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Category: 2022

Holiday Financial Tips

Posted on by djbechard

  • Involve your family in holiday planning. Discuss ways to have fun spending less during the holidays.

 

  • Make a holiday bucket list that includes free activities and opportunities to serve others. Trimming the holiday expenses can also help to simplify the season.

 

  • Carve out time to plan financially for the year ahead. Create a financial vision board to articulate how you’re working toward financial freedom during the coming year.

 

  • Challenge yourself to take fewer trips to the grocery store. One of the best ways to avoid overspending on your food budget is to only visit the grocery store once per week. Try it out this month especially since we tend to spend more on food in November and December.

By: Brenda Langdon

Cooking Tips for the Holidays

Posted on by djbechard

No need to wait for the New Year to start healthier eating habits. Check out these easy cooking tips that will help everyone be a little trimmer this season!

Meat, Fish, Poultry

  • Choose from the many options for lean protein foods this season.
  • When using lean cuts of meat, choose moist cooking methods, such as baking, boiling, or slow-cooking.
  • Limit breading. Consider using marinades or rubs for optimal flavor.
  • For all types of meat and poultry, decrease the fat content considerably by cutting off visible fat and the skin and by removing the fat from pan juices before use. Use fat-free broth thickened with cornstarch or pureed potatoes for a sauce or gravy. Add a small amount of fruit juice for extra flavor.

Side Dishes

  • Include lots of vegetables in your meals, both raw and cooked. To cook, just steam and serve. Dress them up with herbs or pair with other vegetables, such as green peas with onions.
  • Use a low-fat, reduced sodium cream soup with fresh mushroom slices added for a quick vegetable sauce.
  • Use fat-free yogurt or fat-free cream cheese as a base for dips. For dippers, try sliced veggie sticks or baked, whole wheat pita squares.
  • Use fat-free evaporated milk when making cream soups or white sauces.
  • Flavor dressings with fruits, herbs, spices, and whole grains, rather than with meat or chicken fat.
  • Choose foods made with whole grains more often, such a brown rice, oats, or whole wheat, instead of foods made with refined grains.

Dessert

  • Make desserts that taste sweet, yet have little sugar or fat.
  • Try poaching pears or baking apples or bananas that you have lightly seasoned with cinnamon and cloves.
  • Mix fruits with plain or flavored non-fat yogurt.
  • Keep whole, dried, frozen, or canned (in water or juice) fruit on hand for a quick and easy snack.
  • Consider serving traditional pie fillings as a custard in order to eliminate the calories and fat in the pie crust.

By: Jamie Rathbun

Medicare Changes for 2023

Posted on by djbechard

The social security administration announced an 8.7% increase to Social Security benefits for 2023.   Each year the Medicare Part B premium, deductible, and coinsurance rates are determined according to the Social Security Act.

The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B will be $164.90 for 2023, a decrease of $5.20 from $170.10 in 2022. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries is $226 in 2023, a decrease of $7 from the annual deductible of $233 in 2022.

Medicare Part D open enrollment will soon be coming to an end. December 7th is the last day to make changes to your Medicare Part D prescription drug plan for 2023. If you are still needing your plan looked at please call the Osborne Post Rock Extension District office to make an appointment.

By: Brenda Langdon

Sugar: Sinfully Sweet?

Posted on by djbechard

Despite its delightful taste, sugar has been getting a lot of bad press lately. More and more health experts are warning the public about sugar’s harmful effects. Is sugar harmful because it provides “empty” extra calories and contributes to weight gain? That’s part of the story but medical experts now believe calories from added sugars are more harmful than other extra calories.

Our bodies are not well designed to handle concentrated sugar “loads.” For example, we can’t use all the concentrated sugar in a can of soda fast enough, so the liver converts excess sugar into small dense particles of fat, which contribute to heart disease.

How much sugar is too much?

Depends on who you ask. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting added sugars to no more than 10 percent of daily calories – roughly 12 teaspoons a day for most adults. So how are we doing? Not so well. Most adults take in about 20 teaspoons of added sugars every day, and some consume much, much more.

If you’re on of those people, don’t feel bad. It’s really easy to drink and eat sugar. Just one 12-ounce can of soda has 39 grams of added sugar, which is equal to almost 10 teaspoons of sugar. That’s without added sugars from sweet snacks and desserts.

Sugar busting tips

If you’d like to cut down on the amount of added sugars in your drinks, snacks, and sweets, here are a few ideas:

  • Drink more water. Add a splash of juice to plain sparkling water for a refreshing, fizzy, low-calorie drink.
  • Think fun size. Reach for smaller portions of chocolate, sweets, and desserts. A single square or just a bite can satisfy cravings when we truly savor them.
  • Replace with fruit. Eat your vegetables at meal time and save fruit for dessert.

Source: Iowa Department of Health

By: Jamie Rathbun

Watering for Winter

Posted on by djbechard

You might not think about watering your plants during the winter but it can mean life or death for your new trees in spring. You can water anytime that the ground isn’t frozen. Focus your watering efforts to trees and shrubs planted in the last five years. Find more information in the Post Rock Answers article:

https://www.postrock.k-state.edu/lawn-garden/newspaperarticle/post-rock-answers-winter-watering.pdf By: Cassie Thiessen

Kitchen Safety

Posted on by djbechard

The kitchen is the heart of the home, especially during the holidays and kids love to be involved in the preparations. Safety in the kitchen is important, especially when there is a lot of activity and people in the home.

· Stay in the kitchen when you are cooking on the stovetop so you can keep an  eye on the food.

· Keep children away from the stove. The stove will be hot and kids should stay 3 feet away.

· Make sure kids stay away from hot foods and liquids. The steam or splash from vegetables, gravy or coffee could cause serious burns.

· Keep the floor clear so you don’t trip over kids, toys or bags.

· Keep knives out of the reach of children.

· Be sure electric cords from an electric knife, coffee maker, plate warmer or mixer are not dangling off the counter within easy reach of a child.

· Never leave children alone in a room with a lit candle.

· Make sure your smoke alarms are working. Test them by pushing the test button.

By: Brenda Langdon