Newspaper Page Text
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
TIPS FOR
By Peggy Bledsoe
Houston County
Extension Coordinator
May is Asthma Awareness
Month. Since we spend
about ninety percent of our
time indoors it is important
to be aware of the quality
of the air we breathe inside
our homes. The National
Academy of Sciences
Institute of Medicine found
that exposure to secondhand
smoke and indoor allergens
such as dust mites, animal
dander, cockroaches and
mold can aggravate asthma
symptoms. For preschool
children, exposure to dust
mites and secondhand smoke
can cause asthma.
By taking a few simple steps
you can reduce exposure to
these common indoor envi
ronmental asthma triggers
that may be residing in your
home. Dust mites are guests
in your home, but can not
be seen by the human eye.
They live in mattresses, pil
lows, carpet, fabric covered
furniture, bedcovers, clothes
and even stuffed toys where
they live on invisible skin
flakes. Reduce your expo
sure to dust mites by cover
ing mattresses and pillows
with dust proof or allergen
impermeable covers. Wash
bedding weekly in hot water.
Wash stuffed animals often
and keep them out of sleep
ing areas. Vacuum carpets,
rugs and furniture two or
three times per week to
reduce dust and pet dander.
Do not allow smoking inside
your home. Control mold
by controlling moisture in
your home. When you see
mold, clean the surface and
dry it completely. Maintain
low indoor humidity, below
60 percent. To reduce cock
roaches and similar pests,
eliminate clutter and store
foods in air tight containers.
Use baits for roaches before
using pesticide sprays.
If you have asthma, work
with your doctor to deter
mine what environmental
factors affect your asthma.
Then develop a plan to con
trol those potential triggers.
Start with the easiest, least
expensive ways like clean
ing. Set up a cleaning plan
one room at a time, begin
ning where the asthma suf
ferer sleeps.
Cooperative Extension
has an allergy and asthma
check list that can help you
determine how to make you'r
home a healthier place to
live. Call me at 478-987-2028
if you would like a copy.
Peggy Bledsoe is the
Houston County Extension
Coordinator working in
the area of Family and
Consumer Sciences with
the University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension.
You can reach her at 478-
987-2028.
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Save on Pizza
Make it at home
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FOOD&HOME
ilovepasta.org
PASTA IMPROV
Creative cooking that's easy on the budget
Special to the Journal
This pasta improvisation approach was developed by
Culinary Consultant Lisa Cherkasky, a food stylist and
former chef based outside Washington D.C. for the
American Pasta Association.
Everyone can epjoy putting a meal together on the
spur-of-the-moment, especially if the pantry is stocked
with pasta. Be it a hearty and satisfying meal of spa
ghetti, sausage, tomato sauce and oregano, or an exotic
dish of radiatore, fennel, shrimp, and olives, a delicious
dinner is just moments away if you let Pasta Improv take
you by the hand.
If you can boil water, chop and stir, you can cook with
out a recipe! Let your on-hand ingredients set the param
eters. Got some linguine and leftover chicken? Think
Chinese and add garlic, ginger, soy sauce and whatever
crunch vegetables you find in the crisper. Is there a box of
macaroni and a few little chunks of cheese? Add oregano,
olive oil, vinegar, cucumbers and tomatoes to make a
Greek-style pasta salad. Does the fridge look nearly bare?
How about a simple but classic dish of angel hair pasta
with butter, garlic and herbs?
The possibilities are endless. As you experiment, you
will come upon combinations that become favorites. With
little more than the essentials, you can turn out meal
after meal with surprisingly delicious results.
How to Use the Pasta Improv Chart
Cooking Without a Recipe
1. Choose your pasta - available in lots of interesting
shapes and sizes. You’ll need four ounces uncooked pasta
per person. In other words, 1 pound of dried pasta serves
four people. Put a pot of water on to boil while you round
up your other ingredients.
2. Familiarize yourself with some of the possible pasta
combinations suggested by the Pasta Improv format -
basic or ethnic versions.
3. Using the Pasta Improv chart below as your guide,
check your refrigerator and pantry for vegetables, cheese,
meats or fish, sauces and flavoring ingredients. Using
your preferences (or your family’s), select ingredients
that are compatible. Let your imagination be your
guide.
