About Cooking Well Series
The Cooking Well Series are 3 to 4 lesson workshops that build skills towards planning, preparing, and cooking healthy meals. There are 4 different course options for Cooking Well:
- Cooking Well with Friends – A hands-on program that teaches how to plan, prepare, freeze, and cook healthy meals safely and effectively. Core concepts of the program include basic food safety principles such as cross contamination, safe freezing and thawing recommendations, and minimum internal temperature requirements.
- Cooking Well for Healthy Blood Pressure – This 3-class program is aimed for people who want to plan and prepare food for individuals with high blood pressure (hypertension) or pre-hypertension. This series covers 1) using the DASH food plan, 2) navigating the grocery store, and 3) cooking with spices and herbs.
- Cooking Well with Diabetes – This 4-class program is aimed for people who want to learn how to plan and prepare food for individuals with diabetes. The series covers 1) carbohydrate foods, 2) making recipes with healthier fats, 3) improve sodium & fiber in recipes, and 4) how to celebrate the holidays and other festivities sensibly.
- Cooking Well, Exploring Cultures – A 4 lesson journey that looks at some of the common ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques of Poland, the Philippines, India, and the interior of Mexico. Along with recipes and videos featuring cooking techniques, a short introductory video describing the country’s food culture and history is included, revealing how their traditional cuisine came to be.
These sessions can be made available to school staff and interested parents/guardians for Healthy School Recognized Campus. Each session should last about two hours and is usually delivered once a week over a 4-week period.
Cooking Well programs can be delivered in-person or online by Extension agents. Contact your local Extension office to find out which options are available in your county. Programs may have a fee to cover the cost of supplies.
Program Components
- 3-4 classes with an educational component, recipe demonstration, recipe tasting, and discussion
- Educational handouts for participants. Spanish translations are available for most resources
- Recipes
Additional Resources
Interested educators should connect with their county AgriLife Extension office for more information. Find their contact information here: https://counties.agrilife.org/
Links to the online programs: