Young Adult Carers Learn to Cook
On Saturday, Andrea, Georgia and some of the amazing YACs met up at Vaughan’s Cookery School in Devizes. The aim of the day was to learn how to make some cheap, easy yet nutritious meals, have fun, and gain some confidence in the kitchen!
Young adult carers often tell us they don't think they're good at cooking, or aren't sure how to cook for the whole household and still make it healthy, so we all thought a cooking class would be a great idea.
Judy, our teacher for the day, spoke about how the most important thing to take from the class was confidence in yourself in the kitchen. And it was surprising how once everyone got started, even the most nervous cookers made great meals!
Vaughan's Cookery School offers lots of different courses, from baking bread, knife skills and more. Judy has '16 years of experience in the catering industry and this has enabled her to develop her culinary skills so that they incorporate many ‘tricks of the trade’.'
The first thing we learned was how to properly cut an onion without crying (though with the amount of onion cutting going on in the room…tears did happen!) and other skills essential for cooking.
Celina, 18, has to cook for eight people in her household and told me she finds it hard to cook for everyone at once. Learning how to make moroccan chicken in a slow cooker was a great idea as you throw all the ingredients together in one pot, start it in the morning and have it ready by the evening.
The YACs did amazing and by the end of the day had made a Ragu sauce and Moroccan Chicken, and then as a treat to finish off, chocolate brownies and pancakes! We even practiced pancake flipping skills and no one dropped a single one on the floor. Cooking is a really important skill to ensure the person you care for is getting the right nutrients, and you feel well fed and fuled with good food to ensure you can take care of yourself and who you care for. Confidence really is key when it comes to cooking - trust yourself, allow yourself to make mistakes, and you might surprise yourself how well your food comes out!
Do you have any cooking tips or recipes to share for us? Let us know in the comments! Check out Vaughan's Cookery School at www.vaughanskitchen.co.uk