Nearly every one of us will celebrate one or more of the upcoming fall and winter holidays, observances, and celebrations just around the corner. This year why not aim for praiseworthy recipes and meals that are also thrifty and nutritious as well as delicious? You need look no further. Following is a menu for a pretty easy breezy meal all the guests will enjoy. Uncle Morrie won’t need to sit in the corner with salad and applesauce while Cousins Burt and Sheila sift through each dish to avoid anything with meat, your granddaughter can’t have most grains, hubby has an Epi-pen handy in case he accidentally swallows nuts, your sister is diabetic and your old friends, the Carters, are vegan. Yikes! The scenario leaves a lot of guests in a post dinner hunger mode that might well ruin the celebration for them and for you.
Turkey, ham, and brisket are not necessarily meal requirements for every holiday meal, and no one needs marshmallows on yams, cheese and butter in every dish or layer cake for dessert. Exotic fruits and vegetables from other areas of the world might be fun for a holiday meal, but if they’re unseasonal where you live, they’ll be not only more expensive but less nutritional due to their long journey to your table.
Prepare or at least partially prep recipes up to three days ahead, and even longer for items you can freeze.
Look for what’s available and least expensive at the grocery store, including cuts of meat and eggs.
Be aware of what’s plentiful and seasonal where you reside. It will be fresher and less expensive.
When there are sales at the store on dry goods, stock up. We can always have use for canned beans, tomatoes, tuna, fruit, broth, dry milk, nut butters, corn meal, butter, vegetable oil, dry and canned milk and of course flour and baking supplies.
If friends or neighbors have a large supply of certain ingredients or prepared foods and you have something they might use, trade. It won’t cost either of you a penny.
Ask guests to bring a holiday dish, to share, that they enjoy and possibly prefer.
Know your limitations. Base your menu on availability of your time, your expertise and whether you’ll have a kitchen helper or be the chief cook and bottle washer.
Don’t overextend yourself or your budget.
Or be even more creative and make personal pizzas with easy no-yeast yogurt crusts and toppings you have on hand.
Or host a taco party and ask guests to bring components, they adore, for the taco fiesta. Have gluten free and vegan tortillas available if possible or ask guests to bring their preference.
Whether for Thanksgiving or any other winter meal celebration, the menu options are endless when the chef steps out of the conventional meal box and goes creative. Here are two thrifty menus that provide dietary options for all your guests. One is a quick and easy menu. The second is a menu plan for the ardent chef, on a budget, who wants to present showstoppers. Both menus are delicious and nutritious and varied to feed all the tastes and dietary needs of your guests while fitting into your budget. Mix and match or prepare just two or three of the dishes listed. It’s all about variation and deliciousness based on what works for you and your holiday crowd.
EASY MENU:
Stove Top Popcorn (gf/vegan)
White Bean Hummus with Rice Crackers (vegan, gf)
*Potato & Green Chile Stew
Zesty Barbecue Glazed Roast Turkey Drumsticks
Steamed Fresh or Frozen Broccoli with* Tamari aioli (veg, gf)
OR
Steamed Peas with mint and lemon butter (veg, gf)
Cornbread (gf) with butter/margarine
Homemade Jam
Chocolate Wacky Cake (vegan)
& Fruit Compote Sundaes (gf)
OR
*Chocolate Love Pudding (gf, veg/vegan)
& *Carrot Spice Cookies (vegan)
ARDENT MENU:
Humble Pumpkin Soup (veg/vegan)
*White Bean & Spinach Antipasto (gf, vegan)
*Gardeners’ Seasonal Company Galette (vegan / veg) &
Gardeners’ Seasonal Casserole (vegan / veg, gf)*Scalloped Spiced Yams & Apples with walnuts & cranberries (vegan/ veg, gf)
*Turkey Meatballs Stroganoff
Herbed Rice Pilaf (vegan, gf)
*Damper Bread with butter/margarine
*Oregon Apple Tart a la Jacques (veg/vegan)
& Maple Pumpkin Pie
OR
*Light Lemon Cheesecake Cups (gf)
& Zucchini Tahini Brownies (vegan)
By: By Kitchen Maven, Judi Berman-Yamada, https://www.facebook.com/Creativepenandpantry/
Many Recipes in my posts are found in my cookbook, “Thrifty Comfort Cooking for Challenging Times”. The book is available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. All (100%) of author royalties from retail sales of my cookbook go directly to the Oregon Food Bank, Tillamook Services, to assist families and individuals experiencing food insecurity. Purchasing the cookbook will benefit not only the recipient of the cookbook, but people in need, as well. Living near Tillamook County or even in Portland, you can purchase the book through Food Roots Farm to Table Marketplace for a sale price and all proceeds will go directly to that non-profit organization.
