2 cups whole kernel corn (fresh, frozen or canned and drained)
2 cups lima beans (fresh, frozen or canned and drained)
2 cups cut okra (fresh or frozen)
1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed or diced tomatoes
1 cup water
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Directions
Wash hands with soap and water.
In a large saucepan on medium heat, sauté onion in the oil until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to medium-low and slowly cook until the veggies are tender, the liquids reduce and the flavors are blended, about 30 to 45 minutes.
Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.
Notes
The amounts of each vegetable are provided as a guide and do not have to be exact. Create your own combination according to your taste and what’s available!
Try adding other vegetables such as black eyed peas, chopped bell pepper, hot pepper or zucchini.
Try adding other seasonings such as garlic powder, thyme, basil or hot sauce.
If using fresh corn, slice 2 cups kernels from 2 to 4 ears, uncooked or cooked.
If using fresh tomatoes, use 4 large to 6 medium (3 cups chopped, peel first if desired).
Looking for a creative way to use up the overflow of zucchini from your garden?! Give this Zucchini Pie a try!
1 tube (8 oz.) refrigerated crescent rolls
3 medium zucchini, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs. Tillamook butter
2 tsp. minced fresh parsley
1 tsp. snipped fresh dill
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 ¼ cup grated Tillamook Pepper Jack cheese (divided)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Separate crescent dough into eight triangles; place in a greased 9-inch pie plate with points toward the center. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of plate to form a crust; seal perforations.
In a skillet, sauté zucchini and garlic in butter. Add the parsley, dill, salt, pepper and ½ cup cheese.
Spoon into the crust. Pour eggs over top; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover edges loosely with foil.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.
Yield: 6 servings.
For a lighter version, turn your pie into a frittata! Remove the crescent rolls from the recipe and add your vegetable and egg mixture directly to a well-greased pan and bake as instructed.
Photo & Recipe Source: Abby Carroll
For more local health and wellness information, visit www.tillamookcountywellness.org or follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The Tillamook County Fair is this week and we all know what that means – Fun, Fellowship and FOOD! This phrase was the mantra of Tillamook’s former Mayor, Suzanne Weber, who led the Sacred Heart Parish food booth at the fair for many years. Sadly, the Sacred Heart booth will no longer be part of the fair which means no more fresh salads, grilled cheese sandwiches or homemade berry cobbler. This also means, no more garlic fries. Nooooooo!
Just about everyone has their favorite “fair food” they look forward to every year. Whether it is cotton candy, corn dogs or funnel cakes, the key is to enjoy these annual treats without overdoing it. “Fair time is a special time and that means it is okay to indulge,” says Lewis Martin, a registered dietitian with the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council. Also a member of the Tillamook County Wellness Advisory Committee, Martin encourages fairgoers to think about sharing treats like elephant ears or giant cinnamon rolls with family and friends.
Other suggestions for ways to enjoy fair food without adding to your waistline or slimming down your wallet include eating a well-balanced meal or snack before you go to the fair. Here are a few suggestions:
Include protein and whole grains with breakfast for lasting energy. Try oatmeal with yogurt and fruit.
Colorful vegetables can be hard to find at the fair, so plan to eat them at other meals that day. Have a salad or vegetables with your lunch before you go or for dinner back at home.
Healthy snacks can be simple and can be packed in a small cooler or lunch bag, such as: individual cheese slices, apples, oranges, sliced vegetables or baby carrots, nuts and dried fruit like raisins.
According to Dusti Linnell, an associate professor of practice with OSU Extension Family & Community Health and Wellness advisory committee member, “The key is to limit high calorie foods to special occasions and consider ways to boost nutrition whenever possible. Great ideas for sweet treats are to add nuts or fruit toppings to ice cream or frozen yogurt or choose desserts with fruit or whole grains like oats in pies and crisps.”
When eating at the fair, Linnell suggests making at least one healthy choice for each meal, like adding a side of grilled vegetables to an order of teriyaki noodles. If curly fries are your go-to fair food, consider sharing those with others and combine with a salad or a burger with lettuce, tomato and onion. Local vendors serving additional options might be found inside the exhibit hall or near the carnival, so be sure to scope out all your options before settling on your final meal plan.
