WSU Extension Island County SNAP-Ed

It's now easier to email WSU Extension Island County SNAP-Ed

WSU Extension Island County SNAP-Ed updated their business hours.

There is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys working with motivated youth in helping them develop their leadership and life skills - on one of the most beautiful places on earth - Whidbey Island! We are currently seeking applications for a 4-H Youth Development Coordinator. Great working environment, salary, and benefits. Also, opportunities to obtain higher educational advancement without leaving the island. All applications must be submitted through the WSU jobs site. For additional information please see https://wsu.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WSU_Jobs/details/Island-County-4-H-Extension-Coordinator_R-5158?q=R-5158

WSU Extension Snohomish County also has information on safely preserving foods. https://extension.wsu.edu/snohomish/families/food-preservation/

Food Preservation | Snohomish County | Washington State University Home food preservation can help make fruits, vegetables and food budgets last longer. Grow your own at home with help from our Growing Groceries Resources (website) and/or visit one of the many Farms and Farmers…

One of the more unusual plants we are growing in the garden is called "Love Lies Bleeding" Amaranthus caudatus and the young leaves and seeds can be eaten.

Tomatoes - September's Harvest of the Month - are so versatile. At my house this recipe was always a favorite! https://foodhero.org/recipes/peach-salsa

Peach Salsa I combined this salsa recipe (minus the tomatoes) with the salsa recipes for Food Hero strawberry and kiwi salsa, for a salsa tasting at our farmer's market. It turned out AMAZING! I made two batches of the three salsas combined and gave out approximately 35 samples of the salsa with corn chips, dur...

Here is another WSU Extension website to learn about preserving your harvest. https://extension.wsu.edu/foodsafety/food-processing/

Food Preservation Articles | Consumer Food Safety | Washington State University

Are you planting fall and spring crops? Lettuce, kale, broccoli and more? Consider growing a little extra to help your Island County community.

Use fresh tomatoes, the Harvest of the Month, in this taco recipe from Food Hero: https://foodhero.org/recipes/fish-taco-salad

Fish Taco Salad In a Skillet - Spray or lightly oil a skillet. Add seasoned fish and cook over medium heat (300 degrees in an electric skillet) until flesh starts to appear white. Turn fish over and cook until it flakes easily.

Are you interested in preserving the fresh foods of summer and fall? This WSU Extension site offers valuable information on preserving food safely. https://extension.wsu.edu/benton-franklin/health/homefoodpreservation/

Home Food Preservation | Benton & Franklin Counties | Washington State University FREE Pressure Canner Gauge Testing is available. Click here for more information.At home food preservation can be a rewarding experience, but proper steps must be followed in order to ensure safety. It can be tempting to try that…

Washington SNAP-Ed's Live Well site has lots of great information. Learn about cooking safety here: http://wasnap-ed.org/live-well/cook/cooking-safety/

Cooking Safety | Live Well Cooking Safety Steps to keeping food safe Every year millions of people become sick from food poisoning. This may sound scary, but there are simple steps you can take to keep you and your family safe. Follow these 4 steps to keep food safe to eat. Clean: Wash hands, counter tops and cutting boards o...

The Harvest of the Month for September are tomatoes. Here is a recipe for an evening that is cold and damp using both canned and fresh tomatoes. https://eatfresh.org/recipe/soups/roasted-tomato-soup #.X1_cu2hKg2w

Roasted Tomato Soup | EatFresh 370.png Roasted Tomato Soup Budget-friendly recipe up1211 Serves: 3 1 hours 20 mins. Dairy-freeGluten-freeLow Added SugarVeganVegetarian Tomatoes are loaded with Vitamin C and also help reduce the risk of heart disease. This soup is easy to make and is great served hot or cold. Ingredients Serves 3....

Stuck inside due to air quality issues or rain? Try these fun exercise tips with your family: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps3eUDt8Q0Q

Move Your Way: Getting Active Indoors (Audio Description) Kids stuck in the house? Watch this video for tips to help your kids get physical activity without ever going outside! Find more ways for kids to get active:...

