January 2025

Volume 3 Issue 1

Upcoming Events

Join us for a class, visit us at an event!

Kitchen Restore Donation Drop Off

January 4 & 16 | 10:00-12:00 PM

Dig Your Dinner: Indoor Seeds & Healthy Food Highlights

January 15 | 12:00-1:00 PM (virtual)

Families Cook Together! Brunch Edition

January 18 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Med Instead of Meds

Every Thursday from Jan 16 - Feb 20 |

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Couples Cook Together! Brunch Edition

February 15 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

JCPRD 50+ Partner Programming

Good Gut Health: Jan 15 @ Meadowbrook

Meatless Mondays: Jan 27 @ Matt Ross

Powerful Produce: Jan 30: New Century

Visit

Programs and Events

to Register!

Need a speaker? Have questions about food, nutrition, or our classes? Contact us!

foodhelp@jocogov.org

Eating a more Mediterranean based diet can promote health and decrease the risk of many chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Eating the Mediterranean way offers a variety of foods that taste delicious and satisfies your hunger. Eating the Med Way can be broken down into seven easy steps.

Change your protein. Eat more plant-based proteins like beans and legumes and fish and seafood instead of high fat red meats. Seafood is encouraged to be consumed at least 2-3 times per week.
Swap your fats. Choose olive and avocado oil more frequently than butter and other solid fats when cooking. Remember healthy fat is not a foe!
Eat more vegetables. Consume at least 3 cups per day choosing a variety each day. Opt for dark leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, swiss chard, and collards often and consume starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn less often.
Eat more fruit. Consume at least 2 cups per day choosing a variety each day. Opt for berries and other high fiber lower sugar fruits.
Snack on nuts and seeds. Include 3 small handfuls (3 ounces total) per week.
Make your grains whole. Include oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, popcorn, and 100% whole wheat flours.
Rethink your sweets. Limit sugar-sweetened beverages and sugar-sweetened snacks and desserts.

Other important aspects to eating the Med Way are to use fresh and dried herbs and spices to flavor your food, incorporate daily physical activity aiming for at least 150 minutes per week, and to consume alcohol in moderation. Following these simple steps to eating the Med Way will help start your health off right in 2025!

In Good Health,

Chelsea Reinberg, MPH, RDN

Nutrition, Food Safety, and Health Agent

Fun Food Facts

Stay hydrated with soup!

Our bodies are about 60% water! Staying hydrated is important all year, but is often not considered during the colder winter months. Did you know that we get about 20% of our daily fluid needs from the foods we eat?! Fresh fruits and vegetables are a great way to get fluids. In fact, cucumbers are 96% water! Soups are a great way to not only get in those veggies, but also add some more fluids to our diet. Who doesn’t love a warm bowl of soup on a cold winter day!

Recipe of the Month

Salmon Chowder

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 cups water or low-sodium vegetable broth
1½ cups 2% milk
2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup precooked brown and/or wild rice
5 oz canned salmon, drained and bones and skin removed
2 tablespoons chopped green onions

Preparation

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add oil, onion, carrot, celery, salt, and cayenne pepper and sauté for 4 minutes.
Add 2 cups of water or broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Combine milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.
Add milk mixture to pan and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.
Stir in rice and salmon, and cook for 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.
Sprinkle evenly with green onions before serving.

Recipe adapted from Med Instead of Meds

Kitchen Corner

Building a soup from scratch can be done in six easy steps using ingredients you have on hand!

In a large pot, sauté one onion in 1-2 tablespoons of oil.
Add 3 cups chopped vegetables. These can be fresh, canned (drained), or frozen.
Add 16 ounces (1 pound) of protein of your choice. Choose canned beans, canned meat or fish, or other fresh meat, poultry, or fish. If using a fresh protein like chicken breast or ground beef, be sure to cook it fully first before adding it to the soup.
Add starch. Choose 3 cups diced potatoes, 4 ounces uncooked pasta, or 1/2 cup uncooked rice.
Add 4-6 cups liquid. Choose any combination of water, low-sodium broth, or milk. If using water or milk, add bouillon for flavor.
Add seasoning. Use dried or fresh herbs and spices to flavor according to your taste. Go easy on salt if using broth or canned foods.

K-State Research and Extension is committed to providing equal opportunity for participation in all programs, services and activities. Program information may be available in languages other than English. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, including alternative means for communication (e.g., Braille, large print, audio tape, and American Sign Language) may be requested by contacting the JoCo KSRE Office two weeks prior to the start of the event at (913) 715-7000. Requests received after this date will be honored when it is feasible to do so. Language access services, such as interpretation or translation of vital information will be provided free of charge to limited English proficient individuals upon request.