Reflection

“¡Hola y bienvenidos a clase!” I begin my 1^st class for a Cooking Matters series held at a local elementary school. The class is full of Spanish speaking women and a few of their children. My volunteers and I, all non native Spanish speakers, will be conducting the series entirely in Spanish. I am hesitant to speak to these women in their native tongue for fear that I will butcher their language and not get my point across. As we begin to talk, my fears dissolve and I realize that we are communicating well. The women are full of questions and are eager to learn. In the first class we cover the food pyramid and discuss healthy food choices the women can make. All of the women have children and want to make better choices for themselves and their kids. We name the food groups by color: anaranjado para cereales, verde para verduras, rojo para frutas, azul para productos lactéos, morado para carnes y frijoles y amarillo para las grasas. The next week we learn about fiber. I make a silly mistake, as we compare the fiber content of different food items, by saying “purée de pata,” which means pureed foot, instead of saying mashed potatoes. The women laugh and suddenly the room feels more comfortable- we realize that no one is perfect when it comes to language or food choices. We make a vegetable stir fry with Quinoa. The women are excited to learn how to use Quinoa and how nutritious it is. One woman has been cooking it all of her life and another has a bag in her pantry and she doesn’t know what to do with it. The one woman shares how Quinoa is an important part of her culture and greatly enhances the quality of our conversation. We throw a few new vegetables into the stir fry- baby bok choy prompts “¿qué es esto?” as we talk about its origins and great flavor. There is also some tofu- many of these women have never eaten it before and are surprised to learn it has no cholesterol and is quite inexpensive. Another week we make Turkey chili and the chef brings in masa harina and a tortilla press. As she starts to make a tortilla and show it to the women, someone gets up and takes over the tortilla making. She expertly mixes the masa harina with water until it’s just the right consistency and presses the tortillas so that they are flat. She cooks them and they are delicious. Who knew masa harina was a whole grain? Cooking healthfully does not mean giving up a part of your culture; instead, it might mean you go back to its origins. Most of these women know how to cook and how to do it well. Our classes have helped to highlight the nutritional benefits of the foods they may already be consuming and to encourage greater consumption of those basic, healthful foods. It has also surprised them how inexpensive many of the ingredients are. We’ve helped them to find ways to use those healthy and inexpensive ingredients in order to get their families to eat and enjoy those foods. The greatest reward has been the sharing of culture and information. I think I can safely say the volunteers have learned just as much from participants as they have from us and that we all speak the same language.

Janna

Hunger Action Week

Hope everyone went outside this past weekend to soak up some sun and get some Vitamin D! It was such a pleasant surprise to have such a warm and sunny few days. Today marks the beginning of United Way of King County’s Hunger Action Week. The goal of the week is to raise awareness about hunger in King County and across the nation and to bring action about to end hunger. The United Way Hunger Fact sheet says that nationally “1 in 6 Americans, and nearly 1 in 4 kids struggles with hunger.”¹ In Washington State, 14% of the population experienced food insecurity in 2009.¹ Food have seen a 25% increase in visitors since 2007. ¹ Food insecurity and hunger is rising across the nation, including in our own neighborhoods here in King County.

What can you do to help? The United Way of King County suggests 5 ways you can take action this week:

1. Take the Hunger Challenge

Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner spending only $7 a day to get a sense of what people who rely on food stamps experience.

2. Volunteer to end hunger

Plant a garden, serve a meal, deliver groceries, stock a food pantry. There are plenty of ways you can lend a hand.

3. Learn more about the Hunger Relief Now! Plan

Find out what causes hunger, who is hungry and how you can get involved in solutions.

4. Engage your friends, family and colleagues

Tell everyone you know about Hunger Action Week, and encourage them to get involved. Contact your legislators by phone or e-mail to ensure we have strong hunger relief programs for people in need.

5. Give to United Way

Support United Way’s work to end hunger in our community.

Go here to find out more information: http://www.uwkc.org/news-events/event-calendar/haw/

I would encourage all of my readers to take the Food Stamps Challenge. The vast majority of our clients taking Cooking Matters classes are on Food Stamps. One of the best ways to understand the challenge of eating on a budget of $7/ day is to do it yourself. The United Way came up with some “rules” to follow in order to best understand how it is to live on Food Stamps.

