Harriet, our PhunkyFoods Engagement and Development Coordinator (EDC) in Copeland, Cumbria has shared a great insight into how she supports PhunkyFoods Family Cook club sessions.
Getting families together to cook and try new foods is a big part of the PhunkyFoods goal and our Family Cook Clubs are a perfect way of achieving that, for free!
Every half term I run a Family Cook Club (FCC) in one of my schools; it’s a fantastic and fun event for parents and children to spend some quality time together whilst learning invaluable food prep skills and how to eat more healthily. It’s also a great opportunity to show families that cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be tricky, time consuming or expensive and is the healthier option because they know exactly what’s in their food and they can keep fat, sugar and salt levels low.
Each week we make a simple recipe from over 170 featured on our website www.phunkyfoods.co.uk/recipes/ that (time permitting!) everyone either eats at the club or takes home to cook or enjoy. PhunkyFoods pays for all the ingredients, so not surprisingly I never have a shortage of schools wanting the club and after all the sessions, the children never want the club to finish!
This half term I’ve been working in Millom at St James’ Catholic School. For FCCs, I usually offer ten places but extended this to accommodate the 13 families that wanted to attend. It was great to see so many enthusiastic children running in each week, excited about getting their hands washed and apron on, ready to cook!
As we prepared the different dishes, we discussed many things including how to eat a varied diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, which foods we should be eating more/less of, the benefits of making your own meals and how easy that was to do. We made a healthy fruit dessert with many children and parents trying new fruits and plain yogurt for the first time, a healthy pizza, bread from scratch and tuna couscous to show them the versatility of these cupboard staples and give them ideas for healthier packed lunches.
At each session, it was wonderful to hear how much the families had enjoyed what they’d made the previous week and that many of them had made the recipes again.
If you haven’t had a Family Cook Club at your school yet then please make contact with your local EDC to get one booked in – they are really great fun for the whole family!