Angelica immigrated from Mexico to America in 2008, seeking a better life. Starting as a seasonal harvester, she soon discovered the many barriers between her and her goals. Realizing she was spending the majority of her wages to cover rent; she became determined to find a path to becoming a homeowner.
Unsure where to start, she went to her local credit union, began asking questions, seeking assistance. She learned that her first step was to build up credit, a process that took her seven months to be in good standing. Another issue arose, however, as her immigration status became another barrier to home ownership. Angelica was persistent with her credit union to provide a home loan, which she received after just weeks of deliberation.
Seeking to reduce her 30-year mortgage, Angelica made a commitment to pay off the house quickly, forcing her to cut expenses, save any funds, take on extra work and continually improve her credit. Through such planning, the house was paid in full in just four years.
Angelica shows that resilience and determination are fundamental traits to using existing systems to one’s benefit. By asking questions, getting advice from people with experience, and careful budgeting, anyone, no matter their financial status, can make their dream of home ownership, or finding financial freedom, a reality.
For more information on upcoming classes, visit our website at https://tillamookcountywellness.org/work-well/financial-wellness and follow Tillamook County Wellness on social media.
To promote the well-being and growth of children, access to regular physical activity is essential. Over the past three years, Tillamook County Wellness’ Health Promotions Committee has been offering fun, physical activity programs designed to introduce families to local outdoor recreational opportunities. Where participants qualify for exciting prize drawings.
Historically, we’ve collaborated with schools, local libraries, the Oregon Food Bank, and various community partners to promote these activities. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we’ve been able to incentivize participation through rewarding prizes.
Tillamook County Wellness would like to encourage more family participation, especially among families with children aged 0-17 years. Since younger children might not have the means or easy access to parks and other physical activity locations on their own, they depend on older family members for transportation and motivation. This realization has led us to develop a more deliberate strategy for engaging families in 2024.
We plan to identify and acquire participation prizes that are specifically appealing to families. The Kiwanis Community Giving Award Funds will play a crucial role in enabling us to achieve this goal.
Tillamook County Wellness extends its heartfelt gratitude to be the recipients of the Kiwanis Community Giving Fund. Their support is invaluable in helping us achieve our mission of promoting health and well-being in our community to young children in Tillamook County.
Picture of: Janeane Krongos of Tillamook Family Counseling Center and Ron Rush of Tillamook Kiwanis Club
Tillamook County Wellness is a community-driven initiative with a primary focus on reducing the risk of chronic diseases by promoting healthy behaviors from an early age. We believe that by making healthy choices more accessible and enjoyable, we can cultivate thriving and vibrant communities.
Parents and teachers prepare for children born during the COVID-19 pandemic head to preschool this fall.
In early spring 2020, when the COVID pandemic began to take hold, everyone’s daily routines changed. For many new parents, this meant an unexpected and sudden loss of much-needed support systems. Holly Rondeau is the mom of a toddler born in early February 2020, making her son a pandemic baby. “We had maybe a week or two, and then boom! (The) world closed down, my mom had to leave early because the airports were closing, and then we couldn’t see anybody for like a year.” Children born in 2020 experienced isolation during an essential phase of early childhood development. This fall, these pandemic babies head to preschool.
According to the Oregon Health Authority, there were 39,820 births in 2020. This fall, an estimated 10,000 of those children will enter preschool. This number of children is an increase of about 2,000 children from the prior year due to the inception of the state-funded Preschool Promise program which provides free or low-cost preschool for eligible 3- and 4-year-olds. Studies show early childhood education programs, like preschool, are critical for children in many areas, including academic achievement and future health.
With preschools preparing to take in these pandemic babies for the first time, there is some apprehension for the parents. Children, especially young children, learn through play, activities, and interacting with other children their own age. The forced isolation brought on by the pandemic led to many children spending their formative years without some of these vital interactions. The isolation children and families experienced during the pandemic varied based on factors like family size and location. How this isolation affected young children’s social skills is likely just as varied. Add in the dynamic of masking for a year or more, and small children were challenged even further by not getting social cues learned from reading facial expressions.
