One Family Making Healthy Choices Easy Choices
Posted by Gina Petracca on Monday, November 7, 2011
Ahmed is a dad from Cambridge, Mass. who prepares meals for his kids Khalil and Leylah. Although the family already cooked and ate together, they didn’t always make the healthiest choices before signing up for a Cooking Matters for Families course. “I love cooking. It’s a great way to bring family together” said Ahmed, but “I didn’t know before the course, what was or wasn’t healthy.” Ahmed had questions like, how much sugar or salt should his kids have in a day? Why is fiber important? What foods are high in fiber? Doesn’t healthy mean expensive?
Most Cooking Matters participants are interested in healthy cooking in one way or another at the outset of the course - that’s why they signed up. But Ahmed, Khalil and Leylah exuded enthusiasm. The family was always right on time, eager to start cooking and ready to soak in all they could about healthy eating. After one lesson about the importance of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, Ahmed returned to class the next week with a report that the whole family was eating more of these healthy foods, and getting more fiber in their diets. Khalil and Leylah became avid nutrition label readers, and Ahmed learned to bake meats rather than fry them. Money was tight, so food budgeting was a big part of what Ahmed took away from the Cooking Matters course.
Now, Ahmed often cooks from the Cooking Matters recipe book he received on his last day of class, taking note of the nutritional information for each recipe. He’s always known that eating healthy is important, but now has the skills and education to make healthy choices easy choices. “I want to see my grandkids one day… [eating healthy] is better for my family and better for myself,” said the proud graduate.
November 7, 2011 | 0 comment(s) | Tags: cooking matters, nutrition education
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