Special cooking class thriving amid pandemic

A group of Daytonians is using the coronavirus situation to take their skills in the kitchen up a notch.

The Healthy Habits Cook Club is a nonprofit organization that merged Chris Roll’s passion for cooking and her desire to help adults with developmental disabilities acquire the tools and information that they need to make healthy food choices. This includes cooking instruction, kitchen safety, nutrition education and social opportunities.

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“These adults with developmental disabilities are really struggling to grasp all of this,” Roll said. “Parents want to protect them, but that means even more social isolation.”

Pre-COVID-19, the club met once a week at the Little City Cook School in Oakwood. However, Roll is now using technology to keep members active and it’s been a success.

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At each Healthy Habits Cook Club session, participants create a meal-for-one, including a main course, side dish and desert from start to finish at their own station, and then dine together. All meals focus on using balanced, quality ingredients.

Roll developed recipes that have at-home, easy-to-find ingredients and shares them through email. A grocery list is always included with ideas for substitutions.

Soon, Roll hopes to start incorporating the Zoom app to have members join in the classes remotely.

During the pandemic, it is important to stay healthy and keep busy while stuck at home, especially for a person with developmental disabilities, Roll said.

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“This population, already, one of the big reasons I wanted to do this was, I realized quickly when my son got out of high school, that it’s very socially isolating,” Roll said. “Now throw in this coronavirus and being at home, it’s even harder for them.”

Roll sends prizes whenever she receives a photo of one of her cook club members preparing food. These prizes include aprons, fun T-shirts and kitchen gadgets.

Now that families are getting more time to sit down to dinner together, Roll pointed out, the club’s members have an opportunity to put their learned skills to work.

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“How can that not make you smile … the parents are texting me things like, ‘Oh my gosh, I had no idea how much they’ve learned. They are cooking for the whole family!’”

“It is so uplifting to receive photos of these adults preparing meals for the whole family and using all the skills we have worked on for the past year and a half,” Roll said.

The club’s Facebook page posts almost daily now that coronavirus has kept members from meeting in person. Anyone person with developmental disabilities who wants to get involved should visit the Healthy Habits Cook Club website at healthyhabitscookclub.org, follow the Facebook page, follow on Instagram, or email Roll directly at chris@healthyhabitscookclub.org.

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