Cooking for a Cause

As part of WolvesCare month the FastBreak Foundation hosted a Cooking for a Cause event at the Way Cool Cooking School in Eden Prairie Tuesday afternoon. Children ages 5-12 that are impacted by diabetes learned to cook diabetic-friendly meals with Kevin Garnett, Trenton Hassell, Troy Hudson, Mike James and Mark Madsen.

The players split up into four cooking teams composed of several children and a lead cook, and proceeded to dish out cooking assists while preparing some delectable meals. All five Wolves proved to be excellent passers.

"The kids are so excited to be here with the Timberwolves players," said Tammy Swanson, who handles public relations for Way Cool. "When the players got here you could see all of the big smiles. It creates a lot more excitement and interest from the kids. To have the guys talk to them about eating healthy is just great."

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) combined to find diabetic kids from as close as Minneapolis to as far away as St. Peter for the event.

"It's a great opportunity for kids who have diabetes or are affected by diabetes to come in and learn how to cook healthy, and help supplement the food situation at their homes," Swanson continued. "We hope that they learn about nutrition, and how to make some meals on their own."

According to ADA representative Becky Martin, roughly 20.8 million Americans are diabetic. Type I generally affects kids, while Type II is more often seen with adults.

"It is something you cannot ever take a break from," said Martin. "You have to manage it every day. Severe complications can result if diabetes isn't properly cared for, and one way to stay on top of it is to eat well."

That's where the Way Cool Cooking School and the Wolves came into play, as each prepared meal was easy to make and diabetic-friendly.

We're talking about 15-minute barbeque beef, cherry cherry brownies, pizzas, Caribbean bean salad, and more. Mmmm.

"This food is for real," said Madsen.

Madsen was the sous chef for the "Mighty Meat," a squad composed of head chef Lynn and several high-round draft picks (some of the older kids). KG took the "Mighty Monkeys," while Hassell had a nameless group composed mostly of free agent kids. James and Hudson teamed up with chef Jacqueline and the little tikes.

Check out the breakdown:

"The Mighty Meat"
When Mad Dog wasn't exchanging jokes with or arm wrestling fellow Mighty Meaters, he was using his pronounced culinary skills (Dog makes his own bread) to help make a wheat berry and avocado salad. Scrumptious.

"Mark is a very good cook," said Lynn, who was dually impressed with Mad Dog's team-building.

"It's all about teamwork with the Mighty Meat," said Madsen, who is clearly the best teammate in the NBA.

"Right, we all added a little bit to the team," echoed R.J., one of the older kids.


"The Mighty Monkeys"
Led by the ever-competitive KG, the Monkeys got quickly into a cooking groove as they churned out some sweet potato chips with fresh salsa before most teams had even begun to slice their onions.

Garnett used verbal encouragement ("Let's go, you'll!") and physical promotion (plenty of fist pounds) to get his crew going.

Hassell Struggles with Onions
While Trenton Hassell's group did well to prepare some tasty looking cilantro chicken, a tear or two could be spotted on his face.

"He's a pretty good cook, but he started crying," explained young cooks Rachel and Haley. Garnett denied being similarly affected, instead poking fun at his friend Hassell.

James and Hudson go "BALLIN!" with their Youngsters
Two of Minnesota's point guards were more than on point with their group of five-year olds, as they basically repeated the instructions offered by chef Jacqueline to the kids.

"It's all about technique," said Hudson as he pressed a spice into his group's concoction. "You see how my thumb is rubbing against my index finger?"

Young Curt was paying more attention to his tomatoes, which, as he proclaimed to James, were very well cut.

"That's what I'm talking about Curt!" exclaimed James. "You're the man! Now if anyone wants to see how to peel an orange, watch Chef T (Hudson)."

Jack proved to be the best orange peeler in the group, and was also skilled at spreading tomato, cheese and meat toppings onto his pizza bread, the next food item on the youngster's list.

After successfully loading their pizzas, James and Hudson inexplicably taught their five-year olds the "Ballin'" hand symbol taken from Jim Jones' "We Fly High" video, which would soon come in handy.

Show and Tell
After a great deal of effort in the kitchen, it was time for each team to present what they'd made. After James and Hudson had their kids toss out a "Ballin'" chant to the group, KG weighed in.

"You can expect a fine from Stu Jackson for that stuff," said the Big Ticket.

KG was animated in his group presentation, sharing how easy it was to make their dish, and talking about how much fun his crew had working together. Mad Dog, however, had his group send a little message KG's way, shared by Mighty Meat member Tim:

"KG might have the best jump shot, but we're the best cooks."

Ouch, KG.

Subsequently, as Trenton Hassell was introduced, KG said "I smell something burning," and Hassell tried to explain why he had been crying earlier.

"It was the onions, man!" he protested. "Ticket was crying too!"

Moral of the Story
Clearly, a great deal of fun was had at the Too Cool Cooking School, and the players were excited to create a positive atmosphere from which the kids dealing with diabetes could learn.

"These kids have so much responsibility put on them, whether it's the parents that have it or they do it themselves," said Martin. "Testing blood sugar, knowing what to eat, where to eat, how much you can eat, taking insulin, making sure you have something at school, and all when you're just a kid."

Of course, eating healthy is a great way to help manage diabetes, and that was the message the ADA, JDRF and FastBreak Foundation combined to convey on Tuesday. In addition, each kid received a recipe book featuring all the items that had been made, a fat counter, tickets to a Wolves game and a Timberwolves yearbook.

"The Wolves are great role models to show the kids that they care, and that they're taking an interest in them," concluded Martin. "I think it's just awesome. Maybe their brownies are extra special now since they made them with Kevin Garnett."