Intentionally combining healthy choices when eating treats helps regulate blood sugar and avoid feeling sluggish. This is always important but especially during Fair, where you’ll need lots of energy to do all that walking and talking! With that in mind, remember to drink lots of water throughout your day. Consider bringing a water bottle or replacing soda with bottled water when ordering meals.
As a final note, the fair can be a crowded, bustling place. Frequent handwashing is another important way to avoid spreading illness. Take advantage of hand washing stations located throughout the fair and have hand sanitizer as an added safety precaution.
Staying connected socially is as important for our well-being as eating healthy foods. Both contribute to a stronger immune system and improved mood. Even if you don’t plan to go to the fair, consider ways you can gather with friends and family to enjoy some fun, fellowship and food this summer.
AUTHOR: Michelle Jenck, Director of Community Well-Being at Adventist Health Tillamook
For more local health and wellness information, follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Gardening can be a wonderful hobby for enjoying fresh veggies and spending time outdoors, but it can also be intimidating to figure out how to get started as a beginner gardener. We recently talked with Sarah Ostermiller, a Tillamook County Master Gardener through OSU Extension, to learn more about her experience as a gardener and any advice she might have for those who want to try their hand this spring.
How did you originally get started in gardening?
I tell people that I do not remember a time I didn’t garden. My grandmother had a garden and when she babysat, we would be outside and she would hand me big seeds that a little kid could handle, and she would show me how to put them in the ground. And I was absolutely fascinated that they would turn into beautiful flowers or peas to eat. I was hooked from the time I was about 4 or 5 years old so when I retired, the first thing I did when moving here was take the master gardening training and I’ve been involved ever since.
What do you wish you had known when you first started gardening on your own?
Don’t over do it! I think the first garden I planted on my own was probably in college and I planted every seed I could find in a relatively small space and it got away from me. I didn’t have the time to take care of it, to weed it, or to preserve it after harvest. I think the best thing first gardeners can do is decide how much time they have and how much space they have, and then choose exactly what is the most special thing that they want to grow. Start small because it can be overwhelming.
I’m a vegetable gardener primarily, and any cold-weather crops are very easy to grow. So this time of year, you can start getting lettuce, radishes and peas started. Other cold crops like cabbages, broccoli, kales are also relatively easy to grow. “Cool weather crops” start easily in the colder soil in the colder early months of the summer.
What are some common mistakes that first time gardeners make?
Growing things that look good in the seed catalog but your family isn’t going to eat – if you have picky kids who don’t like vegetables, it might not be a good idea to grow kohlrabi but corn might be okay. The best thing to do is try to grow things that you or your household will eat and start with few things that you enjoy using in the kitchen. It may not be as exciting as growing something more exotic or unusual, but when it produces well and tastes good, there’s nothing more exciting than that.
What should people know about our climate when it comes to gardening on the coast?
There are two important things to know about your garden space: the weather and the soil. You could be at the beach and have more rain and wind and sandy soil or you could be up on the side of the coastal range and the soil is really forest loam where you get a full sun exposure. Those things make a big difference on what will grow well and how much time you have to grow things until it gets cold again. I always recommend that people try growing things in raised beds where they have more control over the soil and crops.
Do you have a basic overview of what you would tell someone who is just starting out?
The first step is deciding what exactly you would like to grow: vegetables, flowers, or maybe trees? Then spend a little bit of time doing some research: the local libraries have wonderful selections of gardening how-to books. And if you aren’t sure about what kind of soil you have and want to do a soil test, OSU Extension can help make recommendations on how to do that.
Another great way to get started is to talk to your friends and neighbors! If you walk by someone’s house while they’re out gardening, stop and chat with them. Gardeners love to talk about what they’re doing and they absolutely love to talk about their gardens so don’t hesitate to ask questions and then contact us if you have any specific questions.
How can folks utilize the resources and knowledge at OSU Extension?
The best ways to contact the Master Gardeners is to call the Tillamook County OSU Extension office or email directly at tillamook.mastergardeners@oregonstate.edu. People can also visit our website at https://tillamookmastergardeners.com/ and we can message through our Facebook page, the Tillamook County Master Gardener Association.
What do you enjoy most about working for OSU Extension?
