by Michelle | Dec 6, 2018 | Eat Well, Recipes
By Dana Zia, The Golightly Gourmet
“I think it is more important to have fun and spend time with my guests at parties.” The Barefoot Contessa
The festive party season has officially begun. Lovely parties decked out in garlands of cedar and holly berries, beckon to us. Twinkling lights, laughter and rich holiday foods grace warm homes filled with party goers. We might even be so inspired by the season as to deck our own halls and have a party. Whatever the case, going to or having a party, there is a definite art to it. Here are some tips to help you avoid getting stressed out of your mistletoed mind and expanding your waist to Santa’s girth.
One of the key components of a stress-free holiday party is easy, healthy food. I know “easy” and “healthy” used in the same sentence with “holiday party” seems like an oxymoron, but it is possible. I assure you.
There are two festive dishes that you can serve at any party that will be received with big rosy smiles; the vegetable platter and the fruit and cheese platter. We’re not talking just any ole platter like you get from a grocery store. (Even those will do in a pinch) We are talking about an updated, healthy and sexy looking tray of merry, healthy foods! These trays are easy to put together and filled with goodness that we all need this time of year. They can even be elevated to art work, with little planning and prep. Oh, and they don’t require any cooking. Easy, healthy and delicious; check.
First off, when planning the platter of your choice, think textures and colors. Start by choosing an interesting platter to arrange it on. A large wooden cutting board or a bamboo tea tray are my favorite go-to containers. I have found some great platters at Good Will or other thrift stores that are interesting and affordable too.
Let’s start with the luscious fruit and cheese platters. Pick out an array of different cheeses; a hard one, a soft creamy one, a mild one and a pungent one. Choosing locally made cheeses adds even more interest to the tray or try making a cheese log for a kick. Tip: Let your cheeses come to room temperature for a few hours before serving as cheese tastes better that way.
Next, think fruit; colorful, different shapes, and the simpler the better. Choose fruits that are in season and are easy to pick up and eat. Grapes, apples and pear slices, figs and tangerines slices are good choices for this time of year. (To keep your pear and apple slices from turning brown, squeeze the juice of an orange over them and toss till well coated.)
Add some dried fruit, like cranberries and apricots, then some nuts roasted cashews and almonds are always good. Choose some sliced breads or crackers for the platter as well. I love nut crackers, like “Blue Diamond Nut Thins” because they are healthy, gluten-free and have great crunch.
Let’s talk vegetable platters, or in French, “crudités platter,” which are equally enjoyable to create. Once again, think colors and textures. Carrots of different colors, sliced in half lengthways, radicchio and Belgian endive cut into little scoops, cherry tomatoes, snow peas, lightly steamed green beans and asparagus, julienned bell peppers and celery make great choices. Make a dip for the vegetables that is sleek and different. Something like a “Green Goddess”, baba ganoush, or zesty orange hummus dip. (Recipe follows)
Now for the fun part, assembling your masterpiece. Allow your creative spirit to flow here. Pick some herbs, like sprigs of rosemary and sage, to arrange around the platter to add interest. Pine boughs that have been washed work too if you can’t get fresh herbs. Pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries sprinkled around the herbs make a lovely holiday theme.
You can use leaves from the garden to place under the cheese, fruit and veggies. Make sure they are non-poisonous and pesticide free first! Our native salal is a great one to use; completely edible and evergreen. (Holly and mistletoe are not edible, so don’t use them.) Then arrange the fruit and cheeses or the veggies in a fun and pleasing way. Use your imagination and most of all enjoy the process and the different flavors you are presenting. Your tray will be well visited! There are many people wishing to eat healthy foods this time of year. I wish you a healthy and (relatively) stress-free holiday season!
Zesty Orange Hummus
Adapted from Cooking Light. You can get all the spices, from your local grocery store, including Mother Nature’s in Manzanita. Great served with veggies or pita wedges.
½ onion roughly chopped
2-6 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of orange juice
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
2 teaspoons of low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons of tahini (sesame paste)
1 tablespoon of dried parsley
¼ teaspoon of ground ginger
¼ teaspoon of ground coriander
¼ teaspoon of turmeric
½ teaspoon of cumin
½ teaspoon of smoked paprika
Or regular paprika
1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans (rinsed and drained)
Get down the old food processor or a blender on steroids. Add the onion and the garlic to the food processor then whirl until diced up. As the processor is running, add the rest of the ingredients, one at a time until well blended.
