Cooking Matters Omaha

On Tuesday, May 1^st the participants of the Women’s Center for Advancement (WCA) class and members of the Cooking Matters Omaha staff found ourselves celebrating May Day in an inspiring way! The women from the WCA were so moved by the healthy habits they had been learning as part of the Cooking Matters for Adults class, they decided to plant items in a community garden for them all to share and use in the recipes they received from the course. After the fifth class in the series we all ventured out to City Sprouts located off of 40^th and Seward Street, where the ladies had purchased a garden box. We all jumped in to help dig up and clear out the weeds so the women could plant a variety of vegetables in the box. The women planted tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, some fresh herbs, and many other vegetables in their box. It was a great to watch these women, along with Chef Betty Deepe, work together on a garden that they all can share and enjoy!

You can find out more information about purchasing your own community garden box and City Sprouts at the following link: http://www.omahasprouts.org/demosite/.

To see photos of the event, visit our facebook page! You can get there by clicking on the link below or on the Facebook icon to the right! http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Cooking-Matters-Omaha/172759389404219

Exploring Food Together is a toolkit of simple activities that adults who work with young children can use in the class or in the home to help kids learn about new foods and start building the skills they need to make healthy food choices. These field-tested, easy-to-use activities are centered around five basic food concepts:

1) Food identification

2) Food purchasing

3) Food preparation

4) Food origins

5) Food culture.

Activities in this toolkit are simple and ingredients are low-cost. The Exploring Food Together toolkit is available for free download at http://cookingmatters.org/what-we-do/exploring-food-together.

Chefs and Kids is another toolkit available for free download from Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters. Chefs and Kids provides chefs and others with simple, hands-on activities and recipes to help kids develop a love of cooking and the skills to make healthy choices. This toolkit is adapted from Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters for Kids and Cooking Matters for Teens curricula. Chefs and Kids is available for download at http://cookingmatters.org/what-we-do/chefs-and-kids/.

March 8th is National “WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE?” Day! In honor of this day we would like to share a few tips to help keep you and your family on track and eating healthy.

MyPlateYourPlate Tips:

1. Keep lots of ready-2-eat fruits & veggies in the house 2 add 2 meals/snacks.

2. Print out the MyPlate graphic. Let kids color it in. Laminate the paper and use it as a placemat for younger kids.

3. Let kids learn by letting them serve themselves small amounts at first, but tell them they can get more if hungry.

4. Start the day w/ breakfast. Include fruits/veggies like in yogurt parfaits or sauté veggies 2 add 2 scrambled eggs.

5. Eating Out? Split larger meals with a family member or friend. Or, take half of your dish home with you!

6. Wrap up leftovers BEFORE you start eating so you don’t overeat.

7. Make your calories count! Drink water, or add soda water to a little 100% juice, to cut back on sugar and calories.

8. Choose foods that do the portion-control for you like soups, small plates or appetizers.

For more information about MyPlate visit http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

Get your own FREE personalized nutrition and physical activity tracker! Try Super Tracker https://www.choosemyplate.gov/SuperTracker/

On Thursday, January 26th Cooking Matters Omaha hosted a booth at the Visiting Nurse Association’s Employee Heath Fair. VNA employees stopped by to taste our Yogurt Parfaits with fruit and Homemade Granola and to watch volunteer chef Robert Murnan demo the Hearty Egg Burrito recipe. The demo was a hit! Chef Robert used fresh cilantro, green, pepper, scallions, black beans, and just the right seasonings to make this quick, easy, and tasty dish for breakfast. He also offered some great ideas, like adding beans as an inexpensive and healthy way to stretch a meal, and the hidden health benefits of adding fresh herbs, like cilantro, to your meals. Who knew that cilantro is a natural decongestant, anti-inflammatory, and good source of fiber?

Happy New Year! Have you been looking for a way to “share your strength” in the community, or did you make it a new years resolution to volunteer in 2012? If so we have the perfect opportunity for you! Your skills can be utilzed to help educate children and families on healthy eating on a budget. Join Cooking Matters Omaha today in the continued fight against hunger in 2012!

Watch this YouTube video and see what Cooking Matters is all about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ0d35ZeC8E

Congratulations to Robert Murnan for receiving the Community Leader award at Share Our Strength’s 2011 Conference of Leaders! Robert Murnan has been a volunteer chef instructor with Cooking Matters since the summer of 2009. This year he went beyond the role of an instructor. His commitment to hunger has enabled the VNA Cooking Matters Program to impact numerous at-risk children and families in Omaha and Council Bluffs. Chef Robert has instructed 5 Cooking Matters series (a total of 30 classes) and reached over 60 participants.

