FAMILIES have been learning how to cook healthy food on an intensive course in Oxford.

Three single parents and their children took part in the four-week course as part of the Family Grub Club initiative.

The free weekly two-and-a-half hour sessions at the Ark T Centre in Crowell Road, Cowley, were designed to show the families that eating healthily is possible even on a tight budget.

Mothers and their children were taught to prepare their own stir fry dinner during one session.

They were also shown how to bake their own bread, and make soups and pizzas, and were encouraged to try their creations at the end of each meeting.

Mother-of-two Monica Gregory, 39, from Hollow Way, Cowley, said: “The cooking was quite easy and it has helped us as a family to sit and relax with each other.”

Christine McDermott, community food worker for Oxford Healthy Living Partnership, said: “The idea was to cook from scratch and then for everybody to sit down and have a meal at the end of it.

“One mother was saying ‘I can get my children to sit down and eat together now’.”

Each of the families was also taught how to monitor salt levels in food and about different types of fat.

Everyone was presented with certificates at the end of the scheme.

Ms McDermott said: “The children loved it. They were really enthusiastic and willing to try new food as well, so there was a positive response.

“The parents were really surprised at how well their children were responding to the new tastes.”

Ms McDermott works three days a week with a mandate to improve eating habits in Oxford. Part of her role involves meeting community groups to help them run their own healthy eating workshops. If you would like her to visit your community group, call 01865 467327.

ghamilton@oxfordmail.co.uk