I Hate Cooking helps prepare independence

Lauren Kelly has been helping people find their motivation in the kitchen through her Bundaberg business I Hate Cooking.

I Hate Cooking is the brainchild of former Bundaberg resident Bek Daley, and the passionate business that teaches people how to cook food can be found all of Australia.

As a passionate Mumtrepreneur and founder of I Hate Cooking, Bek says she saw the opportunity to simplify people’s lives by cooking for them in their own homes, with their own food, in their own kitchens – just as a cleaner would come to clean.

Lauren moved to the Bundaberg Region last year, after running I hate Cooking in Mackay for two years, and she hasn’t stopped sharing her culinary skills since.

“My friend Bek Daley started the business and I felt there was a great need for it,” Lauren said.

“So I started a branch in Mackay where I was living at the time and it took off; we now have over 70 cooks around Australia.”

Lauren is passionate about making life easier for people and she enjoys attending people’s homes to cook them a hearty, healthy meal as part of the in-home I hate Cooking service.

“Our in-home cooking service is where we cook for the participant,” she said.

“We have around 160 dishes on the menu.”

I hate Cooking helps NDIS participants

I Hate Cooking is an in-home cooking company and a registered provider with the NDIS.

“With our registration we often received requests to teach people to cook in their own home and the results of that is our Cook Eat Repeat program,” Lauren said.

Lauren said there was a variety of cooking school and programs available to the public, but I hate Cooking was a little different.

“When we started researching what was out there, we found that there were cooking programs available,” she said.

“But many of them were conducted in commercial kitchens with set menus and not really offering many opportunities for a participant to learn to cook in their own kitchen with their own appliances.

“So, the in-home program is designed for them to be able to cook the recipes that they choose at home.”

Lauren said the Cook Eat Repeat program cooks helped participants create a shopping and utensil list during each session, and then would return the following week and to assist in cooking the dishes.

The Cook Eat Repeat program offers all meals, all dietary requirements and the participants help to decide their menus.

“Anyone can access the program, but it is designed to help participants gain independence,” Lauren said.

“We have built relationships with many local support coordinators who help participants find suitable programs to help them reach their goals 

“We find in many cases that there is concerns from aging care givers about what will happen in the future.

“The NDIS is designed to help participants live as normal life as possible and learning basic skills from passionate cooks, with a heart to serve, makes more sense than the carer trying to teach them as well as taking on all of the other care duties.”

To find out more about I Hate Cooking click here.

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