and their categories were:

• Ryan Koshy, Louisa May Alcott Elementary, Use of Healthy Ingredients Award: “Healthy Veggie Bites”
• Surbhi Jain, Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary, Kid-Friendly Preparation Award: “Fruit Train”
• Rabeeya Asif, Norman Rockwell Elementary, Tasty and Satisfying Award: “Mixed Pancake Surprise”
• Silvana Segura, Rosa Parks Elementary, Best Table Presentation: “Surimi Boats”

Although she was thrilled with her win, Ella said she wished there could be more than one winner for each of the categories because many of her fellow contestants’ entries were just as deserving.

“I tasted a lot of them and they were really good,” she said.

And Ella let her competition know this as well.

When Cayla Gilligan, a fourth grader from Redmond Elementary School, congratulated Ella on her win, she told Gilligan that her recipe should have been selected as well.

Cayla was the only contestant from her school and did not mind not being selected.

“I told myself if I lose, I lose trying,” she said.

Both Cayla and Ella love cooking and creating in the kitchen and while they both have experience using the oven or stove, neither of their recipes required heat.

Ella acknowledged that some of her peers may not have that experience and decided to not use heat in her contest recipe so kids would not be intimidated “and (would) not set the house on fire.” Her sandwich sticks were something kids could prepare without any help from adults.

“And Ella didn’t want any help at all,” said mother Symone Mainwaring Foster.

Mainwaring Foster said they cook a lot as a family and while her other two children will pitch in here and there, “Ella’s the one who wants to do it all.”