Montana State college offers informal cooking sessions to help students beyond the classroom

BOZEMAN - In the waning late afternoon light of a teaching kitchen in Montana State University's Herrick Hall last week, onions and leeks sizzle in hot pans on four stovetops, while delicata squash, cut up and rubbed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt, roast in the ovens below. Students talk and laugh together as they mince garlic for their current project: creating a dish of creamy garlic penne pasta with roasted vegetables.

The students were participating in the Student Stir, an informal program offered by the College of Education, Health and Human Development that aims to help undergraduate students learn how to cook meals that are inexpensive, quick and nutritious while also providing participants a social space to combine cooking and eating together. It's one of the ways the college is working to support students beyond the classroom.

"This is one of the pieces of the puzzle," said Sara Heller, academic adviser in the College of Education, Health and Human Development and the event's organizer. "Students need tutoring support and affordable housing, but they also need access to healthy meals so they can function and do well in school."

During the Student Stir session, students cooked with vegetables grown at MSU's student-run Towne's Harvest Garden. Three students who are part of the Montana Student Dietetics Association at MSU led the session, teaching their fellow students how to prepare and safely chop vegetables, among other skills.

Each hour-and-a-half-long Student Stir session is open to a maximum of 14 students, Heller said. Along with hands-on instruction and various tips for cooking the day's dish, students receive a packet containing recipes, a cost analysis, a sample grocery list and links to information about budgeting, other recipes and more. After preparing the recipe, students then eat together and are invited to take leftovers with them.

Heller said the college started the Student Stir in 2024, after members of the Montana Student Dietetics Association at MSU expressed interest in leading cooking classes for their peers. Around the same time, Heller and Herrick Hall Food Lab manager Cailyn Gillis learned about research that found many young adults lack foundational cooking skills. Heller and Gillis teamed up with a group of four undergraduate students in a human development and family science class to come up with a plan to address those foundational skills through informal cooking classes. The College of Education, Health and Human Development's dean's office invested $200 to pilot the Student Stir, and then the first session was held in the spring of 2024.

Heller said that previous Student Stir sessions have featured recipes for fajita vegetables and chicken; vegetarian chili and cornbread; and build-your-own frittatas.

Heller noted that all of the students who completed evaluations of the Student Stir said they felt more confident in the kitchen since participating in the program.

"I've never taken a cooking class, and I wanted to try something new as well as learn new recipes that I can use, take home and try out," one student noted in their feedback. "I learned new tips and tricks for the kitchen, and the recipe book was super helpful," another student said.

Four more Student Stir sessions will be offered this academic year. Interested students are invited to contact Heller at [email protected] or 406-994-4002 to learn more.