DALLAS — "Smells so good," said Suitin Par, as she mixed together six ingredients to create a homemade granola bar.
Par recently joined cooking classes at HHM Health, specifically created for Burmese refugees. The mom of four is from Myanmar and has lived in Dallas for the last eight years.
"My life is freed," she said.
The State of Texas ranks as one of the top three states for Burmese refugee resettlement. To help them assimilate to a new lifestyle, HHM Health provides several resources to the Burmese population in Dallas.
"Our goal here at HHM Health really is for this to be a building where people feel safe," said Henley Walker, a registered dietitian with HHM Health. "We don't have any requirements for people to be able to receive health care here."
Cooking classes give them the opportunity to learn skills in the kitchen and show them different appliances. Walker also taught them how to read the nutrition facts on the side of a box.
Each cooking class, Walker picks a simple recipe. On Nov. 21, she went with granola bars with six ingredients, including rolled oats, peanut butter, honey, vanilla, chocolate chips and coconut.
Coconut was a key ingredient.
"I'm looking for, first, ingredients that are culturally familiar to them," Walker said. "Foods that blend well into the taste and the seasonings and the palates that they've grown up with."
Par is thankful for the friends she has made at HHM Health, including the staff that she's gotten to know.
With a translator, Par said, "I get to know more women and get connected. I'm glad I can learn foods that my kids love."
She's taken three cooking classes so far and is looking forward to more.