Robert enjoys working with others and believes what he is doing makes a difference. He emphasizes healthy eating, family mealtime, sharing duties in the kitchen, and sanitation practices in his classroom. Robert teaches ways to make each dollar stretch without losing taste and appeal. He has taken time out of his family life to help other families in need. He listens to his participants’ needs and helps to find the right solution for each individual through his culinary expertise. Robert has not only provided many parents with the skills they need to make healthy meals at home together, but also the confidence to put healthy food on the table. His actions reflect Share Our Strength’s core values and his wealth of knowledge and kind-hearted personality helps keep youth and parents interested and engaged, making it fun for families to cook and share meals together. Because of him, these families are less worried about where their next meal is coming from. Robert’s deep commitment to positive change in the community and Cooking Matters has inspired others to support the program as volunteers, community partners and donors. We are so honored to have him as a volunteer.

Last week Dixie Quick’s Cafe owner and chef, Rene Orduno, and Cooking Matters Coordinator, Sarah Lewis, appeared on The Morning Blend show to conduct a cooking demo for the “Recipe For Life” winning recipe: Ruth Muchemore’s “Suit Yourself Omelet.” Ruth’s recipe shows how to make an omelet in a zip lock bag (so fun, and simple!), but Chef Rene will feature the item on his menu at Dixie Quick’s as “Cappuccino Eggs” and make the omelet using a steamer. Below is the video from the television segment, where Rene demonstrates how to make the recipe both ways. Enjoy! Oh, and remember Dixie Quick’s Cafe is moving to a new location in Council Bluffs on 157 West Broadway St. The Grand Opening is Nov. 1st- see you there!

Cooking Matters on The Morning Blend show

Greetings!

About a week ago we introduce the new Cooking Matters for Teens curriculum during a volunteer training at the Douglas County Extension office. If you were unable to attend the training please be sure to schedule a time to meet with Sarah Lewis before you sign-up to teach your next Cooking Matters series. In the mean time, we would like to share a couple of important updates with you about the curriculum.

1. Starting in 2012, our goal is to extend all class times to 2 hours instead of 1.5 hours.

2. With the time change, we will also make two recipes in each class instead of just one.

3. All volunteers who sign-up for a class will meet at the host site one week before the class actually starts, and conduct a “zero class.” This just gives everyone the opportunity to meet the site coordinator, get acquainted, and figure out a game plan for the 6-week series. We’ve tried this at a couple of sites already and it’s been extremely effective! And, there was much less chaos on the first day of class.

We truly believe these are very positive changes, so we really appreciate your support and participation as we transition into the new teen curriculum. Out with the old and in with the new!

As of 2012 we will also start to send out a monthly newsletter. This will be a great way to keep all of our volunteers “in the know” of what’s taking place with Cooking Matters locally and nationally. We will also include information about our classes and volunteer opportunities!

This past weekend AmeriCorps member Leah Brinkman and Cooking Matters Chef Robert Murnan attended the annual Cooking Matters Conference of Leaders in Baltimore, Maryland. While at the conference, Leah and Robert attended a series of workshops, dinners, and awards banquets honoring Cooking Matters volunteers from around the country. They also learned about creative ways to connect Cooking Matters with community resources and volunteers, so we are very excited to hear about their experience!

Congratulations to the winners of the Recipe for Life contest!!

1st Place- Ruth Muchemore’s “Suit Yourself Omelet”
2nd Place- Cedric Fichepain’s “Mustard Crusted Chicken”
3rd Place- Angela Reick’s “Super Simple One Dish Pasta”

Thank you to everyone who participated and for your continued support with our cause! Be on the look out for our appearance on The Morning Blend to showcase the winning recipe!

With the inevitable weather change shortly approaching, and after an incredible summer cooking series, Cooking Matters Omaha will be sliding into the fall season with a little bit of change. 

Gretchen Filip, our recent AmeriCorps Member, completed her one- service term on Friday, August 19. Gretchen was a tremendous assest to the Cooking Matters program, and we will really miss having her in the classes! She will continue to pursue her masters degree at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Public Health, focusing on community health education. Please help us thank Gretchen and wish her the best of luck!

We have also hired a new AmeriCorps Member recently. Leah Brinkman is very excited to join the Omaha VNA Cooking Matters team as an AmeriCorps Member! She graduated from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and has recently completed a year of graduate coursework and research at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in the field of Physical Activity in Health Promotion. As an AmeriCorps member, Leah will be assisting CM Coordinators Jami Tran-Balk and Sarah Lewis with managing the cooking classes, working with volunteers, and helping maintain and expand the program. If you see her in a class please welcome her to the program!

Our national office will be releasing a brand new Cooking Matters for Teens curriculum this fall! After a year of piloting the program within various CM locations around the U.S. they have developed a new and improved curriculum that is more appealing and effective with our teens today. The curriculum is definitely tried and true, and we are excited to share it with you all in the near future! We will also start to implement the Cooking Matters for Child Care Porfessionals this fall.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”  ~Walt Disney