Staying Healthy in Uncertain Times... 

 

Kitchen Angels is keeping up on the news about Coronavirus so we can take the necessary precautions to safeguard our medically fragile clients. Most of you know to stay home if you or someone in your family is showing cold or flu symptoms. We simply can't risk the health of our homebound clients by potentially spreading germs to their meals. We have a robust substitute volunteer list, so don't hesitate to call Lauren if you even suspect you might be coming down with something. It's better to be on the safe side...especially right now.  

 

If you would like to know specific precautions to take, please read this straightforward letter from Dr. James Robb on What I am Doing for the Upcoming COVID-19 (coronavirus) Pandemic. Dr. Robb is a recognized expert in biospecimen science with over 50 years of experience in molecular pathology, virology, and genetics. He was one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses back in the 1970s. It's smart to prepare for the worst, but hope for the best!  

	Next level chile con queso!

National Chip and Dip Day - it's actually a thing - and it falls on March 23rd. If you can't think of much beyond tortilla chips dipped in salsa or guacamole, then this extensive list of dips is for you. Bon Appetit does it again with 58 Super Bowl Dip Recipes from Guacamole to Onion Dip. We know the Super Bowl is over, but you can eat these fancy dips anytime, and with more than just chips - think crudités! As the weather warms this spring, dips are a great idea for picnics. 

We don't think you need a specially designated day to bust out a cool dip recipe. Thursday? Perfect! Kid's birthday party? Make it a cheesy dip! Netflix binge night? Heck yes!

We love March because of how much focus is given to ideas that are near and dear to our hearts, like National Frozen Food and National Nutrition month. We also have Caregiver Appreciation Day (March 3). Kitchen Angels wouldn't be able to serve so many homebound individuals (and their caregivers) healthy, nutritious meals if it weren't for our frozen meal 

program.  We prepare extra meals each day and freeze them right away, so they stay fresh and don't get freezer-burned.

Cooking batch meals, then freezing them to use throughout the week, is a great way to save time and money and avoid the fast-food grab when we're too tired or busy to cook. Here we have 10 Batch Cook and Freeze Recipes You Need!  It's easy to make a double-batch of soup or stew, and then freeze single-serve portions for lunches. This is a great method for folks who are trying to adhere to a specific diet - either for health concerns or for losing weight. Need tips on how to properly cool, freeze, and reheat meals? This is a good slideshow with helpful advice. 

Here's to frozen food, which makes our lives so much easier!

We always welcome new volunteers! Here are our current opportunities:

• Kitchen Subs M-F (10am -12pm), (1pm -3pm)
• Delivery Subs M-F (4:30pm - 6:30pm)
• Delivery Prep M-F (2pm - 3:30pm)
• Delivery Coordinators (3:30pm - 5:30pm)

There is an aspect of working the PM kitchen shift that is very important, but not often mentioned: portioning. Our clients love to have their meal delivered in the evening, and it's a welcome sight when the container is full of food. Did you know that we have worked closely with

	Which would you rather eat?

a nutritionist to ensure each meal bag we send out contains at least 1,700 calories? For some of our clients, this is the only nutrition they receive, so we need to ensure there are enough daily calories.

We cook enough food each day so that every client can receive 4-6oz of protein (depending on protein type) and a full serving of vegetables.

Here's a scenario that occurred that brings into focus the issues that can arise from inconsistent portioning. We had a delivery driver who was pulling meals out of their thermal bag, and noticed that some were full, healthy-looking portions, and other meals seemed hardly enough to fill a belly. The volunteer was in a quandary - which client gets the full meal, and which one gets the inadequate portion? It brought our dear volunteer to tears having to make such a judgment call. 

Please slow down and take your time with portioning. Think of the amount of food you would like to receive. Don't skimp on those veggies - fill the side reservoir to the top. If you need to weigh out the correct portion of protein, get out the scale. You can also weigh one and leave it out as an example to replicate. If you're not good at eye-balling, use that scale. Don't forget that we have a full two hours to complete the portioning and sealing. Take your time and enjoy yourself - our clients and delivery volunteers will be grateful.

Global Recycling Day is March 21, 2020, so we wanted to offer some helpful tips about what you can and can't recycle. By throwing contaminated items in your recycling bin, you run the risk of ruining loads of recycling, which will then end up in the landfill. Here's a good article from The New York Times on 6 Things You're Recycling Wrong. This short video really brings the idea home. When in doubt, throw it out!

Why you're recycling wrong

 

We are grateful for the opportunity to make stronger connections with people in our community. We've always been a good neighbor, helpful partner, and integral part of our

Lauren & Dwayne with Violet Crown general manager Peter Grendle

community. Since development officer, Dwayne Trujillo began working with Kitchen Angels, we have stepped up our efforts to cultivate relationships with businesses, agencies, and organizations that want to align with our mission.

Dwayne and Lauren recently sat down with Joanna M Gillespie from the Los Alamos National Laboratory Community Partnerships Office, to speak about how their employees can give back at Kitchen Angels. Not only are they going to generously donate funds to our organization, but they are also going to send a group of volunteers to work in the kitchen in April. It's great to share the kitchen with visiting volunteers who might not know the joy of giving back by cooking meals for those in need. Please welcome our community partners from LANL and let them know the value of becoming a volunteer.

We are stronger together!

Kitchen Angels assists people who find their lives changed by illness and accidents. Ricky B. has been a kitchen volunteer for two years, reliably working in a gentle and humble way with the Tuesday morning crew. Unfortunately, Ricky was recently hit by a car while walking to the store and suffered multiple serious injuries, requiring hospitalization and a stay in a physical rehabilitation center. The Tuesday crew has been visiting him and assisting with errands and care. 

Thanks goes out to Jane Shea & Barbara Belding for being so involved in Ricky's care. He is now home, on our meal service and enjoying the meals he would usually be preparing.

Kitchen Angels wishes Ricky a speedy and full recovery. We miss you in the kitchen!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the Volunteer Appreciation movies and lunches. We all had a fun time with a morning movie and the food was pretty darn good. Thanks to Violet Crown for generously offering us their theater and dining spaces. We hope our volunteers felt inspired by the movies about food, and had a good time getting to know other volunteers.