Ms Brock has been providing nutritional cooking-for-one classes this year to help seniors adapt to cooking smaller meals that still pack a nutritional punch.
The initiative has been put together by the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation and Bupa at the Bupa Ascot Retirement Village.
This week’s event was the fourth time the four-week course had been held this year, with more events planned, Ms Brock said.
On Thursday last week, those taking part cooked a roast vegetable stack as well as a vege-loaded omelette.
Despite being around kitchens and food for decades, seniors often lost motivation to cook for themselves, so it it was important for them to learn the art of producing small, simple and healthy meal portions, Ms Brock said.
"It’s not just about cooking a nutritional meal. Motivation comes into it ... and [it’s] not about cooking extravagant meals."
The course’s cookbook provided a lot of ideas for cooking for one or two people.
"And it’s about the awareness of how your appetite changes as you get older," Ms Brock said.
It was important for seniors to remind themselves to drink enough fluids as people often did not feel as thirsty.
"But water is such an important part of keeping your body healthy."
Rowena Jackson resident Ellis Smith, who has been married to Lorna for the past 61 years, said his wife was adamant he learnt good cooking and nutritional skills so he was able to properly care for himself if anything ever happened and she could not cook.
The couple took turns cooking for each other every week.
Ms Brock said participants were also given shopping tips and taught how to read food nutrition labels as well as time-saving strategies.
"It’s about social connectiveness too. We enjoyed a meal together at the end of the session.
"We gain a lot from the participants of the group."
All the ingredients were supplied for the free classes, which were open to all who wanted to attend.
- By Toni McDonald
