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In response to a need expressed by our food pantry partners for nutrition education resources, Meijer developed a cook book that features food safety and meal planning tips, as well as basic recipes using ingredients frequently found in food pantries.

Representatives with Meijer, including its team of Healthy Living Advisors and registered dietitians, worked with its food bank and pantry partners to help fill a void. The result is Simply Cook, a 48-page resource that shares:

• Nutrition education: How to read food labels, and how to fill your plate well using the MyPlate federal guideline.
• Meal planning tips and solutions: Use a calendar, make a list, and use leftovers in different recipes on another night. The book also includes a two-week meal planner.
• Food myths: Reveals the truth about the top most common food myths, including it’s too costly to eat healthy.
• Kitchen basics: Basic and affordable cooking tools like a food thermometer and a pan, as well as pantry staples like rice, pasta, and canned or dried beans.
• Food safety and storage tips: Fight food spoilage from bacteria and foodborne illnesses with proper food storage.
• Quick and easy recipes: Basic, healthy recipes using ingredients frequently found on food pantry shelves, including potatoes, tuna, beans, and canned vegetables and chicken. Recipes for breakfast, lunch, snack time and dinner. The book also includes a month of quick, easy dinner menus, and how to transform leftovers into a new meal.
• Shopping lists: Compiles the ingredients used in the monthly dinner menu.

We then distributed English and Spanish versions of Simply Cook to our food bank and pantry partners across the Midwest. For more information on the Simply Cook book, please click here.