Community Learning Kitchen
Established by grants from the Knox County Community Foundation and the Indiana Department of Health.
Cookin' Up Some Fun!
We provide fun, healthy recipes and cooking lessons to inspire families to make meals together that can have a positive impact on their health.
One of the highlights from these past few months has been working with our local food pantry and disaster response organization, Helping His Hands. We noticed that the patrons were receiving items in their boxes that they may be unfamiliar with or not know how to use. One example was lentils, a high protein legume that is easy to cook but easily overlooked because it is uncommon in the average American diet. We sampled a delicious yet simple lentil stew served over rice and had such a positive response from those brave enough to try it! We included the recipe in their boxes and have had one patron already reach out that they made this nourishing stew for their family and loved it! It’s little wins like this that keep us going and thinking of even more ways we can invite members of our community to take small steps towards improving their quality of life by learning how to cook simple, nourishing, whole food meals.
We try to keep the community updated on what we are doing on our social media platforms, and release a calendar of events monthly. If you are unable to attend our public events please check out our social media for updated content that include basic nutrition education, simple recipes that include seasonal produce, and basic cooking skills that you can use to make it easier to cook more meals at home.
Our Food Philosophy
One area we would like to be more intentional about is motivating you to cook more meals at home using whole foods. Whole foods are foods that has been minimally or unprocessed and can be consumed in its whole form. For example, whole grains such as oats and rice, whole fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, high quality meat like chicken, beef or pork, and high quality dairy products including milk cheese and yogurts. We understand that life can get busy and even if you can just cook one more meal a week from home using whole food ingredients, you will begin to experience an improvement in energy and mood.
There are so many simple and fun recipes to try, and countless resources to find them. If you just don’t like to cook try to think of ways to make it something to look forward too! Turn on your favorite music or invite your family to learn how to cook with you and then enjoy the meal together.
