Girl Scout Nina Moss, 15, shows some of her cooking skills at Ballard Park recently. She is writing a cookbook for residents who get groceries from the Ridgefield Food Pantry.
Nina Moss, 15, is a Girl Scout who loves to cook and to help people in need.
So when it came time to select a project for her Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting, Moss chose to write a cookbook for the needy Ridgefield residents who get groceries at the Ridgefield Food Pantry.
The cookbook will include recipes that are made from items actually available at the local food pantry, she said, as well as the Ridgefield food truck offerings like fruits, vegetables, meat and fish.
The goal is to make healthier food choices.
“I have meals for all different meals of the day. I have oatmeal and pancakes for breakfast, and tuna salad for lunch, and chili for dinner,” she said. “I’m also working on making pet foods from ingredients.”
The cookbook will be distributed in a printed version as well as a digital version.
“It will be free for anybody who wants it, and for the food pantry,” Moss said.
Moss will be a junior at Ridgefield High School in September. She must complete her cookbook project by the time she is 18, said her mom, Nadya Antoniades.
“She is in the early stages of it,” said her mom, who is proud her daughter will be earning a Gold Award this way.
She said her daughter has been contacting nutritionists in the community to be sure her recipes are healthful as well as good-tasting. She’s also been a volunteer with the Ridgefield Rotary Sunrise food drive.
It’s nice that Ridgefield has such a bountiful food pantry program to work with, Nadya said.
“We’ve been blown away by the generosity of the people in Ridgefield,” she said.
The cookbook also offers practical tips on how to make canned foods healthier, such as rinsing the fruits and vegetables before cooking or eating them, said Karen Gaudian, the municipal agent for the elderly.
She was speaking on behalf of Tony Phillips, the social services director, who was not available.
“She had samples last week at Ballard Green of some of her recipes, it was delicious,” Gaudian said.
To donate to the Ridgefield Food Pantry, contact Ridgefield Social Services Department at 203-431-2777.
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