Well I love gardening, but I’m also very conscious about wanting to do it well and right. You can go online and get all kinds of odd information about how to deal with problems or insects or diseases but it’s not necessarily the best sources for information. The Master Gardener training is developed to teach people science-based gardening and home horticulture, and that is what we use for making recommendations when faced with problems in the garden (such as a disease or insect attacking your garden). We want to make sure that the information we give out is scientifically based, research-based information. And that really is a good feeling, because you know that the information that you are providing somebody is going to help them make their garden work for them.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I don’t think there is anything better then pushing a few small seeds in the ground and watching them come up and harvesting a bowl full of fresh vegetables to serve to your family. I find that to be just an absolute marvelous process and something everyone should do at least once in their lives. As a beginning gardener, you can get a couple pots and sprinkle a couple lettuce seeds or stick in a tomato plant and see if you like the process – you’ll have salad all summer long with just a pot and a small package of seeds. Trying it out in some containers or pots is a great way to get started.
We also have a “learning garden” at the fairgrounds. If you come in the main entrance where the reader board is and look to the right, there’s a garden there known as the learning garden. Anytime the fairgrounds are open, people can wander through and see what’s going on. Last year we put together a fairly extensive container garden of mostly vegetables. This year we’ll get started at the beginning of April and anyone can stop by to see what’s growing and get in touch with us when we’re there on Thursday mornings.
We’ve all heard that we should be eating fresh fruits and vegetables as key portions of our daily meals – but at what cost? With food prices on the rise, preparing nutritious, well-rounded meals can seem like an extra strain not only on our available time but also on our wallets. Luckily, there are some strategies (and local resources!) that can help in getting the biggest bang for your buck in the grocery aisles.
Plan ahead: Start simple by taking a look in your pantry and fridge to see what you might already have hiding in the back of a cupboard. Then try to plan a couple meals that you’ll be shopping for – a great resource for tasty, healthy, and budget-friendly recipes is the OSU Extension Food Hero website. They focus on sharing recipes that use easy-to-find ingredients and easy-to-follow directions to make healthy meals a little more stress-free.
Consider meatless meals: Plant-based proteins like legumes, beans, lentils, or tofu are highly nutritious and often cheaper than meat at the grocery store. You might find that switching a meal or two each week to a plant-based protein like dried beans or legumes can help stretch your food dollars and still be tasty and satisfying. For preparation and cooking tips, Food Hero is a great resource, or a quick Google search will get you started.
Shop smart: Try to stick to the list you created – you might find that eating a snack before shopping will help reduce any hunger-induced impulse buying! Look for any generic or store brand items that may be cheaper and utilize available coupons or sign up for rewards programs at your local grocery store. When debating between two of the same items that are different sizes, consider how much of the item you need or will use. Buying the larger item (or “buying in bulk”) can be a better deal for the amount you receive, but only if it’s an item that you’ll be able to use completely before it expires.
Buy canned or frozen fruits & veggies: Fresh produce can make up a large part of a grocery bill, but canned or frozen fruits and vegetables can still provide plenty of nutrients for a better price. Just keep an eye out to avoid canned items stored in syrup or with added sugar or salt. For frozen items, look for those either stored without a sauce or labeled as “lightly sauced” to avoid extra sugar or salt.
Utilize local resources: Food Roots is a non-profit that provides local fresh fruits and veggies, dairy and meat products here in Tillamook County. They are part of the Double Up Food Bucks program so if you spend $10 in SNAP/EBT, then they will provide another $10 of goods at no extra cost. And as an added bonus, SNAP shoppers can receive free delivery of Food Roots items, check out their website to learn more: https://www.foodrootsnw.org/
Give yourself grace: There will always be weeks where things don’t work out quite as you hoped, and that’s okay! Remember to be kind and patient with yourself as you try out new things, and don’t feel like you need to change an entire lifestyle overnight – small steps can still have a big impact.
For inspiration, check out this quick weeknight dinner recipe from Food Hero:
Pasta with Greens and Beans
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
8 ounces pasta (try penne)
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
10 ounces frozen spinach
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with juice
1 can (15 ounces) white beans, drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ cup grated parmesancheese
Directions
Wash hands with soap and water.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet. Add garlic and cook on low (250 degrees F in an electric skillet) until soft.
Add spinach, tomatoes with juice, beans, salt and pepper. Once the mixture bubbles, cook uncovered on low heat for 5 minutes.
Add drained pasta and parmesan cheese to spinach mixture. Toss well and serve.
Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.
Recipe Notes
Substitute cleaned and chopped fresh spinach (about 6 cups).
