Help Wanted: Menu Planning

Cooking nutritious meals for your family may seem like a daunting task but with menu planning and time management you CAN do it. Menu planning does not have to be complicated. What it does need to be is realistic for you and your family.

Start with these tips:

1. Write down some of your favorite meals and ask for input from family members. If you can’t think of any ideas, look for recipe ideas on Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s Dinner Tonight website.
2. Plan a weeks’ worth of meals at a time. Don’t forget to include side dishes (which can be as simple as a frozen bag of veggies).
3. Designate meals for each day. If you know that Wednesday nights are hectic with afterschool activities, make that night grab-and-go style. For example, you could make turkey wraps with low fat cheese and spinach, carrot sticks and use Greek yogurt as a dessert.
4. Take a quick inventory of your pantry and fridge then go grocery shopping based on your menu. Remember to make a list.

Try this main course recipe that has less than 400 calories per serving and will still leave you feeling satisfied! To round out a healthy dinner follow MyPlate and add a  fruit, vegetables, and dairy as needed.

Tex Mex Beef Skillet

• 1 lb extra lean ground beef or turkey breast
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp unsalted tomato paste
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 (16 ounce) can unsalted pinto beans rinsed and drained
• 2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chilies
• 1 (14 ounce) can unsalted diced tomatoes un-drained
• fresh cilantro for garnish

Instructions

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook meat and onion until brown, stirring to crumble; drain. Return meat to skillet. Add chili powder, cumin, tomato paste and salt. Stir in rice, beans, and chilies; heat through. Garnish with cilantro if desired. Serve immediately. Yields 6 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 320 calories; total  fat- 4.5g; saturated fat-1.5g; sodium-420mg; carbohydrates-46g; dietary fiber-9g; protein-24g. 

Preparing For Fall

             Even though we have received rainfall in our area, isn’t it interesting how quickly we can feel the effects of drought?  2011 continues to be the year we blame for our troubles, but the facts are we have been experiencing droughts before then.   2011 was the trigger year that set all the damage in motion. It is very important to continue watering through the fall and winter months.  The meteorologists predict a wet fall and winter along with temperatures colder than normal.  However, if we endure prolonged dry periods in the fall and winter, trees, shrubs, lawns, and perennials will need to be watered periodically to prevent root damage that affects the health of the entire plant.  The result of long, dry periods during fall and winter is injury or death to parts of plant root systems.  Affected plants may appear perfectly normal and resume growth in the spring using stored food energy.  Plants may be weakened and all or parts may die in late spring or summer when temperatures rise.  Weakened plants also may be subject to insect and disease problems.

            Fall is also the time fruit tree care is forgotten or neglected, but it’s a critical time for controlling some of the peach and plum tree diseases to insure a good crop next year.  Applying a copper fungicide now can stop or at least reduce three of the major diseases that attack peach and plum trees in Wise County.  Those diseases are peach leaf curl, bacterial leaf spot and bacterial canker.  Timing of the fall spray is critical for effective control and for avoiding tree damage.  Unless applied correctly, copper, a metal, may cause severe defoliation.  Spraying should be done when 70 percent of the leaves have fallen.

            Another problem many homeowners are experiencing this fall is in St. Augustine grass.  Brown patch is a chronic lawn problem for many Wise County residents.  This fungal disease is characterized by large, circular, brown patches of grass.  Since it is a fungus, fungicides can be helpful.  Granular fungicides are easier to apply than liquid and they have longer residual.  Inspect your lawn, if the blades pull away easily from the stem and have a gray, rotted appearance, which is a sure symptom of the disease. 

         For more information on preparing for fall please call the Extension office at 940/627-3341.

Small Grains Off to a Start

Small grain planting has been hit and miss this year with the unusual rainfall and weather.  Not to mention the weather has been very favorable for greenbugs and we continue to have Fall Armyworm outbreaks.  For those of you who were lucky enough to get your small grain fields planted before the rain may have a chance to have an excellent beginning and should be able to graze those fields much earlier than usual. However; if it is up and going you really need to be scouting your fields for insect damage. If the weather and pest populations continues to be good an all things fall into place early grazed forage should contain 28-32% crude protein. It is important to remember, each ton of forage harvested by livestock will remove 90-100 pounds of nitrogen. Small grain forage that stands a foot tall will easily yield one ton per acre. That means if you only applied 60 to 80 pounds of nitrogen per acre at planting, most if not all of your nitrogen will be harvested with the first grazing.    

I think we can expect to see nitrogen deficiency symptoms before the first of the year. If you are able to graze early and remove the forage before then, nitrogen top dressing in December will surely help produce more winter forage. If you delay that nitrogen application until January or February, expect a forage growth loss.

In many cases, hay quality is below average, so a few pounds of nitrogen may allow your winter forage to economically supplement the hay.

According to Noble Foundation research, limit grazing your small grains may be the best bet to extend that small grains grazing and provide the necessary protein. Grazing steers as little as 15 minutes on small grains equals about 2.5 pounds of 20% breeders cube.  Using forage supplementation in place of feed can save money if managed correctly.  Producers should look at all winter feeding options to determine the cheapest source of protein and energy to sustain suitable body condition scores throughout the winter.

Food Handler’s Course

Foodborne illnesses can be prevented by following simple food safety practices. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension - Wise County provides a Food Protection Management Training Program that seeks to reduce the risk of food borne illness. 

The “Texas Food Establishment Rules (TFER)” was revised and updated and became effective in 2015. A major change in the revision now requires all food employees to complete an accredited food handlers training program within 60 days of employment.  The Texas Cottage Food Law also requires that anyone who operates a cottage food business have a food handler card. 

Food service employees and those who operate a cottage food business can attend a two hour Food Handler’s Class, accredited by the Texas Department of State Health Services, on Wednesday, November 8 from 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension - Wise County office located at 206 S. State Street in Decatur. 

This 2 hour course will now be required for all food service employees to help promote the service of safe food.  The certificate is good for 2 years and is valid anywhere in the State of Texas. Participants will learn about good personal hygiene, cross contamination and time and temperature abuse.

Contact the Extension office at 940/627-3341 to sign up.  The registration fee is $20.00 and covers course materials and an official food handler card.  Registration deadline for the Food Handler certification course is Monday, November 6, 2017.  Space is limited. 

Individuals with disabilities who require auxiliary aide service or accommodation in order to participate in the event are encouraged to contact our office within 7 working days prior to the program.  Educational programs of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, national origin or genetic information or veteran status.

The class is taught in English, but Spanish handouts are available if requested in advance.

The Food Protection Management (FPM) Training Program is brought to you by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in cooperation with the Texas Department of State Health Services, and the County Commissioners Court Cooperating.