Until it's safe to dine indoors without masks, please support these local restaurants by ordering takeout! Click here for a small pdf of the above ad for Angels Take Out and forward it to everyone on your contact list.

There has been some question about the need to quarantine after returning from out-of-state. The Department of Health has changed the language regarding the need for a two-week quarantine in the latest Public Health Order from "required" to "recommended." Kitchen Angels continues to require a two-week suspension of volunteering in our facility after out-of-state air travel. Air travel and visiting friends/family still carry a significant risk, even if you are vaccinated.

This writer is absolutely sick of cooking! After a year of pandemic cooking failures and fantasies, this month might be the best time to take a bit of a cooking hiatus and start again with the fresh spring produce of April. In the meantime, why don’t we turn to the frozen aisle for a little inspiration. After all, March is National Frozen Food Month. We all know Trader Joe’s has the best in frozen delicacies and Buzzfeed has compiled a list of frozen food “hacks” that breaks down how to turn any frozen food into a gourmet meal. Chili mac-n-cheese, I’m looking at you.

Maybe you still want to cook, but just not as often. Bon Appetit has a list of thirty-seven recipes that freeze well so on non-cooking nights there is still something good to eat at home. Some of the things that freeze well were a little surprising, like buttermilk biscuits. Who knew? The Food Network has a similar list, but many of the recipes are “freezer-packs.” These are meals where the ingredients are pre-assembled, frozen, and then cooked later on, using a slow cooker, instant pot, or the stove. Although they do take a little more forethought, having a few of these meals on hand can make cooking day in and day out less stressful.

Although restaurants in part of New Mexico have opened indoor dining at 35 percent capacity, it is still safest to avoid eating indoors. With the weather getting warmer and patios becoming more attractive, hopefully we can ease some of our cooking woes by eating outdoors again.

Kitchen Angels is seeking a volunteer to take over the pet food program. Duties include transporting bags of cat and dog food from The Food Bin on W. Alameda, and repackaging into weekly portions of food for client pets. The volunteer day is flexible. Please contact Lauren for more information.

There is a lot of information about the COVID-19 vaccines out there. One of the things that keeps making the rounds on the news and throughout social media is confusion about the effectiveness of the Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Some people think that if a vaccine is 95% effective, that means 5% of vaccinated individuals still contract the virus. This is a misinterpretation of the numbers. A 95 percent effective rate actually means that participants in the vaccine study were 95 percent less likely to contract COVID-19 than the control group (the unvaccinated participants). The way the math works out is that those who receive the vaccine have only a .04 percent chance on contracting COVID. These vaccines are the most effective vaccines ever created.

Learn more about vaccine effectiveness from this article in LiveScience.

New Mexico made the news on the vaccine front in another way: the state has the most efficient vaccine program in the country. Out of all the states, New Mexico has administered 99 percent of all the vaccines it has received from the federal government. This means there aren’t doses of the vaccine not being used and in danger of being wasted. When New Mexico receives vaccines, the state gets them to the public quicker than any other state. Additionally, 20 percent of all New Mexicans have received at least one shot, which is one of the highest percentages of the country. The New York Times continually updates the race to vaccinate. Click here to learn more.