Hunger Challenge rules:

• Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner spending only $7 per day.
• Salt and pepper don't count but all other seasonings, cooking oils, condiments, snacks, drinks, and everything else do.
• Don't use food you already own.
• Don't accept food from family, friends, coworkers and others. Not even the free samples from Costco!
• Try to include fresh produce and healthy protein each day.
• Keep track of expenses, food choices, and recipes and share your experiences on United Way of King County's blog. We’ll have a prize for the best recipe.

You can choose to do the challenge with your partner or family.

Household Size	Hunger Challenge Budget For Five Days
1	$7/day
2	$12/day
3	$18/day
4	$22/day
5	$26/day
6	$32/day
7	$35/day
8	$45/day

You can register on their website for the challenge. http://www.uwkc.org/news-events/event-calendar/haw/hunger-challenge.html

Would you consider taking the Challenge? If you do, what were some of the issues you came up against? What did you cook?

Find some inspiration below from a recipe we made the other week in class, enjoy!

Janna

Vegetable Lasagna

Chef Mallory Buford • Washington, D.C.

Serves 8, 1⁄8 of lasagna per serving

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package whole wheat lasagna noodles

3 cups fresh spinach

½ pound button mushrooms

1 large zucchini

1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes, no salt added

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

8 ounces block mozzarella cheese

1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1 large egg

Non-stick cooking spray

Optional Ingredients

Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions, drain in a colander, and run under cold water until cool to the touch.

3. Rinse spinach, mushrooms and zucchini. Chop spinach, thinly slice mushrooms, and dice zucchini into ½-inch pieces. Combine all the vegetables in a bowl.

4. Stir basil, oregano, salt, and pepper into the canned tomatoes, right in the can, to make a sauce.

5. Grate mozzarella cheese and reserve ¼ cup of the grated cheese for topping the lasagna.

6. Beat egg in a medium bowl, add ricotta cheese and grated mozzarella and mix.

7. Lightly coat the interior of a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Spread ½ cup of tomato sauce across the bottom of the dish.

8. Layer 3 noodles over the sauce followed by 1 cup cheese mixture, 1½ cups vegetables, and 2⁄3 cup tomato sauce.

9. Repeat layering 2 more times, ending with 3 noodles. Cover with the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle the reserved ¼ cup of grated mozzarella over the top of the lasagna.

10. Bake for 45 minutes, until cheese is melted and lightly browned on top, and dish is bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

11. Finely grate and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the lasagna before serving, if using.

Chef’s Notes

••Use thawed frozen spinach instead of fresh spinach. Be sure to squeeze all excess water from spinach.

••Sauté a variety of your favorite vegetables and add to the lasagna.

••Leftovers can be cut into single-size portions and frozen for up to 3 months.

••If using no-boil lasagna noodles, skip step 2.

¹ Hunger Action Week Toolkit. Hunger Fact Sheet. United Way of King County. Mar, 21 2011. http://www.uwkc.org/news-events/event-calendar/haw/fact-sheet.html

Food Safety

Hello all! Hope this past weekend of rain didn't bum you out too much, I spent more of my weekend on the couch, lazing around watching TV and reading books. It was nice to relax after a busy week of classes. We made some vegetable lasagna and Morrocan carrot salad in one class- lots of veggies and some excellent flavors. In another class, we had turkey chili and some tortillas which some of our participants made quite excellently. There were also two grocery store tours in which we learned more about how a grocery store is laid out and how to get the best nutritional bang for your buck. Each participant in our classes did a really great job picking out healthy foods that they could make for themselves and their families- it's really great to see the progress they've made!



Food safety is something that needs to be taken seriously in order to prevent food illness. It seems that with the recalls of food items such as ground beef, peanut butter and spinach, that maybe all of our food is at risk of being unsafe. In order to prevent food illness, you should follow the following guidelines:



Clean: Make sure to wash your hands before and after handling food. Wash hands with hot water and soap for at least 20 seconds and dry your hands completely. Whenever you use something to prepare food- such as a knife or cutting board- be sure to wash thoroughly by hand or in the dishwasher after used. Before and after preparing foods, such as raw meat, spray down the counter or other prep area, knives and cutting boards (anything that comes into contact with raw meats) with a disinfecting spray or a spray of 1 tablespoon liquid bleach to 1 gallon water.