4. the Pasta Improv format to make a delicious,
unique meal.
TIPS:
• Cheese, meats and fish can be combined and
the amount added should be the TOTAL. For example,
a recipe for four people using sausage and Parmesan
FOOD AMOUNT PER PERSON TABLE FOR FOUR
Paiti 4o*nc«tdH«l/par>on IJk
VtQ<t»bie» 1 cag/parson
Cheat wwl/or 1/3-3/4 cag comtotaed/perton M/3-3 cups
MmH and/or Ran
s>uoa l/4-1/2cop/p»f>on 1-2 cup*
Sti*o*» to at utringty Mmmomtymun MttMttpoowo
Flavorings 1/2 tetpoon -1 t»Mtpo<HW/pwioa 2 toiipoom ■ 8 tabJttpeani
cheese could incorporate 2-1/2 cups of sausage and a half
cup of parmesan cheese, making a total of three cups
(the maximum amount for four).
• Unless you are confident that you will want the
maximum amount of any ingrf dient, you may have bet
ter success if you add ingredients incrementally, tasting
with each addition and then adjusting. Remember to
taste, taste, taste, as you improvise.
• Sauces can be combined. The amount added should
be the total. For example, add a stronger flavored sauce,
such as hoisin, to a milder sauce, such as broth, to pump
up the flavor without overwhelming the dish. A recipe
could use 1-3/4 cups broth and 1/4 cup hoisin, to make a
total of two cups (the maximum for four). Or, sauces can
be combined to create new flavors, such as a mixture of
salsa and tomato sauce.
• When choosing vegetables, consider canned, frozen,
fresh or jarred ingredients.
• Don’t overlook the flavor combinations on the
shelves at the grocery store, such as onion or roasted
garlic flavored broth. Improvise with tartar sauce in
place of mayonnaise, for example.
• For pasta salads transfer the pasta to a large serv-
See, PASTA, Page zC
SECTION: C
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2008
Farmers
Market
opens at
new site
The Perry Farmers Market
will open for the season on
Saturday at 8 a.m. at a new
location.
The market will now
be behind the Perry Arts
Center (the old Armory) at
the comer of Macon Road
and Northside Drive. Plans
are under way to install new
awnings at the site, accord
ing to Tish Chase, DDA
manager.
The market, which has
been located at the corner of
Washington and Commerce
Streets, is a popular Saturday
morning gathering place,
featuring locally grown pro
duce, homemade baked good
and canned goods, will be
open each Saturday morn
ing through the summer
months.
Sponsored by the
Downtown Development
Authority, and under the
management of Perry gar
dening expert Laverne Pate,
the market gives local farm
ers as well as backyard gar
deners the opportunity to
sell their goods.
Plants are also for sale,
including both flowers and
vegetables.
Celebrating
Mother's Day
in style
fjgft A Y., .
Yvonne
Sutherland
yvonnes@windstream.net
ers.
In 1914 she succeeded, and
Congress passed a joint reso
lution creating Mother’s Day
which eventually became an
international holiday.
Ironically, Ms. Jarvis
later campaigned against
Mother’s Day because it had
become too commercialized.
“I wanted it to be a day of
sentiment,” she said, “not
profit.”
I think those are words
to wise when planning a
Mother’s Day celebration.
It’s not so much the money
you invest as the time and
thought you invest that best
expresses you feelings.
My children have given
me many presents over the
years which I have grateful
ly received, but their words
of appreciation have meant
the most.
If you are planning to cook
a dinner in Mom’s kitchen,
my best advice is to keep it
as clean as she does.
While enjoying all the
attention, many a mother
spends the day anxiously
glancing toward the kitch
en!
That’s why I planned the
following menu with chilled
make-ahead side dishes and
a turkey breast smoked on
the grill.
You can keep things even
simpler by using some of
the sturdy disposable plates
and table linens that are
available at party stores and
some supermarkets.
May weather is so lovely
that a picnic on the patio
would be a nice way to cel
ebrate.
See, MOTHER'S, Page zC
Two
years
after her
mother’s
death,
Anna
Jarvis
began a
campaign
to have a
day aside
in honor
of moth-