Research studies on how infants and young children fared during the pandemic are assessing for changes in early development. Unfortunately, they are finding them. A study published in Japan this month looked at the effects of screen time on infants and young children. The impact of screen time is significant because many parents turned to increased screen use during the pandemic. The Japanese study found the more screen time an infant had at age 1, the greater the risk of delays in communication and problem-solving of toddlers at ages 2 and 4. A second study looked at changes in early childhood development that pandemic babies experienced. The study found a decline in these children’s communication and personal- social skills. Parents like Rondeau hope preschool will help provide some of these lost abilities.
Keri Archer is a kindergarten teacher at Nehalem Elementary. She taught before, during, and after the pandemic, giving her an excellent perspective on how little ones do when attending school for the first time. From her perspective, Archer says the children starting school at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year were the most impacted by the pandemic. She notes kindergarteners that year had not attended preschool because of the pandemic closures and the first graders spent most of their kindergarten year attempting virtual learning. Archer found a lot of gaps in the children’s education, and the children lacked an understanding of how to behave or act in a school setting. “Preschool and kindergarten are the years we are as human beings learning how to relate to each other,” says Archer. “Typically, that’s the first group settings that a lot of kids are in…they have to learn how to get along with each other, and take turns, and play.” But there is hope, as Archer saw last year as a more typical school year, and she expects the same this year. Rondeau is ready for this with her son. “I’m excited for him to start preschool and kind of, like, see this next phase of his development.”
Studies of the effects of isolation on babies who grew into toddlers during the pandemic will likely be under scrutiny for years. Because of the isolation, many young children have not had the traditional opportunities to socialize with other children their age. Archer wants to reassure parents with young children attending school for the first time. “The encouragement of a parent goes a long way to help them be successful in school. Because it is always going to be scary.” The advice Archer would give parents going into the new school year is the same as she would have given to parents before the pandemic. “I think the more confident that parents can be about how fun it’s going to be, and how great it’s going to be, and that encouragement, and just feeling confident that educators are well versed in what they do and are going to handle it well so they can feel that confidence too.”
AUTHOR: Leanna Coy, FNP-C, Family Nurse Practitioner and Health Content Writer
Resources: Takahashi I, Obara T, Ishikuro M, et al. Screen Time at Age 1 Year and Communication and Problem-Solving Developmental Delay at 2 and 4 Years. JAMA Pediatr. Published online August 21, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.3057
Almeida, L., Rego, J. F., Girardi Teixeira, A. C., & Moreira, M. R. (2022). Social isolation and its impact on child and adolescent development: A systematic review. Revista Paulista de Pediatria, 40. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-0462/2022/40/2020385
Each year, lives are lost due to suicide. Suicide is an intentional self-inflected death. This cause of death is complex and is typically a result of many factors in a person’s life. These factors are often referred to as risk factors. A risk factor is a condition, characteristic, or attribute that can increase the risk of a negative outcome. Examples of suicide risk factors include: a previous suicide attempt, access to lethal means, social isolation, lack of access of care, problem gambling, substance use disorder, loss of a loved one (especially by suicide), and a stigma of discussing mental health. If you would like to learn more about risk factors, I recommend the CDC’s Risk and Protective Factors, this resource can be accessed on the CDC’s website(www.cdc.gov).
Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States and in Oregon. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the year 2021, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. The CDC’s data shows that in the year 2021 there were 48,183 suicide deaths in the United States. For more information about national suicide statistics visit www.cdc.gov. According to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), in the year 2021, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in Oregon. OHA’s Center for Health Statistics data shows that 893 Oregonians died by suicide in the year 2021. For more information the state level suicide statistics visit www.oregon.gov.
The good news is that this cause of death is preventable. One way to prevent suicide is to increase protective factors. Protective factors are a characteristic, attribute, or condition that can decrease a negative health outcome. Protective factors include: a connection with others, access to mental health care, access to basic needs, reduced access to lethal means, coping strategies, and problem-solving skills. For more information about protective factors, I recommend the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s (AFSP) Risk factors, Protective Factors, and Warning Signs, this resource can be accessed on the AFSP website (www.afsp.org).
If you would like to learn more about suicide prevention, I recommend attending a Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) Gatekeeper training. This training is an evidence-based suicide prevention training that has been used worldwide. In this training participants learn about suicide, suicide warning signs, conversations tips, and the three steps of QPR. After the completion of the training participants will receive a certificate, QPR Institute booklet, and other relevant prevention information.
