Fiona Allan Nutrition

21/05/2025

We Beat the Heat! at St Germain's Community Hub yesterday, by using the slow cooker to make rainbow tomato sauce and pasta bake.

Here are the thoughts of one of our youngest participants.

20/05/2025

Eating more fruit and vegetables is one of the best things you can do for your health.

Today at St Germain's Community Hub, I demonstrated how to make a big batch of rainbow tomato sauce in the slow cooker. Here's the one I prepared there and cooked at home.

I used 10 different plants (onion, garlic, celery, carrots, tomatoes, yellow pepper, sweet potatoes, beetroot, broccoli and herbs) to make 12 portions of sauce.

I turned 4 portions of sauce into 1½ litres of delicious cream of tomato soup and put 8 portions in the freezer ready to use with pasta, as a pizza topping or to make a chilli.

After all, why stop at one vegetable in your tomato sauce when you can have nine?!

20/05/2025

It was great to catch up with Heather at St Germain's Community Hub today.

We now have dates for 4 new and exciting programmes:
- Slow Cooker Taster Sessions at the Fun Day on 12th July.
- Family Cook and Eat Clubs on 29th July and 5th, 12th & 19th August.
- Eat Well for Less this Autumn on 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th September.
- Winter Warmers for Older Adults on 2nd, 9th, 16th & 30th October (subject to funding).

16/05/2025

Get ready to Beat the Heat! at St Germain's Community Hub on Tuesday.

We'll be using the slow cooker to make a big batch of hidden vegetable tomato sauce and a pasta bake.

13/05/2025

Looking forward to my new course at The Dorothy Parkes Centre.

NEW PROJECT ALERT - Thanks to funding from The Recovery College we have a new set of Together We Cook courses. This time round they are geared towards supporting men aged 18+ looking to improve cooking skills and gain advice and guidance with employment support, such as CV writing and applications. This course is limited to 6 spaces so please book via our website to secure your space, using the following link - https://www.dorothyparkes.org/Event/together-we-cook-employability-2025

13/05/2025

It was great to see both familiar and new faces for this week's Beat the Heat! session at St Germain's Community Hub.

We started by looking at how to use a slow cooker and shared lots of practical tips.

Then it was time to get cooking and eating! On the menu was homemade hummus and a spiced lemon and vegan "chicken" pilaf.

Thank you to Tish, Maggie, Maria and Raj for all your help.

13/05/2025

Today, I received an email update about the producer group I sponsor through Transform Trade.

"My colleague, Filbert, has been working closely with Tanzania Delicious Cashews (TDC) since we began our partnership with them, and he is really excited about the progress they are making – building a new factory, expanding their operations and working closely with more farmers across Tanzania.

We can now begin training for 32 TDC leaders and staff, as well as 6,400 farmers, on sustainable cashew farming and production practices, record-keeping, and post-harvest handling. Ultimately, this will increase the farmers productivity and income."

10/05/2025

Beat the Heat! returns to St Germain's Community Hub on Tuesday.

We will use the slow cooker to make a pilaf (rice) and learn how to make hummus from scratch.

Doors open at 10.30am for refreshments.

09/05/2025

This morning, I met with Christina from The Dorothy Parkes Centre to discuss a new cooking course for men which starts in June. As well as learning about healthy eating, participants will also receive employment skills coaching and support.

Watch this space for more information.

09/05/2025

07/05/2025

This morning, I met with Kate and Hayley from the Chinese Community Centre Birmingham to discuss their Fairer Futures Fund Health and Wellbeing Project.

I will be supporting CCC-B with the food and nutrition part of the programme. Centre users have already been asked about their favourite everyday meals. We will choose some of these to cook and demonstrate how a few simple changes can make the dishes healthier. I will also give a short talk about nutrition at the beginning of each session.

I'm looking forward to working with Kate, Hayley and the team for my first two sessions in July.

06/05/2025

It was the first Beat the Heat! slow cooker session at St Germain's Community Hub today.

We made pea and mint soup plus a tear and share garlic and herb bread. Easy, affordable, nutritious and tasty!