Parents Learn How to Cook Fast, Healthy Meals

Parents Learn How to Cook Fast, Healthy Meal
By Lori Bowers

Busy families need fast meals for dinner; however, fast meals aren’t necessarily healthy. On March 23rd the Mill Run Parent Group along with our registered dietician hosted a ‘Pressure Cooking’ event. The families learned how to make two healthy meals using two different types of pressure cookers that would take less than one hour to prepare.

Rob Chaney, Mill Run Head Start dad, demonstrated how to make a roast with potatoes in a stove top pressure cooker. While Judy Siebert, a registered dietician, made bean soup in an electric pressure cooker. The roast meal from start to finish was done in 40 minutes. The bean soup was completed in 35 minutes. Each meal was sampled by the families and was found to be very flavorful.

The families learned that modern-day pressure cookers are very easy to use and have safety features built in. They can’t explode because the pressure release and gasket mechanism allows excess pressure to vent. Families also learned that there are many benefits to using a pressure cooker:

• Pressure Cooking is healthy– foods retain most of their nutrients and are much more flavorful.
• Pressure Cooking is faster– foods cook 70% faster.
• Pressure Cooking has less clean up– only one pot to clean.

Invest in a model that best suits your needs and lifestyle, buy a pressure cooker cookbook or research online for recipes; and enjoy fast, healthy and delicious meals all year long. Pressure Cookers range in size and price. You can purchase a pressure cooker for as low as $35.00 at a local retail store.