What do you get if you take one TV presenter, two GAA All-Stars, three chopping boards and 30 ingredients? A Cook-Off Challenge in advance of the 2016 Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps, which will be attended by more than 100,000 children this summer.

Baz Ashmawy was joined by Kilkenny hurler TJ Reid and Mayo footballer, Aidan O’Shea for the first-ever Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps Cook-Off, which was overseen by Kellogg’s nutritionist, Laura Street, who decided who would be awarded the wooden spoon if their dishes weren’t up to scratch.

In their first-ever culinary collaboration, the three joined forces to promote the importance of eating and drinking a variety and balance of food to fuel active play. A key component of Cúl Camps is a nutrition-based programme, Kellogg’s Powering Play, which was launched to help children understand the importance of nutrition and its role in fuelling physical activity. 

The three lads chopped carrots, wrapped wraps, sliced celery, blitzed smoothies, mixed Rice Krispies with raw Cocoa, pondered over pine nuts and scratched heads over Quinoa to come up with a mix of great tasting breakfasts, snacks and lunches that would be suitable for Powering Play.

Laura Street, Kellogg’s nutritionist, said: “We all need food to fuel our bodies and children should be eating and drinking different foods that will help them to be active. The advice hasn’t changed; breakfast is still the most important meal of the day and if you start the day off well by fuelling your body, it will help ensure you have enough energy for the morning ahead.

“People often underestimate the importance of hydration and the role it plays in helping to power play and maintain concentration levels.  Children should start their day with milk or water and aim for eight glasses of water each day for optimum hydration. Obviously more might be needed on hots day or days of high activity and a little, often, is the best way to ensure that youngsters are getting sufficient amounts.”

Bainisteoir Baz

Baz Ashmawy felt right at home with TJ and Aidan: “GAA is serious fun but it’s a serious sport and the guys and girls representing club and county display the most amazing skills and levels of fitness. That comes from hard core training and dedication but it’s also obvious that food and hydration play a huge role in helping them to sustain their activity levels.   You can’t expect to run on empty; you have to fuel an active body so for me, powering play is easy sums.”

Laura Street was impressed with the three participants’ knowledge and their selection of ingredients to make up some tasty, nutritious and balanced plates of food, despite their use of some questionable and unusual cooking methods. “The cook-off challenge is a fun way of highlighting the great variety of foods that can be eaten to help children power their play.  Food shouldn’t be boring and involving children in shopping and the preparation of meals, where possible, is a great way to get them interested, involved and learning about food and it’s importance as part of an active lifestyle.”

The ‘Culest’ camps this summer

Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps, which take place in July and August, are for children aged 6-13 and offer training in hurling, camogie, football and ladies’ football, together with rounders and in some camps, handball. It’s an action-packed week for the more than 100,000 children who benefit from learning new skills, improving their wellbeing, making new friends and ultimately, having fun.  2016 is Kellogg’s fifth year of sponsorship and the camps have been running for nine years taking place not only in Ireland but now also  in the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, the US, Canada and across Europe.

Recognised as Ireland’s best-value summer camp at €55 per child, all young participants will receive a complimentary GAA zipped training top, jersey and backpack.

In addition, one camp in each province will receive a surprise visit from one of the four 2016 Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps’ ambassadors; Ashling Thompson, (Cork, camogie), Aidan O’Shea, (Mayo, football), TJ Reid (Kilkenny, hurling) or Aimee Mackin (Armagh, ladies Football).

**Everyone’s a winner **

Everyone who participates in Cúl Camps is a winner but this year there are more opportunities with Kellogg’s offering families the chance to win one of three prizes, worth over €16,000. By purchasing special packs of Kellogg’s cereal or snacks, entrants can win €5,000 worth of training gear for their local club, plus a €500 family voucher. For more information parents can log on to www.kelloggsculcamps.gaa.ie

The Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps Cook-Off

TJ and Aidan were each assigned a work station and a list of ingredients including raw peppers, pineapple, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, raw Cocoa Powder, almond butter, cooked Quinoa, wholemeal wraps, white bread, goat’s cheese, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, bananas, apples, digestive biscuits, chocolate biscuits, fruit cake, nuts and seeds, honey, berries, chocolate, crackers, jam, cream, crisps, popcorn, avocado, mayonnaise, processed meats,  salami, peanut butter, orange juice, cola, water, milk, and dates…. 

Both benefited from Baz’ input and advice as he ran between the two, adding extra ingredients or questioning the inclusion of others.   The guys were each challenged with creating a breakfast, lunch and snack option for a child that would help to power their play.

Each option was assessed by Kellogg’s nutritionist, Laura Street and an overall winner was crowned the Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps Cook-Off Champion for 2016.

When asked about their favourite dishes and snacks, Baz opted for a homemade burger or some monkfish, TJ loves to cook stir fry with brown rice and Aidan, who confesses to not being the best cook enjoys spaghetti Bolognese.

TJ Reid said: “Nutrition goes hand in hand with playing hurling and I know that if I get my food intake right, it’s one less thing to worry about on the pitch. Over the past couple of years I have really focused on nutrition as an integral part of my overall training.  If I don’t eat well, I don’t have good energy levels so for me, it’s all about powering my play with a good balance of food and drinks.”

Aidan O’Shea added, “Looking after yourself includes looking at what you are eating, making sure you are not skipping meals and listening to your body.  Running on empty is not an option and it really affects your performance both at training and on match day. I love my food and I love being active and I would encourage all youngsters to get out and about, be active and to make sure they’re eating what they need to maintain their energy levels.”