The Nursery Road Cook Book is being created by people supported at Elysium’s Nursery Road service alongside the staff team there. The fantastic co-produced cookbook looks set to benefit people across Surrey.
Nursery Road is a specialist residential service for men with learning disabilities, including autism, sensory, and communication impairments. The service’s residents and the team around them are developing an innovative cookbook that will help them develop independent living skills and could potentially be rolled out across other Elysium services in the area.
Manager Angela Csomore said: “I am a relatively new manager at Nursery Road and one of the first things I noticed was how good the food is here. It’s very vibrant and colourful, which is a real benefit because often autistic people prefer a limited, and sometimes quite plain or ‘beige’ diet.
“I saw that the food being prepared was always colourful, reflected different cultural and dietary backgrounds and needs, and was very much enjoyed. The people we support work alongside one of our team to prepare the menus. She has folders of recipes to choose from that she knows are very much enjoyed by people at the service.
“To help increase independence skills and help people become more experienced in preparing meals, we have developed a cookbook which takes every single step and breaks it down in an easy to read and easy to follow way for the people we support, and for those recipes which we know they enjoy.
“And so the Nursery Road Cook Book is being developed to create step-by-step instructions on how to prepare and cook a wide range of meals as chosen by the people who use the service. This is helping them develop their skills in a ‘user friendly’ way.
“It covers every step a service user may need to follow in preparing the meals – which currently includes delicious and healthy wraps, soups and omelettes. It has been considered with people’s differing cooking experience, independence levels and preferences in mind.”
Once completed, Angela hopes that people supported in other Elysium services in the Surrey area will also be able to use the Nursery Road Cook Book to practice and learn how to make a range of delicious meals.
She said: “Everyone has different skills, needs and preferences and the Nursery Road Cook Book covers how everyone can, with different levels of support depending on their needs, enjoy making food using tested methods and recipes that people have successfully made – and enjoyed eating – here.
“As well as the soups, wraps and omelette recipes we’ve already created and tested, we’re working on preparing different seasonal recipes as we work through the year. We can add to it over time too.
“We’ve seen people’s independent living skills develop as part of this co-produced cookbook and how people learn to make their meals safely. It’s impactful not just on their skills and independence, but it’s also linked to a healthy lifestyle and well-being. They’re all connected.”