New Year’s resolutions to good health

With the new year upon us, it’s not too late to start making resolutions for a healthier year. Not only is this something you can do for yourself, but you can include the whole family, too. There are a ton of fun resolutions that can really improve the health of every member of your family. Here are some ideas that might be helpful when coming up with resolutions.

Get active: Make a goal to walk or spend a certain amount of time outside to get the whole family moving. Being active is not only good for your health, but can improve your mood and energy overall, making you feel better.

Healthy eating: Healthy eating doesn ’t have to be a difficult resolution. More cooking at home or including more fruits and vegetables at the dinner table can have a huge impact on your family’s overall health. Choose small goals for healthy eating that the whole family can agree on.

Reducing screen time: Make a goal with your kids to reduce the amount of time each night that they are in front of the television, a computer, or even their phone. Reducing screen time encourages them to get outside and play with friends and even spend more time together as a family.

Plan fun family activities: Plan a fun family activity once a month whether it be going ice skating or on a scenic hike together. Do something fun and active and get everyone involved in deciding what or where you should go. This gives you and the kids something fun to look forward to each month that you all get to do together.

Get more sleep: Sleep is a really important component of your day-to-day activities and can greatly affect the way you feel. Set a goal to go to bed at a certain time each night and try to stick to it. If you can get at least six to seven hours, you will really be able to see a difference in your work and your children will see a difference at school.

All of these ideas are simple ways to improve our health that we often don’t think about in our busy everyday schedule. New Year’s resolutions don’t have to be a chore, they can be something that the whole family looks forward to and enjoys doing together. Let’s all have a happy and healthy new year.

What’s Inside

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Community Events

Volume 2 Issue 1 WINTER 2019

Family & Consumer Sciences Newsletter

Organ Annie

WOW! Have the Organ Wise Guys and myself been busy the last few months bringing the good nutrition news to local schools and head start classes. We have seen over 170 children and continue to spread the healthy eating lessons with more classes scheduled.

Sid and Kid, the Kidney brother twins, have been very excited to meet other twins in Boyd County. Calci M. Bone loves sharing how drinking milk makes our bones and teeth strong. Calci makes sure each child receives a new toothbrush in their favorite color.

See you around the county as the Organ Wise Guys continue to visit children to make Boyd County healthier!

Sid and Kid, the Kidney Brother Twins pose with twins from local schools, Jacob and Rylee (left), Hudson and Tucker (right).

Notification of Discrimination Complaint Procedure: The College of Agriculture, Food

and Environment is an Equal Opportunity Organization with respect to education and employment and authorization to provide research, education information and other services only to individuals and institutions

that function without regard to economic or social status and will not discriminate on the

bases of race, color, ethnic origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual

orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status,

genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability. Inquiries

regarding compliance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educational Amendments, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and other related

matter should be directed to Equal Opportunity Office, College of Agriculture,

Food and Environment, University of Kentucky, Room S-105, Agriculture Science Building, North Lexington, Kentucky 40546.

A Year in Homemakers

We have had a good year and increased

our membership again. There are seven

adult clubs and nine junior homemaker

clubs. We have two Master Clothing

Volunteers, three Champion Food

Volunteers, and many blue ribbon

winners from the County Fair and Area

Meeting.

The County sent four kids to 4-H Camp

and one veteran on a Honor Flight. We

are 100% in donations for Ovarian

Cancer. We also met every Thursday to

work on mats for the homeless and at

least once a month to complete

unfinished projects. Ten Homemakers

went to Enrichment Camp, three taught

classes in ink painting, chalkboard

painting, glass etching, and live succulent

wreaths.

January 2018

January 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 at 10am, Mat Project, Extension Office January 4 at 11am, Cooking through the Calendar, Extension Office January 7 at 4:30pm, District Board, Extension Office January 14 at 6pm, CLCDC, Extension Office January 15 at 10am, FCS Advisory Council, Extension Office January 21, CLOSED Martin Luther King Jr Day January 21, 3- 5pm, UFOs (Unfinished Objects), Extension Office January 21 at 5pm, Quilt Class, Extension Office, Registration Required.