Important information for our families!

2020-21 School Year Information / Delivery Service Oak Harbor Public Schools is proud to serve FREE meals to all of our students until Dec. 31, 2020. Thanks to the USDA, students in distance learning or in hybrid may enjoy a daily breakfast and lunch.  Each school is available from 10:30 a.m. - Noon every day with free meals for students 18 and und...

Harvest of the Month - Tomato recipe: https://foodhero.org/recipes/farmers-market-salsa

Farmers Market Salsa OSU Extension Service Family & Community Health Oregon State University 106 Ballard Hall Corvallis, OR 97331 Phone: 541.737.1017

Fruit and Vegetable storage questions answered! https://spendsmart.extension.iastate.edu/video/store-fruits-vegetables/

Store fruits and vegetables - Spend Smart Eat Smart If you want to make your fruits and vegetables last longer and taste better, they need to be properly stored. Follow these tips to store your fruits and vegetables, whether fresh, canned, frozen or juice.

With the new school year starting next week planning and budgeting is so helpful. A great place to start is by tracking your food purchases. https://spendsmart.extension.iastate.edu/plan/track-food-expenses/

Track Your Food Expenses - Spend Smart Eat Smart This exercise can be fun, and may be surprising. Ask everyone in your family to track their food expenses for a month using the printable chart. Each time you spend money on food anywhere, write your initials on the back of the receipt and put it in a jar. If you don’t have a receipt,...

32 pounds of fresh vegetables were harvested by Rashida and Tricia from the Crescent Harbor Elementary School garden and were donated to the Help House today through the Grow a Row program. Grow a Row encourages local farmers and gardeners to grow a little extra to help out their community through food pantry donations.

It is Labor Day and for the Harvest of this Month we are celebrating tomatoes! This year we are having pretty good luck with tomatoes ripening in Island County, even when we don't have a green house. I used to bring this recipe for camping or for a backyard picnic: https://foodhero.org/recipes/tabouli-bulgur-wheat-salad

Tabouli Bulgur Wheat Salad OSU Extension Service Family & Community Health Oregon State University 106 Ballard Hall Corvallis, OR 97331 Phone: 541.737.1017

BREAKING NEWS! Thanks to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, FREE meals will be provided for all students until Dec. 31, 2020. You read that correctly, each student, regardless of their instructional model, will enjoy FREE meals served by OHPS. Pick-up times and locations will be announced soon!

Yesterday when I dropped off produce from Crescent Harbor Elementary I saw the new van being painted - it was beautiful! Since school closures in March, Olympic View Elementary and Crescent Harbor Elementary school gardens have donated 365 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to the Help House!

This is what we do!

The 2019-2020 WSU Extension, Island County Impact Statements are now available - if your curious about what WSU Extension does in Island County - these impact statements will give you an overview, and provide contact information on where you can learn more about WSU Extension Programming in Island County.
https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2065/2020/08/2020-Impact-Statement-print-version-8-13.pdf

Deadline for applying for P-EBT benefits is extended to September 11!
Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) is a new emergency program for ALL children, in grades K-12 in Washington, who receive free or reduced-price school meals. P-EBT is not subject to public charge and will not affect immigration status. P-EBT provides families with funds to pay the cost of meals while schools are closed due to COVID-19. See more information in English or Español.
• Visit WashingtonConnection.org to start the online application. When you are on the Your Needs page, select Pandemic EBT (Emergency School Meals Program). A separate application will be needed to apply for additional programs.
• DSHS will confirm your child’s free or reduced-price meals status with the school. No interview is required. Applications will be processed within 30 working days.
• If the application is approved and you have an EBT card that you have used in the last 60 days, benefits will be added to that card. Otherwise, a new EBT card will be mailed to you. If you are not approved, you will receive a letter from DSHS.
• If you are unable to complete the application online, call the Customer Service Contact Center at 877-501-2233 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Summer Squash Harvest of the Month - a great snack with zucchini! https://foodhero.org/recipes/zucchini-pizza-boats

Zucchini Pizza Boats Sherman Extension has used this recipe several times with youth as part of Sherman School's SKORE afterschool cooking program. This is used during the class featuring pizza type recipes. As long as this is the first recipe used, while the kids are hungry and curious, they are willing to try it and u...