Try other greens, such as Swiss chard or kale instead of spinach. Be sure to clean greens well and cook them until soft.
Cook your own dry beans. One can (15 ounces) is about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups drained beans.
Between the winter weather, abundance of sweet treats, and chaos of coordinating family gatherings, it can be difficult to maintain your usual routines during the holidays. Check out some of these tips and tricks for finding the balance in enjoying holiday festivities from Lewis Martin, Nutrition Director at the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council, followed by a few creative “merry mocktails” for those looking to take a break from alcohol this season:
Healthy Holiday Hacks
Make Breakfast the most important meal of your day: Some people believe that by skipping out on food intake earlier in the day, they can compensate later on and load up on calories at a gathering without consequence. The truth is, this sabotaging practice can cause you to eat well beyond your daily needs in one sitting, causing spikes in blood sugar and prompting your body to store unneeded excess energy. Consuming a high protein, high fiber breakfast at the start of your day can help you better manage hunger, and give you solid control when dinner time arrives. Try options like eggs with whole wheat toast, lowfat Greek yogurt with high fiber granola, or oatmeal cooked in lowfat milk.
Brighten up your beverage choice: Soda, beer, and cocktails can sneak hundreds of calories into a meal without having any effect on how full you feel. Instead, enjoy sparkling water or a cozy hot cup of coffee/tea. If you’re hankering for something sweeter, you can even try diet or “zero” soda options, which don’t contain any calories or sugar.
Double up on veggies: If you’re hardwired to clean your plate, use your impulse to your advantage. Load up on non-starchy vegetables like roasted carrots, steamed green beans, or savory collard greens in place of stuffing, potatoes, or bread. Pair with your favorite protein choice, like turkey, and you have a seriously delicious meal.
Don’t stop moving: With great energy from calories, comes the great responsibility to use that energy! Squeeze in your fitness routine before heading over to or hosting a gathering; catch up with friends and family on a brisk walk before your meal; or start a new tradition by hosting a backyard Turkey Bowl!
Bring your own, healthier dessert: Holiday desserts are often the most calorie and sugar-dense options at gatherings, and can wreak havoc on your efforts to stay on track with your health goals. Preparing a lighter, lower sugar dessert can not only provide confidence that you’ll be sticking with ideal food choices, but will give you the chance to share something awesome with your loved ones. Head over to our Healthy Recipes page for more inspiration!
Rethink the drink: Many holiday parties have alcohol as an optional drink for adults. Did you know that more than 1 in 5 Oregonians drink excessively? Examples of excessive drinking include binge or heavy drinking. Excessive drinking is harmful to a person’s body and can increase the risk of certain cancer (breast, colon, prostate, etc.), increase the risk of heart disease, and can lead to changes in behavior or mood. To learn more about you risk, check out the Oregon Health Authority’s ‘Rethink the Drink’ campaign located at: www.rethinkthedrink.com.
The Merry Mocktail List
Take a break from alcohol or pace yourself this holiday season and try a Merry Mocktail! These drinks are a delicious substitute for alcoholic beverages. Be aware of the sugar content and look for low-sugar or sugar substitute options and fresh, natural juices. Each of the drinks below are poured over ice but can also be made as a martini or in a champagne flute. You can also find some delicious and refreshing nonalcoholic sparkling hops drinks in stores such as Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher, H2OPS Sparkling Hop Water, and Pelican Brewery Sparkle Hops. Cheers!
Mocktail Mule
Ginger beer or ale, cranberry juice, 4-5 fresh cranberries, 2 slices of lime, mint
Muddle mint and lime with ice, add 4-5 fresh cranberries and more ice, and fill half with ginger beer and half with cranberry juice. Top with fresh mint and lime.
Sparkle Razz
Razz-Cranberry La Croix, cranberry Kombucha, fresh rosemary, 2 slices of limes, 4 raspberries
Muddle raspberries, rosemary and lime at the bottom of the glass, fill with ice, fill half with Kombucha and half with La Croix. Top with a sprig of fresh rosemary.
Orange Cinnamon Fizz
Sparkling cider or ginger ale, orange juice, 2 slices of lemons or limes, ½ teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 3 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute)
Rub a lemon or lime around the rim of your glass and then dip into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Fill the glass with ice, add orange juice and squeeze in lemon or lime. Top off with sparkling cider or ginger ale.
