Pulaski County PO Box 720 Somerset KY 42502 Phone: (606) 679-6361 Fax: (606) 679-6271 pulaski.ca.uky.edu

St. Patrick's Day (March 17)

See GREEN on St. Patrick's Day and throughout the year.

Green fruits and vegetables contain many health-promoting phytochemicals including lutein and indoles. They help protect against certain cancers and help maintain vision health and strong bones and teeth. Green fruits and vegetables include leafy greens, asparagus, green peppers, broccoli, green beans, peas, cab-bage, green onion, Brussels sprouts, okra, zucchini, Chinese cabbage, green apples, green grapes, honeydew melon, kiwifruit and limes. Some GREEN ideas for St. Patrick's Day (or any day) include:

Tossed LETTUCE salad. Add baby spinach leaves and a variety of other leafy greens. Add extra green with green peppers and sugar snap peas for a rainbow of green colors!

Corned beef with CABBAGE is a natural for St. Patrick's!

Include some KIWI FRUIT, GREEN GRAPES AND/OR HONEYDEW MELON in your fruit salad.

Add AVOCADO slices to salads and sandwiches. To maintain avocados' green color, eat them immediate-ly or sprinkle them with lemon or lime juice. Though 2 tablespoons of avocado have about 5 grams of fat, it's mostly heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.

Enjoy your favorite veggie dip in combination BROCCOLI florets or a favorite fruit dip with GREEN AP-PLE slices.

Vegetable pizza with GREEN PEPPERS.

Serve thinly sliced GREEN ONIONS over rice, pasta dishes, broiled or baked fish, soups -- you're limited only by your imagination! Start thinking GREEN -- here are some more ideas graciously shared by Jan Patenaude, RD: Spinach noodles (topping of choice); spinach souffle; spinach, asparagus and/or green pepper omelets with parsley garnish; pesto on anything; cream of broccoli or spinach soups; finely diced spinach in any chicken noodle/rice/orzo soups; glazed kiwi over a sponge/angel food base. Source: adapted from: Alice Henneman, MS, RD, UNL Extension in Lancaster County

Edible Gluten Free No Cook Play Dough Baby Rice Cereal Vegetable Oil Cornstarch Unsweetened Applesauce (you can substi-tute water if you don’t have applesauce) Food coloring (optional) In a bowl combine 1 cup of baby rice cereal and 1 cup of cornstarch. Mix well. Add 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (for reference those little lunch sized applesauce happen to be 4 oz = 1/2 cup) and 3 Tablespoons of vege-table oil and any food coloring (if de-sired). Mix well. I find that kneading by hand is pretty effective, though you could also use a mixer. The dough should be kneaded (or mixed) until it is smooth and pliable. If it is at all sticky, slowly add more baby rice cereal taking care to knead it completely in before deciding you need more. If the dough is dry and cracking, run your hands under the faucet and knead the dough with your now wet hands. The dough will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Store in a sealed container or bag and please check for mold or a yucky smell before using it each time (how long it takes to spoil will depend on how clean your hands are and how warm it is, etc). You will find that the dough is stiffer when it first comes out of the refrigerator - if you knead it to warm it up, it will soon be back to its nor-mal pliable self! If necessary - wet your hands with some water and knead that in.

Paying Your Child an Allowance Allowances are commonly used by parents to teach children about money. Paying your child a small amount of money each week can teach healthy budgeting, spending and saving prac-tices at an early age. You can choose to pay your child a fixed weekly allowance or an allowance based on the completion of various tasks and chores. If you are considering paying your child an allowance, here are several considerations to keep in mind:

Start paying your child an allowance when they are able to tell the difference between all coins and bills. For most chil-dren this occurs around preschool age.

Deciding on how much money you should pay your child can be tricky. Think about how much money you can afford to pay your child on a weekly basis as well as what you expect your child to pay for.

Discuss guidelines for spending with your child. It can be a valuable lesson to set up savings goals with your child.

Pay your child with small bills. This can make it easier for a child to divide their money for different purposes such as spending or saving. Be consistent! Set up a weekly “payday” and be sure that you have the right amount of money to pay your child. Source: Jennifer L. Hunter, Extension Specialist for Family Fi-nancial Management, University of Kentucky; College of Agri-culture, Food and Environment Kristyn Jackson, LMFT, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Fami-ly Sciences

Sincerely,

Edith Lovett

Pulaski County Extension Agent for Family & Consumer Sciences

Newsletter produced by: Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Agents in District 5 in

cooperation with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.

This edition created by Lynnette Allen, Breckinridge County Extension Agent for Family & Consumer Sciences.

Distributed in cooperation with local schools and daycares