The Armenta family (with their son, Jacob, who has autism) residents of Murfreesboro, TN have entered the UNCLE BEN'S Ben's Beginner Cooking Contest, a program to encourage children to make healthier choices by getting them interested in cooking at an early age. The contest was designed to empower parents to connect with their children one meal at a time and aims to make cooking an enjoyable activity that brings families together.

Parents with children who are in Kindergarten through 8th grade were asked to submit a home video that showed the family together in the kitchen introducing a rice-based dish they prepared and discussing their experience cooking together. The contest received hundreds of entries from families across the United States In an effort to help the Armenta family strengthen their score and given them an opportunity to be chosen as a finalist, they are asking the community to vote for the video they submitted titled Jacob's Mexican Meatball Soup. If selected as a one of the five grand prize winners the Armenta family will receive $15,000 cash and a $30,000 cafeteria makeover for Christiana Middle School!

From October 15 through October 29, 2014, individuals can view all the contest videos and vote for their favorite by visiting www.UncleBens.com or www.Facebook.com/UncleBens and searching for the recipe name. Individuals are encouraged to vote once per 24 hours. For more information on the Ben's Beginners™ Cooking Contest, visit www.UncleBens.com.