PowerPlates Recipe Contest

The Virginia PTA Power Plates Program is designed to encourage students to practice healthy eating habits by creating their own recipes. Any student in grades k-12 attending a Virginia school with a PTA can enter. 

Classroom Pilot!: In addition to the classic single student entry,  the Hunt District is piloting a classroom category, so classrooms can collaborate to create recipes together and compete against other classrooms creating recipes!!  

FIVE RECIPE CATEGORIES:

• ​Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner Entree
• Dessert
• Snack

FIVE GRADE DIVISIONS:

• Primary: Preschool – Grade 2 
• Intermediate: Grades 3-5 
• Middle School: Grades 6-8 
• High School: Grades 9-12 
• Special Chef: All grades 

INGREDIENTS FOR AN ENTRY:

• Title for your original recipe. 
• Chef Statement.  What inspired the healthy recipe. Is it gluten-free, nut-free or lactose-free? What other healthy foods might be served with this recipe? (One sentence to 100 words). 
• Ingredient List.  This should be in standard U. S. measurement volume and weight. Ingredients should be commonly available at retail stores. Use generic names, not brand names.
• Step-by-Step Preparation Instructions. Include cooking times, pan sizes, temperatures, and number of servings.
• Photograph. Formatted as .jpg, .png or non-animated .gif and smaller than 2MB. It should be a photograph of the food only. No person should appear in the photograph. ​

Please ensure the recipe is 'healthy' according to the
USDA MyPlate Nutrition Guidance (www.ChooseMyPlate.gov)  

How to Enter

Submit the Recipe, Photo and Entry Form to Virginia PTA by email. Each entry should be emailed separately with the Students Name, Food Category and Division in the subject line of the e-mail. If you have a package of entries from an entire class, please contact HuntDD@VAPTA.org to make special arrangements. 

Entries should be e-mailed to HuntDD@VAPTA.org & PowerPlates@VAPTA.org  by February 1, 2019.  

Judging

Judging will be based on the following criteria:

• 50% healthy nutritional value of the recipe
• 25% perceived taste
• 15% creativity and originality
• ​10% student statement 

2018-2019 Power Plates Winners

Flyer
Official Entry Form

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Recipes due to Hunt District
February 1, 2019
​
District Winner Recognition
Feb 27, 2019 at 
"Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, Healthy Community" Conversation
LCPS Admin Building

State Awards Ceremony
April 28, 2019

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RESOURCES

• Health & Safety for PTA Leaders
• Family Fitness Events​​
• ​​USDA MyPlate Nutrition Guidance 
• National School Lunch Week Toolkit
• Take Your Parent to Lunch Day Toolkit

Helpful Dates

October:  National Farm to School Month #FarmtoSchool & #F2SMonth​)
October 15-19: National School Lunch Week #NSLW18
October 17: National Take Your Parent to Lunch Day
November: Healthy Lifestyles month
March 5-9: National School Breakfast Week #NSMW18
April 22-26, 2019: Every Kid Healthy Week
May 3, 2019: School Lunch Hero Day (Ted Talk & Book Series)
May 6-10, 2019: School Nutrition Employee Week

Awards

• Entries are judged by judges appointed by the Virginia PTA Health and Safety Committee.
• Awards will be announced by mail, email and/or telephone by in April.
• First Place winners are invited to the Virginia PTA Student Awards Ceremony in Richmond in April/May
• 2016-2017 Power Plates Winners
• 2017-2018 Power Plates Winners​
• 2018-2019 Power Plates Winners