As the judges for Healthy Kids Challenge picked out recipes submitted in a national contest for seventh-and eighth-graders, one name stood out: Goochland Middle School.

One top-flight recipe after another. Goochland Middle School. Another, then another.

The Dighton, Kan.-based contest usually awards the four best recipes from each region of the U.S. This spring, the judges threw out the rules and declared Goochland Middle School the national winner -- an unprecedented recognition in the six-year-old contest.

"Who would have thought -- a little school in Goochland County?" said 13-year-old Tyler Sims, a member of the national champion healthy recipes team.

His contribution to teacher Jillian Edwards' triumphant eighth-grade cooking squad was cheesy hash brown casserole. Other winning recipes from Goochland Middle were fruit smoothie muffins, peanut butter banana squares, hamburger pie and hot crab dip.

Sound too rich to be healthy? The kids will tell you that they taste rich, too, and that's the point. The annual contest challenges students to change existing recipes or invent new ones that are low in fat, sodium and calories. And they have to taste good.

That's why Mahogany Snead chose hamburger cheese bake as her recipe.

"I wanted to see if I could make that healthy," said Mahogany, 14. "Usually, hamburger and cheese is unhealthy."

She used ground turkey instead of ground beef, held the salt, used low-fat cheese and whole-grain noodles. For Tyler's casserole, he used turkey sausage in place of regular sausage and Egg Beaters rather than real eggs.

Cody Johnson, 14, used skim milk in his crab dip and light sour cream instead of regular. "After you change the recipe, there's not as much grease," Cody said.

Claudia Hohnbaum, assistant director of the Healthy Kids Challenge, said the organization was impressed with the Goochland students' attention to detail.

"It was very obvious that [the Goochland students] looked at each ingredient very carefully and the impact it would have nutritionally if they changed it to make it lower in fat or sugar," Hohnbaum said. "But they made sure that the recipe still had appeal."

She and the students gave credit to Edwards, a third-year independent-living teacher with a degree in nutrition and diet. Edwards intended to take the healthy cooking aspect of the life-skills class to the next level.

"I spend a lot of time on nutrition and healthy eating," she said. In her first year on the staff, she had a Southeast Region winner in the Healthy Kids recipe contest.

The contest emphasizes family involvement and a healthy lifestyle goal included in an essay that the students submit with their recipes to make permanent change. Hohnbaum appreciated how the students worked in class but completed their dishes at home.

Kimberly Duty, 14, said the experience taught her the value of food that's good and nutritious.

"It really does help people live more healthy lives," Kimberly said. Contact staff writer Calvin R. Trice at (540) 932-3674 or ctrice@timesdispatch.com.