It isn’t enough to have the nutritious food available if clients don’t know how to prepare it. How many people know how to cook kale, bok choi, swiss chard or even raw beans?
Here is a photo of Rachel Adams at a Good Cheer cooking class. Rachel writes a cooking blog, interns at Greenbank Farm and is going to study the Anthropology of Food in London next fall.
Good Cheer began its guest chef, fresh-from-the-garden cooking classes last summer, and plans to do the same again. This year, AmeriCorps volunteer Molly Zeiger (in the above photo) is organizing healthy cooking classes for clients on the third Tuesday of each month in the Bayview facility’s kitchen from 5 to 7 p.m. for the first 10-12 clients who sign up. The classes focus on seasonal cooking, utilizing whatever is harvested from the garden when possible.
Caitlin Goldbaum Americorp volunteer
Last winter the classes involved crock-pot cooking of stews, bean dishes such as black bean chipotle chili, plus meats and vegetables.
The idea for using crock-pots came from State Representative Norma Smith. While on a tour given by JaNoah Spratt, she commented that with her busy schedule, she found crockpot cooking was an ideal way to create simple, nutritious meals. We quickly sought grants so that clients who came to the cooking classes could take home a crock-pot to put into practice what they learned.
We have crock pots!
When volunteer Claudia Cox learned of the idea, she and her husband, optometrist Dr. James Cox, thought it was such a good idea that they donated 10 crock-pots to get the class off to a good start. “I’ve used crock-pots myself and know how great they are for people to come home after a long day and have a healthy slow cooked meal waiting for them,” she said.
The South Whidbey Rotary Club also responded with a generous $900 grant for the program. With spring produce from the garden, we are now beginning to focus on fresh food cooking, though we will continue to involve crock-pot cooking until summer and then switch to using simple food processors.
We will also be giving clients plant starts of some of the vegetables we will be cooking so that they can grow fresh produce at home. We would love to see Good Cheer develop a year round cooking curriculum that utilizes everything we provide in bulk in the food bank so that clients will become proficient at maximizing their food points and dollars on healthy, wholesome food.
We make it a point to demonstrate dishes that only use ingredients that are available to Food Bank clients, and also adjust our mix accordingly.
For instance, we’ve tried to stock more fresh herbs and have purchased bulk spices and repackaged them for the recipes. We have put out a donation request for healthy cooking oils for stir fry recipes and salads.
Good cook oils?
As long as you’re using fats and oils sparingly in your cooking and preparation, it would be fine to use any one of the following “good” oils. All of the oils are low in saturated fats and trans fats (bad fats). Some have high concentration of monounsaturated fats (good fats) such as olive oil. Choose corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, soy oil or canola oil if you wish to fry foods as these oils have higher smoke point. It is best not to fry with olive oil as its smoke point is only about 190C/375F.
Good Cheer Garden – Growing Groceries
Good Cheer Garden Coordinator Cary Peterson (far right)
Teamwork, as we all know, makes it happen. The third member of the cooking class trio is Good Cheer’s Garden coordinator, Cary Peterson. Cary has been so good at listening to clients and planting the produce that they like, plus introducing them to new vegetables many have never tried before. You might want to take a look at the Growing Groceries blog to learn more.
We needed more garlic for our cooking classes, so this year she is planting more of it. Likewise, if we need more basil for pesto dishes she adjusts what’s planted.
Peterson believes that healthy eating should ideally start at a young age with children understanding how things are grown. She welcomes schoolchildren’s involvement with the garden, taking time to explain what each plant is and often providing fresh picked veggies to munch on. As a community we will be much stronger if our kids have nutritious food and if we can stop seeing meals as a cost and start seeing them as an investment in the future.
Growing Groceries is a 9-month long series of classes teaching timely, seasonal information on how to successfully grow food here on Whidbey Island. Classes will be held the second Saturday of February through October, 2010. You’ll learn how to grow your own food with practical, seasonal information on how to be successful in your garden.
Good Cheer!
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