About us

Special thanks to Dr. Richard Reves whose dedicated,
encouraging and patient coaching and
assistance helped us to realize Cooking and Kids.

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WHO IS COOKING AND KIDS?

Welcome,

I feel so pleased that you are showing interest in our fight against childhood obesity. Doing so takes a first and very important step in winning the war on one of the fastest growing health problems among our children.

Allow me to introduce myself--my name is Vlada. I am a blessed mother of two wonderful children, and a wife to a great man. By degree I am an Avio-Electrician; by my genes and soul, I am a mother and a cook.

Challenges and struggles fill my life every day, that is why my family's health and happiness have become my greatest priority in life. Dedication to keeping my family well was reinforced even more during 2001, when my husband needed open heart surgery. After his five bypasses and a valve replacement, living healthy was no longer a matter of choice; we needed to make additional changes to our lifestyle after already living without smoking, drinking and eating out.

At a very early age, I learned the importance of healthy eating. I was fortunate to grow up with my grandmother, an exceptional cook who understood the importance of teaching children about food and life. She taught me how to milk cows, make cheeses, grow a garden, pickle and can fruits and vegetables, and more. Being an exceptional woman, she kept our way of life very simple, and our way of thinking very modern, even ahead of our time. Sometimes, I feel like a time capsule that my grandmother carefully packed with all the cooking skills and recipes from the past. As my grandmother's legacy, I am today one of the world's rare cooks who can stretch phyllo dough by hand, and one of the relatively-few American women whose pantry is filled with homemade jams, canned peppers and jars of homemade spaghetti sauce. As long as I can get my hands in soft, warm dough, I will never forget who I am or why I am here.

Now that I am a mother, my responsibility to my family is even greater, and my life, perhaps like your life, seems overwhelmingly 'busy'! But I will not allow 'busyness' to stop me from doing my most important job, that of taking good care of my family's health and well-being. If you have kids, let's think together for a moment --
is anything more important right now than our kids' health and well being? Not even our own health, life, home or job!

Alarming statistics on children's health and well-being in America have caused me much pain during the past few years. Feelings of helplessness, sadness, anguish and anger trouble me! I struggle to accept what statistics are confirming--our children are getting sick, losing their health, and some are even dying because of food. In many countries, kids are suffering and dying from lack of food; in America, our kids are suffering because of...

For all these reasons and more, I finally have had enough! So here I am with you, not to boast or preach, but to make myself available to other struggling parents, and to do my part in helping us to win the war against childhood obesity in America. Practically, both in person and as this website develops, I would share with you some of my struggles, my knowledge, my recipes, and my victories, all to inspire and help you, as you address this most important part of your life--your family's, especially your kids, health and well-being!

Yours truly,

Vlada

Vlada Vladic

Winner of Food Network's
Family Feast Challenge 2010

Former owner
of two restaurants

Executive Director of
Cooking and Kids, LLC

Founder and producer of
'Cooking and Kids'
cooking program

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