Serve sprinkled with smoked paprika, a drizzle of a really good olive oil and some holiday love.
by Michelle | Nov 29, 2018 | Being Well
By Betsy Bredau
We all find satisfaction being productive, contributing members of our community. For those of us who are retired, our identities and sense of self-worth may have been tightly intertwined with our profession and now that is gone.
Meanwhile, our rural county is blessed with great beauty, but our modest population means that we have an equally modest tax base and not much funding for extra services found in a wealthier, more populous county. Thus, non-profits and volunteer groups fill an important role. Social services, animal shelters, public lands, our hospital, schools and libraries could all use help. Here’s where we seniors come in: we are hard workers, self-disciplined and have old-fashioned common sense. In other words, we are perfect volunteers.
For ideas on how and where to volunteer your time, go to the Tillamook County Giving Guide, at www.tillamookcountypioneer.net and watch for the NEW 2018-19 Giving Guide soon to be in mailboxes throughout the county. Then match against your likes, dislikes, transportation needs, etc. If you try something and don’t like it, try something else until you find the right fit. If nothing appeals to you, or you don’t want to commit or you have no transportation, there is still something you can do. Bring a bag, wear a glove and pick up litter on the street outside your home or on your next walk. Even this small step contributes to a better community.
I chose to volunteer with the Northwest Oregon Restoration Partnership (NORP) nursery, part of the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership (TEP.) The nursery is located adjacent to the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) facility and is a cooperative effort of the TEP and OYA. My job is to weed small plants and plant seedlings. It may not sound like much, but it’s very satisfying to spend a day weeding four hundred native plants that will be used for salmon habitat restoration.
To my surprise, the most rewarding part of my job at the nursery has been working with the young men who become eligible to work there during the last year of their incarceration. For privacy reasons, I can’t disclose details, but it is apparent to me that our tax dollars are being put to sensible and worthwhile use for the rehabilitation of these guys. The staff does an exceptional job providing an environment to steer these young men in the right direction. It has been a powerful and positive experience that I never would have had if not for my volunteer work.
Volunteering is a like a good run on a beautiful day combined with a productive day at work: you have a sense of accomplishment afterwards and a positive outlook. Try it!
by Michelle | Nov 24, 2018 | Move Well
By Laura Swanson
From the beginning of the Tillamook County Wellness efforts, an emphasis has been on simple, easy changes folks can make that will have a positive impact on their overall well-being. Walking and hiking were part of that equation (which also includes making healthier eating choices, like eating more vegetables, improving self-care and drinking more water.)
Tillamook County Wellness has brought multiple partners together and early on identified that increasing and improving our local trails would assist with improving our community’s overall health. Enlisting local residents to help with trail building and maintenance is a win-win-win for everyone!
Through meetings with various local groups, including Tillamook County Wellness, Oregon Coast Visitors Association determined that utilizing funds for a Trailkeepers of Oregon position to support trail development and maintenance would benefit the local communities as well as support tourism efforts.
One of the first work parties occurred at Hoquarton Slough trail on November 3rd, led by Susan Schen of Trailkeepers of Oregon, where volunteers cleared brush on a portion of the trail. The newly formed Tillamook Mid-County Parks and Recreation was approached by the City of Tillamook regarding the need to revitalize the Hoquarton Slough trail, which connects to the newly established Crosstown Connections trail at Goodspeed Park. Board members for the Parks & Rec coordinated a meeting between the Rotary Club, Trailkeepers of Oregon and the City, which resulted in the work party. “This is just one example of how community partners are coming together in unique and creative ways to get things done in Tillamook County,” said Michelle Jenck, Mid-County Parks and Recreation board member.
There are more opportunities to assist with trail building and maintenance throughout Tillamook County.
Trailkeepers of Oregon is also working with the Lower Nehalem Community Trust on new trails at the LNCT’s Elk Meadows property. The first work party was on November 14th. There is another opportunity to assist at Elk Meadows on Wednesday November 28th from 9 am to 1:30 pm. Registration is requested – go to the Trailkeepers Facebook events page, or at https://tinyurl.com/yddeadyr. Elk Meadows is located between Manzanita and Nehalem, down Bayside Gardens Road, off Neptune Way.
