Made with Love

If dinnertime makes you feel like a less than perfect parent, our scoop on the city’s best cooking classes and culinary delights will have the kids eating out of your hand in no time.
West End’s Sprout Right has established itself as the place to go for nutritional information for the entire family. Nutritionist, author and owner Lianne Phillipson-Webb’s interactive and fun Mommy Chef cooking classes will transform the kids’ idea of ‘greens’ from that mystery growth at the bottom of the fridge, to healthy meals they actually want to eat. Held in her commercial Bloor West kitchen, the classes teach a range of healthy recipes for babies and beyond, and cover all tastes, stages and dietary restrictions including dairy free, gluten free and vegetarian. Bonus: you leave with a week’s worth of meals. You can also pick up the Mommy Chef DVD, and grab her book Sprout Right: From Tummy to Toddler (both available on the website).

Located at Weston Road and St. Clair, Aphrodite Cooks’ Yummy Baby cooking classes offer an all-around pleasurable experience for parents looking to learn tasty, yet healthy dishes that will appeal to the whole family. Owner and chef Vanessa Yeung, along with Angie MacRae, teaches you how to prepare food for baby through to toddler using straightforward and practical ingredients you can find anywhere (course includes lunch and a booklet filled with yummy recipes). From fresh purees to quesadillas to apple crumble, Yummy Baby will leave you full (literally) of healthy, delicious creations to share with the smallest food critics. Good to Know: Next class is April 28, so sign up now to avoid a waiting list.

No meal is complete without dessert, which is why we couldn’t leave out LPK’s Culinary Groove at Queen and Broadview. It manages to accomplish the impossible—marrying sweet goodness with healthy ingredients to create treats kids love. From vegan and gluten free, to organic and free trade, they have delicious, custom-made cakes, pastries and chocolate for everyone. Want to learn how to create these delicacies at home? Sign up for their unique baking classes that include vegan basics, gluten-free baking and raw desserts, to name just a few. Good to Know: They also offer vegan Indian cooking for beginners and raw cooking classes.

Dinner crisis avoided, nutrition challenge won, super mom status achieved. Next? Tested by Caroline P., Toronto

Sprout Right is offering a promotion on Mommy Chef DVD’s. Visit the Sprout Right website and enter promo code “SavvyChef” to purchase both Mommy Chef: First Foods and Mommy Chef: The Next Stage for $30 (plus taxes, shipping & handling).