Separate: Keep raw meat, poultry, etc. separate from other foods. When you purchase raw meats from the store, keep it wrapped in a separate bag and ask the person at the check out to bag meat separately. At home, designate a meat drawer and keep all raw meats in there. Keep them wrapped in a separate bag to prevent any juices from leaking out of the meat's wrapper. When cooking, be sure not to let the raw meat come into contact with anything that is not going to be cooked. It's a wise idea to have a different cutting board for meats to help cut down on the risk of cross contamination. Never use the same plate for raw and cooked meat. Anything that has touched raw meat should be disinfected and washed before further use.



Cook:

• Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops may be cooked to 145 °F.
• All cuts of pork, 160 °F.
• Ground beef, veal and lamb to 160 °F.
• All poultry should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F

When serving, be sure to keep hot foods hot (at 140 degrees F or hotter) and cold foods cold (at 40 degrees F or colder). The danger zone (40 degrees F- 140 degrees F) is where bacteria thrive and can cause food borne illness.




Chill: Soon after purchase, it is essential that any perishable foods be put into the refrigerator or freezer to get that food out of the danger zone. Anything that is frozen and needs to be thawed should be done so safely. It is best to put that food item into the fridge to thaw or to submerge in cold water which is changed every 30 minutes to ensure that the food remains cold while thawing. Any thawed food should not be refrozen.

You can look at the USDA's website for more information on keeping food safe: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Basics_for_Handling_Food_Safely/index.asp

Here is to happy, healthy and safe eating!

Janna

Calcium!

I hope everyone enjoyed the fantastic weekend we had! I took a few walks around my house and made a trip to the local farmer’s market. I’m really excited about the upcoming produce season! I also took a run around Green Lake- it’s such a beautiful spot when the sun is shining. This past week was a full one. I helped out at 5 classes and all were quite different. We had some fantastic fish tacos with an adobo chili and yogurt sauce- it almost burned my mouth off but was well worth it. We also made egg burritos, veggie stir fry and black bean and corn quesadillas, all quite yummy. I’m pretty lucky to have so many talented cooks and participants making delicious snacks for me.

One thing that we have to be careful of is making sure that no one gets sick or has an allergic reaction to the foods that we prepare in the class. This could mean a class without strawberries or nuts. An intolerance of particular concern is lactose intolerance. We try to make meals that do not contain dairy products when someone cannot consume them, or, we will put the dairy product on the side. But many people wonder how in the world they are going to get calcium if they cannot eat dairy products. No fear, there are options! One option would be to use dairy substitutes such as soy milk for milk because calcium is added to the soy milk so that it has the same amount of calcium as milk. But there are plenty of other options for getting the calcium needed for building and maintaining bones. Many plant products are actually quite good sources as are some animal products (like canned salmon, yum!).

Here are some non dairy sources:

Collard greens, 1 cup (357 mg)

Spinach, 1 cup (291 mg)

Soy beans, 1 cup (261mg)

Canned salmon with bones, 3 oz. (181 mg)

Calcium-set tofu, 3 oz (163 mg)

Oranges, 1 cup (72 mg)

Almonds, 1 oz (70 mg)

Fortified cereals (varies)

You can find more information and other sources at these two websites:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/calcium-sources/index.html

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR17/wtrank/sr17w301.pdf

Adults should get between 1000-1300 mg of Calcium a day, based on their sex and age. It’s important to incorporate calcium rich foods into your diet to maintain bone health, see below for a Cooking Matters Recipe that is a good (non-dairy) source of Calcium!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Janna

Pasta with Lima Beans and Collard Greens

By Chef Carole Wagner Greenwood in Washington, DC

Serves 12, 1 cup per serving

INGREDIENTS

1 13 oz. package whole wheat pasta
1 medium carrot
2 cloves garlic
2 medium onions
2 pounds (1 bunch) collard greens
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup water
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 15.5 oz. cans lima beans

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.

2. While pasta is cooking, peel, rinse and dice carrot and onions. Peel and mince garlic.

3. Rinse collard greens – more than once if necessary to remove all grit, remove tough stems and chop coarsely.

4. Heat canola oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat and sauté garlic, carrot, onion and greens until onions are soft.

5. Add water, spices and cook until greens are tender.

6. Drain and rinse beans in colander. Add beans to the greens. If needed, add a little more water to make a sauce.

7. Toss greens and beans with cooked pasta and cook for 5 more minutes or until pasta is heated through.

Contains 150 mg Calcium per serving.