Hi readers, this week we, Emily and William, want to tell you about our healthy cooking experience with People First Dorset and the Friendly Food Company.

There were three workshops, and in the first two we learnt loads about cooking and nutrition, vitamins and minerals in foods, about protein, carbohydrates and fat, substitutes and more. We also all agreed what to cook in the final workshop, a vegetable crumble.

At the final cooking workshop a group of us from People First Dorset arrived at the Dorford Centre, whose kitchen we used, had a drink and put our aprons on. Some of us went into the kitchen to prepare the meal while a couple of people stayed in the lounge to make the crumble topping.

In the kitchen we peeled, what was mostly root vegetables, and then chopped them into medium chunks. We then put the vegetables in saucepans with oil to soften up. Two of us did that by the cooker while the other two did the washing up.

After softening the vegetables we added some flour and milk to make a sauce, which was then added to a dish with the vegetables. Those in the lounge then put the crumble topping on top, followed by grated cheese and then it went in the oven.

While it was cooking, we laid the tables, and finally ate together. It tasted delicious! At the end of the evening, we were given a bag with oats, flour, cheese, butter, vegetables and the recipe card so we can make it again at home, which we’d both like to do. We’ll also take pictures and videos of us making it at home.

We really enjoyed these sessions and want to do more as it was so good to cook together with our friends while learning about healthy eating.

The writers of the Our View column are supported in their editing by People First Dorset - a charity led and run by people with learning disabilities with support from staff