Since the year 2020, the Tillamook Family Counseling Center (TFCC) has offered the QPR Gatekeeper training to community members every other month (or as requested). From September 2020-August 2023, TFCC prevention staff has offered 32 QPR Gatekeeper trainings (29 in English and 3 in Spanish) and have trained close to 300 community members. This past year, TFCC has begun to offer QPR Gatekeeper trainings in the Spanish language. If you would like to learn more about this new offering, please contact Angelicao@tfcc.org. TFCC will present a virtual English QPR Gatekeeper training on September 11th from 10-11:30AM. If you would like to register for this training email me at Janeanek@tfcc.org.
If you are having thoughts about suicide, you are not alone, help is available. For local crisis support call the Tillamook County 24/7 crisis support at (503)842-8201. For national support call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800)273- 8255.
If you should have questions about this blog. Please feel free to contact Janeane at Janeanek@tfcc.org.
AUTHOR: Janeane Krongos, Tillamook Family Counseling Center, CPS
For more local health and wellness information, visit www.tillamookcountywellness.org or follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Breastfeeding is a sound method of giving your baby a healthy start in life. It is a great bonding experience for both mom and baby. However, with feedings around the clock, breastfeeding can also be taxing. When combined with other responsibilities, like caring for other children, working, and household chores, new mothers can become worn down and stressed. The time you spend breastfeeding or pumping breast milk does not have to feel like another chore. Instead, use this time to find ways to care for yourself and improve your well-being. Here are some suggestions to guide your self-care.
Meditate
Find a comfortable place to sit while breastfeeding, like your favorite spot on the couch or rocking chair. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Let random thoughts go. If your mind begins to race, focus on your breathing. Consider lighting a scented candle or diffusing essential oils that provide a pleasant atmosphere for you to relax in.
Listen to music
Do you feel like you listen to lullabies and “Baby Shark” all day? When was the last time you played some of your favorite music and took time to genuinely enjoy it? Now is the time! Music can relax you, lift your mood, and remind you of happy times.
Watch a favorite TV show or movie
Much like music, you may be streaming children’s shows all day or not have time to watch TV at all with the new baby, let alone a movie. Being forced to sit still for the feeding or pumping gives you that time to catch up on “Bridgerton,” “The Batchelor,” or watch a favorite movie.
Read a book, listen to an audiobook or podcast
Feeding sessions during the middle of the night may not be ideal for watching screens. Instead, treat yourself to that new book you’ve been wanting to read. Too tired for your eyes to focus? Keep an audiobook or podcast downloaded that you can listen to with your headphones.
Nutrition
Busy moms constantly juggle responsibilities, and eating well for themselves can fall by the wayside. Remedy this by setting up some healthy snacks and a beverage for yourself when preparing to breastfeed. Keep some cut-up fruit, vegetables and hummus, or cheese and crackers on hand that you can easily eat while breastfeeding. Prepare a cup of tea, a glass of lemonade, or even just that bottle of water you never seem to have time to drink. You will finish your session less hungry and better hydrated.
Journal
Being a new mom is a significant change and can lead to a roller coaster of emotions. Many women find journaling helpful in their mental health journey. Writing down thoughts and feelings can be insightful in helping you understand them better. Other women enjoy journaling to document milestones they can look back on later.
Rest
Outside of your breastfeeding or pumping sessions, remember to rest. Rest is vital for physical and mental health. With a new baby, breastfeeding occurs so frequently around the clock it is hard to get more than a few hours of consistent sleep. The body is also recovering from the effort of giving birth. Your body needs rest to aid in this recovery. There is a reason your provider told you to sleep when the baby sleeps. The baby napping is not a time to ensure your house is spotless. Rest remains essential for moms who continue breastfeeding after the baby sleeps through the night. Not getting enough sleep can lead not only to fatigue but also depression. Experts recommend 7-9 hours of sleep a night. If you are napping during the day, limit the nap to no more than 15-20 minutes. Longer naps put you in deeper sleep that can make you feel sluggish when you wake up. Also, long naps can interrupt your nighttime sleep patterns.
The benefits of self-care cannot be said enough. Moms are often the “everything, everywhere, all at once” and put their well-being last. Because breastfeeding or pumping breast milk forces you to sit still, this is an ideal time to recharge and take care of yourself. Find a space away from household chaos and ask not to be interrupted. Taking time for your well-being will help you stay healthy to better care for the others in your life.
AUTHOR: Leanna Coy, FNP-C, Family Nurse Practitioner and Health Content Writer