February 2018

February 1 a 11am, Cooking through the Calendar, Extension Office February 4 at 4:30pm, District Board, Extension Office February 7, 14, 21, 28 at 10am, Mat Project, Extension Office February 11 at 6pm, CLCDC, Extension Office February 18, 3- 5pm, UFOs (Unfinished Objects), Extension Office

March 2018

March 1 at 11am, Cooking through the Calendar, Extension Office March 4 at 4:30pm, District Board, Extension Office March 7, 14, 21, 28 at 10am, Mat Project, Extension Office March 11 at 6pm, CLCDC, Extension Office March 18, 3– 5pm, UFOs (Unfinished Objects), Extension Office

Homemaker Council Extension Office, Catlettsburg

January 9 at 10 AM February 13 at 10 AM

March 13 at 10 AM

Leader Lesson Extension Office, Catlettsburg

January 17 at 10 AM February 21 at 10 AM

March 21 at 10 AM

Keys to Aging Lesson

Extension Office, Catlettsburg February 27 at Noon

If Ashland, Boyd County, OR Fairview schools are closed due to

weather … ALL Homemaker and FCS programs are cancelled.

At our Annual Christmas Dinner we raised over $250 for the

resource center with our cake walk, ugly sweater contest, and raffle

for a Christmas throw donated by Susan Grimmett. Homemakers

decorated the Highlands Museum for Christmas, as well as the

Extension Office.

Several classes will be taught by our Homemakers coming up this

year (quilting, paper crafts, and glass etching) and we would like to

see more.

The Homemakers have helped on many occasions (teaching,

collection, volunteering, taking classes) and have supported each

other in their endeavors to make Boyd County a better community.

I am proud of what our Homemakers have accomplished and will

continue to accomplish in the coming year.

Kathy King, Boyd County President

Photos from the 2018 Homemaker Christmas Dinner

Junior Homemaker Lessons in local schools on these dates:

January 14,16,28,29 February 5,6,11,12,25 March 5,6,11,19

Call the Extension office to volunteer!

EXTENS ION

Agriculture and Natural Resources • Family and Consumer Sciences • 4-H Youth Development • Community and Economic Development

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE • UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, LEXINGTON, KY, 40546

At times you may have to pack a

“picnic” dinner so that you can keep

your family mealtime.

FCS3-553

Family MealtimeMake it Happen

Ingrid Adams, Nutrition and Food Science

Do you ever wish you had more time to talk, laugh and have fun with your family? There is a simple solution – the family meal. You have to feed your family. Why not find a time that all of you can sit down for a family meal? It is a perfect time to talk.

Eating four to five meals together each week helps children develop social skills, strengthens family bonds, and promotes good com-munication. It also gives children a sense of security and lets them know that their family is there for them. Family mealtime is an activity we cannot ignore and the effects it can have on children cannot be overlooked. Having regular family meals is a chal-lenge to many but the follow-ing suggestions should make it easier to make family mealtime a reality.

Make family mealtime a priority.

y Set a regular time for family meals. Eating together every night of the week might not be possible.

y Enjoy more table time and less cooking time.

y Keep table time realistic—not too long so that mealtime be-comes a chore.

Just do it. Every journey begins with a first step.

y Begin by having at least one or two meals a week. This could be Saturday lunch or dinner or Sunday brunch.

y Be creative about where you will eat together. Family meal-time does not always have to be in your home. At times you may have to pack a “picnic” dinner so that you can keep your family mealtime when you are on the go. One of the secrets to keeping family mealtime is being flexible.

y Plan ahead every week to anticipate work, school, and other activities that affect mealtime.

Meal planning y Plan simple, quick meals,

especially if you are starting out.

y Use cookbooks and grocery ads to write menus.

y Read recipes from start to fin-ish and make a shopping list of items needed.

y Stock up on basic items such as meat, beans, rice, pasta, canned vegetables, and fruits.

y Use what you have in your cupboard or your refrigerator to come up with meal sugges-tions.

y Consider leftovers when planning meals.

