Tiny floury fingerprints everywhere, rolling pins clattering across tables and lots of giggles — our sessions with the Mindful Mums group at Craigmillar Library were joyful, busy and a little bit chaotic (but in the best way).
We ran a series of cooking sessions with a group of up to 15 mums and babies who meet weekly as part of the Mindful Mums group. The group provides a supportive space where parents can connect with each other, share experiences and learn new skills. Volunteer organisers arrange a variety of activities, talks and guest visits — including us — helping to create a warm, welcoming environment where new parents feel comfortable taking part.
Building confidence in the kitchen is a key part of supporting family wellbeing. When parents feel capable preparing simple meals from scratch, they are more likely to rely less on ultra-processed foods and pass those skills on to their children (something we explore further in this blog). These sessions created a relaxed space where participants could ask questions, swap ideas and talk openly about the (often challenging) realities of caring for and feeding young families.
The mums, babies and volunteers ate lunch together during every session.
Although we didn’t have access to a kitchen or our usual mobile cooking equipment, such as hobs or air fryers, we were still able to cover essential cooking skills and techniques. Each session was adapted so that toddlers could safely take part — handling ingredients, exploring textures and trying new foods, in some cases for the very first time. We created a space that could get messy: little hands squished soft dough between fingers and eagerly tasted ingredients as they were prepared.
Over the course of the programme, participants learned to make a variety of simple, affordable recipes including flatbreads, smoothies, potato salad, roast squash, wild garlic and cheese scones, and a toddler-friendly carrot cake. The room would often fill with the comforting smell of warm spices and freshly mixed ingredients as families worked together around shared tables. The carrot cake recipe was developed as a healthier sweet treat for young children, for whom it is recommended to limit sugar intake in the early years. We used mashed banana, cinnamon and dates to naturally sweeten the cake, introducing families to alternatives that reduce added sugar without sacrificing flavour. The finished cakes were topped with mascarpone, making them feel like a proper treat while still keeping sugar levels low.
Flatbread making proved to be an ideal first cooking activity for toddlers. With no sharp tools involved and plenty of opportunity for stretching and kneading, it encouraged hands-on learning and sensory play. For a simple chapati or roti-style flatbread, we used a basic ratio of around two cups of flour to one cup of water, with a splash of vegetable oil and a pinch of salt — a flexible, affordable recipe that families can easily recreate at home.
At the final gathering, the group shared their food with other local community groups invited by the Mindful Mums, including Wee Blether, members of the wider library community and the Books for Babies group. Tables were filled with baked goods prepared during the sessions, ready to be shared and enjoyed together. Our Edinburgh Food Social apprentice cycled over with a hot cottage pie and a side of greens, adding a hearty centrepiece to the meal. We also welcomed a visit from a local MP and their team, who were out meeting community groups in the area.
Throughout the sessions, we had many thoughtful conversations about how eating habits can shift when you have a young family. Parents spoke about the challenges of finding time to cook while caring for babies, the pressure to provide healthy meals on tight budgets, and the importance of building confidence in the kitchen. After we had wrapped up our final session, we received this lovely note from one of the mums:
Some lovely feedback!
We are hopeful that this programme will be the beginning of more sessions like these in the future. There is a clear appetite for spaces where new parents can come together, learn practical skills and build supportive networks around food. Expanding this work would allow us to reach more families, create more opportunities for shared learning and help embed healthy, confident cooking habits from the very start of family life.