Here’s what you can expect if you’d like to try your hand at trail building. Volunteers will help with cutting back brush and carving new tread using loppers, hand saws, and digging tools. There will be some walking on uneven ground and it may get muddy. A mandatory, detailed safety discussion will be held before work begins, and they will teach you all the skills you need to know, so feel free to join them if you’ve never done trail work before! For more information about LNCT’s Elk Meadows trail-building, contact Shane Sjogren, Stewardship Lead at shane@nehalemtrust.org or go to www.nehalemtrust.org.
For more about opportunities with Trailkeepers of Oregon, contact Susan Schen at susan.schen@trailkeepersoforegon.org or www.trailkeepersoforegon.org.
There will continue to be multiple trail-building and trail maintenance projects throughout the area with various groups and agencies, such as the State Department of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service. Tillamook County Wellness will be an information resource to connect community volunteers with these fun and rewarding opportunities. Providing trails and more access for local residents to experience and enjoy the natural beauty of our surroundings is one of the keys to improving community wellness.
by Michelle | Nov 15, 2018 | Archive
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention (HPCDP) section along with the “Place Matters” Awards Committee announced their selection of Tillamook County Wellness for its 2018 Outstanding Organizational Leadership Award. The announcement was made at the annual “Place Matters” conference, held in Portland on October 30th.
According to OHA Health Systems Policy Specialist, Patricia Selinger, this award is given to an individual or organization that has demonstrated outstanding leadership in chronic disease prevention, early detection and self-management in the areas of leadership, building alliances, eliminating disparities and implementing creative, innovative solutions. Special recognition was given to Bill Baertlein, County Commissioner; Marlene Putman, Public Health Administrator, Michelle Jenck, Tillamook County Wellness Coordinator; and Jessica (Dusti) Linnell, Oregon State University Extension Family & Community Health.
In introducing the award, presenter Todd Beran said, “This award celebrates the committed leadership of the Tillamook County Year(s) of Wellness Team to engage the community and improve population health and community livability in Tillamook county.” He went on to state, “This initiative builds relationships among friends, family and co-workers, between organizations and with leadership at the local and state level. They are led by a 22-member task force appointed by the Board of County Commissioners, representing a broad spectrum of county leaders. This coalition focuses on addressing many health challenges in Tillamook County relating to chronic disease prevention.”
Accomplishments highlighted in the award presentation included:
- The community is engaged and kept informed through the tillamookcountyhealthmatters.org website, feature stories in the Tillamook Headlight Herald and Tillamook County Pioneer and local KTIL radio station, as well as through Facebook, featuring classes, events, shared recipes and much more.
- As testimony to its success, Tillamook County Wellness emerged as a brand. Survey results have estimated 85% of residents now recognize this community brand.
- In 2017, when the task force asked, “What could Tillamook County Wellness do to support what was already happening and even enhance it?” The decision was to focus on one community health priority: preventing type 2 diabetes.
- Significant accomplishments of this leadership team include: Addressing tobacco; housing; hiking trails; engaging/creating a coalition of many organizations; and creating a substantial movement that holds great promise for moving Tillamook County forward to become a community where healthy choices are the easy choices.
On Wednesday, November 7, 2018, the award recognition was shared with the Tillamook County Board of Commissioners. “This has been fun” said Commissioner Baertlein. “A lot of what we do in community leadership can be very difficult. While this is a lot of work, it has been very rewarding to convene partners to address these community health challenges in ways that are positive and that bring people together to generate creative solutions.”
Everyone in the leadership team acknowledged that the success of the award really belongs to the community. “The people who live here are the ones making a difference,” said Putman. “We couldn’t do this without our community partners and the support of our residents who are driving the changes that will help them live healthier lives.”
by Michelle | Nov 15, 2018 | Recipes
Recipe Source: Recipe and photo from www.FoodHero.org
Number of servings: 6
Time for preparation (including preparation and cooking): 35 min
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh green beans
1 Tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil
1⁄8 teaspoon salt
1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
- Snap the ends off the green beans and rinse the beans in water.
- Lay the green beans on a metal baking sheet.
- Drizzle the oil, salt and pepper over the beans. Toss to coat.
- Roast in a 425 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes. Stir the beans a couple times while roasting.
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.
