As part of this fantastic initiative, we can provide families with a slow cooker to help them provide low-cost, healthy meals. Our volunteers work with families to help them shop and cook healthy and cheap hot meals that the whole family can enjoy together.

One mum told us “It’s like having an extra pair of hands taking care of dinner while we take care of everything else. Meal times are much less stressful.”

Another parent has said:

“It’s helped massively. When I’m down or having a bad day physically, my partner pops food in to cook in the morning before going to work and it’s ready when he gets home. The kids have helped put things in like vegetables, so they think they’ve made dinner for everyone, and they get excited.”

 

Not only are slow cookers time savers, they are also money savers and much more efficient than using the oven.  “Slow cookers are equivalent in energy use to a microwave and draw about the same energy as an electric light bulb,” says Dr Christian Reynolds, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Food Policy at City University, London. Slow cooker recipes have the advantage of being made ahead, and are ready the minute you walk in the door so they are perfect for busy families.

Home-Start Norfolk often share low-cost, healthy family recipes in a monthly newsletter that gets out to supported families, and we plan to share more in the future.