With all due respect to the Pillsbury Bake-off, where peanut butter cookies won the $1 million prize last week in Dallas, there is more to after-school snacks than milk and cookies.

Such as 8-year-old Hannah Weeks' Hannah Banana Smoothie and 9-year-old Tanner Williams' Salami Salad Sandwich, winning entries in the Kids in the Kitchen recipe contest. Hannah, who is from Plano, and Tanner, who is from Frisco, are excited to be honored for their achievements during a Kids in the Kitchen event Saturday at Lakeside Market Plano.

Tanner Williams, 9, with his Salami Salad Sandwich.

The mission of the event – sponsored by the Junior League of Plano in collaboration with Market Street supermarket in McKinney, Lakeside Market Plano and Cooper Aerobics Center in Craig Ranch – is to promote health and fight childhood obesity. Events include karate, yoga for kids and demonstrations from My Gym and the University of Gymnastics. Other activities include bean bag throws, bounce houses, fingerprinting and a Kidsteam kid-powered train.

But the question that no doubt will rock many parents' minds is how to get kids to dump the junk in favor of healthy foods. After talking with Hannah and Tanner, I learned that making the kitchen inviting is a good way to start.

"Me and my mom love to cook," Hannah says. "We put on some music. We like to talk while we're cooking and laugh."

Smoothies, in particular, have become a Weeks family tradition, her mom, Stephanie Weeks, says. It started two years ago when they were trying to trim the food budget and reduce sugar consumption by making smoothies. Soon, it became an outlet for creativity, and Ms. Weeks began buying lots of fresh and frozen fruits so that everyone, from the parents to the three kids, felt free to improvise.

"I think having the ingredients on hand really helps," Ms. Weeks says. "The smoothies are a huge hit in our house. My husband puts peanut butter in his. My 11-year-old just did peaches, bananas and protein powder. He makes a mess, but I'd rather see him make one of those after school than grab a bag of Cheetos."

The kitchen is the central place for talking and bonding in the Williams home, too, says Julee Williams, Tanner's mom.

Hannah Weeks, 8, makes her Hannah Banana smoothie.

Tanner, the eldest of four, does the most cooking with his mom, but even the youngest stirs, Ms. Williams says.

"I like cooking; I like to be in the kitchen and try out new things," Tanner says. "It's fun to put things together yourself."

An avid athlete, he sees a correlation between eating healthfully and playing better.

One of the healthy foods he wanted to work into his diet was salad, which gave him the idea for the Salami Salad Sandwich. He figured he'd eat more salad if it could be mixed with things he likes, such as salami and bread.

"Sometimes, when I make stuff, it's not as good, but this was pretty good."

The message of bringing the kids into the kitchen rings true for me, as one of the turning points for my now-14-year-old was involving him in shopping and cooking. I was amazed that the former fast-food fanatic learned to love baking tilapia with a bread-crumb topping and serving it with roasted potatoes, black-eyed peas and whole-wheat rolls.

I can't wait to take him to the Kids in the Kitchen event to expand his repertoire. In the meantime, the Salami Salad Sandwich sounds intriguing. And I think I'll dust off the blender in anticipation of re-creating the yummy-sounding Hannah Banana Smoothie.

DETAILS: Kids in the Kitchen, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Lakeside Market, Preston Road at Spring Creek Parkway, Plano. www.jlplano.org. Free. 972-769-1142.