Issued 10-2011

Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, M. Scott Smith, Director, Land Grant Programs, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Lexington, and Kentucky State University, Frankfort. Copyright © 2011 for materials developed by University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. This publication may be reproduced in portions or its entirety for educa-tional or nonprofit purposes only. Permitted users shall give credit to the author(s) and include this copyright notice. Publications are also available on the World Wide Web at www.ca.uky.edu.

Meal preparation and cooking

y Cook several meals when you have more time, perhaps on weekends, and store them in the refrigerator. Even if you cannot prepare the entire meal in advance, completing the main dish helps. You can just add a vegetable dish and a salad if you have the main dish prepared.

y Use a slow cooker. An entire meal can be prepared before leaving for work and be ready when you come home for dinner.

y Do some tasks ahead of time y Wash and trim vegetables y Cook noodles for a pasta

salad y Cook lean ground meat for

tacos or spaghetti sauce the day before and store it in the refrigerator.

Get family members involved

y Have children set the table. y Have an older child pour the

milk. y Allow younger children to put

ice in glasses. y Have family members cut up

fruit and vegetables for a pre-meal snack.

y Ask family members to make the salad.

y Have individuals take turns or share the task of cleaning up.

Avoid disruptions y Take telephone calls after

dinner. Use an answering ma-chine or turn off the ringer on the phone.

y Turn off the television. The goal of family mealtime is to enjoy each other’s company and to communicate with each other. The television robs the family of the time to talk and connect.

Dinner ConversationMake dinner conversation enjoy-able by focusing on the pleasure of being with each other. Focus on positive rather than the nega-tive. Here are some points for dinner conversation.

y Ask everyone to share about their day. Encourage everyone to take the time to listen and ask questions of the person who is sharing.

y Parents can use this op-portunity to tell about fam-ily traditions and childhood memories.

y Ask kids about their school work and assignments.

y Tell a joke. y Plan or talk about a family va-

cation you would like to take. y If you were given $500 that

must be spent on someone outside of the family, who would you spend it on and what would you buy?

y Take the opportunity when everyone is at the table to decide on tasks for the next day’s meal, or upcoming ac-tivities and events.

Dinner Riddles and Trivia y What is the strangest food

you have ever eaten? y Can you think of any songs

about food? Sing one! y What is your favorite food?

Why do you like it?

y Can you name a vegetable that is a root? A flower? A stem? A leaf?

ResourcesSchool Wellness. http://www.

school-wellness.org/AtHome.aspx.

U.S. Department of Agricul-ture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010. http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuide-lines2010.pdf.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. ChooseMyPlate. http://www.choosemyplate.gov/.

Wellness In the Rockies. Family mealtime. http://www.uwyo.edu/WINTHEROCKIES_EDUR/FamilyMealtimes.asp.

ReferencesCarson, K.L. (2006). Family mealtimes:

More than just eating together. J Am Diet Assoc. 106:532-533.

Lyttle, J., and E.J. Baugh (2009). The importance of family dinners. Uni-versity of Florida IFAS Extension. Accessed October 4, 2011 from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1054.

Neumark-Sztainer, D. and P.J. Han-nan, M. Story and C. Perry (2003). Family meal patterns: Associations with sociodemographic character-istics and improved dietary intake among adolescents. J Am Diet As-soc. 103:317-322.

Rollins, B., L. Francis and R. BeLue (2007). Family meal frequency and weight status in young children. Pediatrics 17:723-751.

Spears, B.A. (2006). The need for family meals. J Am Diet Assoc. 106:218-219.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (2010). Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Accessed February 16, 2011 from http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/publica-tions/dietaryguidelines/2010/poli-cydoc/policydoc.pdf.

Boyd County

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Healthy Living for Your Brain and Body

For centuries, we’ve known that the health of the brain and the body

are connected. But now, science is able to provide insights into how to

optimize our physical and cognitive health as we age. Join us to learn

about research in the areas of diet and nutrition, exercise, cognitive

activity and social engagement, and use hands-on tools to help you

incorporate these recommendations into a plan for healthy aging.

January 10, 2019

11:00am-12:00pm

Boyd County Public Library

1740 Central Avenue, Ashland, KY

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR ALL PROGRAMS. To register for a program or find a support group

in your area, please call 1.800.272.3900 OR register online at http://www.communityresourcefinder.org