Free sessions to help people in King's Lynn cook healthily on a budget

Food for Thought, run by the College of West Anglia and the North Lynn Discovery Centre offers free weekly Friday meetings until mid June

Author: Tom ClabonPublished 9th May 2022
Last updated 9th May 2022

People in King's Lynn are being invited to a free series of sessions to help them cook healthy meals on a budget.

Food for Thought, run by the College of West Anglia and the North Lynn Discovery Centre- offers free weekly Friday meetings until mid June- which help people with topics ranging from batch cooking to low-cost desserts.

It comes as the Food Foundation claims one in seven adults in the UK live with people who've skipped meals or gone hungry in the last month.

The charity said the number of people struggling to buy things to eat rose by more than half in just three months.

Stacey Martin is one of chiefs that runs the sessions, she told us what's in store: "So far we've covered some healthy breakfast, some lunches and some dinners.

"So next week we're looking at healthy snack ideas. Then we're introducing some dishes with some hidden veggies to try and get some more vegetables into, maybe their young people's lives or themselves.

"And then we're looking at some plant-based dishes, some vegetarian. We're looking at dietary requirements as we go along.

"Maybe throw some healthy desserts in there and finish it off with a little bit of 'Fake-away' to try and avoid spending too much money at the weekend."

"I think it would make a bigger impact than most people realise"

Ms Martin went on to tell us that shopping smart can make a real difference to our wallets: I think it would make a bigger impact than most people realise.

"A little bit of what we do as well. We're comparing supermarket brands to named, brands and looking where we can make savings and actually some of the costings, the changes are quite vast.

"So I think this could save probably 10% on a shopping bill If you're sensible with your shopping."

"It's very educational, you can ask any questions you want"

We spoke to Tarly and George who attended the last session: "I've come down to budget food and to be able to cook for me and the children, with different meals and batch cooking to make life a little bit easier.

"It's very educational, you can ask any questions you want, nothing is seen as silly, and they teach you how to adapt each meal. I'm definitely a lot more knowledge now, no more frozen meals for me.

"The frying-pan has been so easy to use, that is the reason for my poor health- so to learn to cook would be good for me.

"I've been taking notes and hopefully I've got something to take away with me to remember everything. They have also been dishing out some helpful leaflets so I can follow everything and eat heathier".

WATCH: We went along to one of the recent sessions to find out more:

What can I get involved in?

Week 4: Home-made snacks

Week 5: Improving nutritional content with hidden veggies

Week 6: Cooking on a budget, supermarket swaps and store cupboard staples

Week 7: Making meals go further, cooking for one and batch cooking

Week 8: Meat alternatives - vegetarian cooking

Week 9: Plant based meals - vegan cooking

Week 10: Low calorie cooking

Week 11: Low cost desserts

Week 12: Fake-away meals - homemade healthier take-away meals

Councillor Sam Sandell, Cabinet Member for People and Communities, said: “These sessions, based in North Lynn Discovery Centre, will offer a wealth of information on how to cook healthy and tasty food without breaking the bank.

“You will be able to take away skills that will help you cook on a budget, find cheaper supermarket swaps, make healthy ‘fake-away’ meals and learn how to make meals go further.”

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