Charity League Cook of the Week
September 8, 2012
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| Bredamus learned from her mother-in-law, teaches her children | ||
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 By TRISHA VAUGHAN - Bulletin Accent Writer Tonya Bredamus is a mother of four who is active in club and church activities, but she still makes time to cook for her family. Bredamus, 33, moved to Virginia from St. Petersburg, Fla., around 2000. She and her husband, Tim, lived in Roanoke before moving to Martinsville in 2002. Tim is the youth and children’s pastor at Christ's Church in Martinsville, and Tonya stays home with their four children, Audrey, 8, Emma, 6, Liam, 3, and Bo, 1. She home-schools Audrey and Emma. Bredamus said she loves to cook, especially with her kids, whom she is teaching to cook. Bredamus said much of what she learned in the kitchen came from her mother-in-law, Terri Bredamus of Martinsville. Tonya said she learned to make the basic foods, such as mashed potatoes and roasts, from Terri, then delved into cookbooks and websites for the rest. Tonya cooked as a child, mostly baking things, and she still sticks to recipes instead of free styling. The first cookies she baked by herself were oatmeal, “and I dropped them on the ground” right after she put them on a plate, she recalled. She picked the cookies up, put them back on the plate and took them outside to her dad without telling him they had been on the floor. Her children enjoy Italian food, Bredamus said, and “anything with sauce they tend to like.” She said she buys a pasta sauce with extra vegetables in it to help them meet their daily nutritional goals. When cooking a week’s worth of meals, Bredamus cannot always make a meal that will please everyone, she said. She will make about three of her kids’ favorite meals each week and make new things on the other nights. If the kids won’t eat the entree, she added, she makes sure to have at least two side dishes they enjoy. She often invites her in-laws over for dinner on those nights because “they like to eat the same things that I do,” she said. Her husband cooks sometimes, but “he only does it out of necessity,” Bredamus said with a laugh. She said Tim makes really good calzones and grilled foods. Emma, who began helping in the kitchen when she was 4, takes an active interest in cooking, her mom said. Emma likes to crack eggs or measure ingredients, which is always done with close supervision. Bredamus’ oldest son, Liam, is beginning to take an interest also and likes to help run the mixer. Audrey helps sometimes but usually is busy with other things, Bredamus said. She recommends letting children stir, dump ingredients from measuring cups and chop, but only with dull knives made especially for children. Bredamus also has started quizzing Emma about measurements while they cook together. The family raised a garden this year so the children could see where vegetables come from. Bredamus said it was a great success because the children were eager to go outside every day and see which vegetables were ready to be picked, and to pick them if they were ripe. The garden helped her kids eat more vegetables because they felt like they had a part in making them, she said. Their favorite vegetables are broccoli, corn, peas and green beans. The garden inspired Emma to create her own snack, which Bredamus said is surprisingly tasty and refreshing. She tops a Ritz cracker with a quarter of a slice of American cheese, a slice of cucumber and a dab of ranch dressing, then adds another cracker to make a little sandwich. “The more veggies we can sneak in, the better,” said Bredamus. She even has a brownie recipe that hides some healthy legumes. She said she drains and rinses a can of black beans, then fills the can with the beans and enough water to fill it. She then purees that in a blender and mixes it with a box of brownie mix. She bakes that according to package directions and then serves the finished product to unsuspecting kids — or her husband. She said no one has been able to tell the difference between the Black Bean Brownies, as she calls them, and regular brownies. Bredamus said that she also is kept busy in the kitchen with the Charity League of Martinsville and Henry County, which she joined in 2006. When a league member has a baby or a family emergency, members take turns preparing enough meals for a two-week period. Bredamus’ standard dish is manicotti. She also found her favorite recipe for banana bread from the league’s cookbook, “Barracuda in Velvet Gloves.” Bredamus joined Charity League because she likes helping children and meeting people, she said. “I just like serving” children in the community, she said. “I’m a doer. I like to do a lot.” Bredamus attributes her sense of community to her mother, Debbie Beaumier, who not only has her own volunteer work but also helps with Charity League events. Bredamus’ father, Randy Beaumier, helps a lot with the children, Bredamus said. Her parents moved to Martinsville from Florida a few years after she did. Her husband was an ED teacher (for emotionally disturbed children) at Bassett Middle School when she moved here. The couple started attending Christ Church almost as soon as they moved because that’s where his parents went. They really liked it and have been there since. |