SNAP-Ed helps coordinate the gardens for use by Naval and base personnel. Fresh vegetables are available 3 seasons per year.

Do you have more summer squash than you know what to do with? Freeze them! Here is how. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/squash_summer.html

National Center for Home Food Preservation | How Do I? Freeze Preparation – Choose young squash with tender skin. Wash and cut in 1/2-inch slices. Water blanch 3 minutes. Cool promptly, drain and package, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal and freeze.

Here is another way to use the August Harvest of the Month summer squash. https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/2018/04/04/roasted-vegetable-pasta/

Roasted Vegetable Pasta - Capital Area Food Bank 230 calories | 9g fat (2.5g sat fat) | 220mg sodium | 32g carbs | 5g fiber | 9g protein per serving Serves 6 for $6.50 Ingredients 1 medium onion 1 small, yellow or green summer squash 1 green or red bell pepper ½ head of a cauliflower or broccoli 3 Tablespoons olive oil ¼ […]

Save money by buying in season. Right now, the farmers' markets have a great variety. https://spendsmart.extension.iastate.edu/video/shop-seasonal-fruits-vegetables/

Shop for seasonal fruits and vegetables - Spend Smart Eat Smart Seasonal fruits and vegetables are typically the best deal to buy, and taste best. Follow these tips to make sure you're getting the best seasonal fruits and veggies.

Here is the safest way to cut your Harvest of the Month - Summer Squash! https://youtu.be/V7Z4MJXDqDk

Slicing Summer Squash

Making exercise fun! https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=58&v=zNs8srnJ95U&feature=emb_logo

Move Your Way: Tips for Getting Active as a Family Parents: When you get active as a family, you all get the health benefits of physical activity. Watch this video for tips to get moving together, and learn m...

These are a children's favorite when it comes to using Summer Squash the Harvest of the Month for August. https://foodhero.org/recipes/veggie-patties

Veggie Patties I made these and they were delicious. I made double the recipe and replaced the zucchini with finely chopped celery and more potato. I put in half the salt as in one of the comments someone mentioned they were salty. I did use more crumbs than recipe indicated to absorb liquid and so patties would h...

The 2019-2020 WSU Extension, Island County Impact Statements are now available - if your curious about what WSU Extension does in Island County - these impact statements will give you an overview, and provide contact information on where you can learn more about WSU Extension Programming in Island County.
https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2065/2020/08/2020-Impact-Statement-print-version-8-13.pdf

Important information for our families.

Great News! Our FREE Summer Meals program has been extended through August 28! For locations, times and menus, please visit our website: https://www.ohsd.net/Page/5670

Do you have too many Zucchini? Thinking about sneaking them into your neighbors mailboxes? Consider donating them to your local food banks through the Grow A Row program.

It is August and the Harvest of this Month are Summer Squash these include yellow straight neck, crookneck, patty pan and zucchinis. Here is a great recipe for zucchinis: https://foodhero.org/recipes/baked-zucchini-sticks

Baked Zucchini Sticks These are for sure one of my families FAVORITE Food Hero Recipes ever!!!  So amazinly yummy.  Of note we had extra batter/egg mixture so I also made some mushrooms - YUMM!  They did cook less than indicated in the recipe so be sure to watch them and if possible use the low setting on the broiler....

Want to try making pickles or canning? WSU Extension offers online classes https://extension.wsu.edu/snohomish/families/food-preservation/?fbclid=IwAR3o1spwsXkeb9GKa7QRzGh5jn-q-e8uCiV0suuBhRo76fHwRCbGaqum-UE

Food Preservation | Snohomish County | Washington State University Home food preservation can help make fruits, vegetables and food budgets last longer. Grow your own at home with help from our Growing Groceries Resources (website) and/or visit one of the many Farms and Farmers…