Old Bridge elementary school students compete in Sodexo's 2016 Future Chefs Challenge Watch video
OLD BRIDGE -- Fifth grade student Frankie Barry loves to cook.
Barry, who attends Cheesequake Elementary School in Matawan, competed for a second year in Sodexo's Future Chef Challenge.
Barry was among 11 students from the fourth and fifth grades to compete in this year's healthy breakfast recipe competition.
Last year he competed but lost. However, this year Frankie, with the help of his mother, Laurine Barry, came up with an easier and healthier recipe for Frankie's Morning Glory Muffins.
Barry was about 7 years old when he started cooking. He liked the omelets his father would make for breakfast.
"I would watch my father make the omelet and then one morning I woke up and made my own omelet," he said.
According to Michelle Feliciano, Sodexo general manager of on-site service solutions, this year's competition is part of a national initiative to promote healthy eating.
"We want to get students thinking about making healthy food choices, whether it's breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks," Feliciano said.
There were six judges for the competition and one junior judge, including the winner from last year's competition. Students were judged on six criteria including originality, presentation, attributes, taste, kid friendliness and use of healthy ingredients.
Old Bridge joins 229 other school districts across the country holding Future Chefs events in February and March. The winning student from each participating district will be considered for regional finalist awards, and the selected regional finalists will vie to become one of five national finalists competing for the public's vote on SodexoUSA.com.
Patti Sapone may be reached at psapone@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @psapone. Find NJ.com on Facebook.