What's Cookin? Tuesday - Creole Green Beans

Kristen Mowers, CalSERVES Nutrition Coordinator

Produce Tips:

• Look for a variety of green beans (e.g., string, snap, Chinese long beans).
• Green beans should look fresh with a bright green color. Make sure the beans are plump and firm, with a velvety feel and don’t have any sign of decay.
• Place green beans in a plastic bag with small holes. Store them in the refrigerator. Green beans will last up to five days.
• Wash green beans and then snap off both ends before cooking. Beans should be well-cooked but firm. It is important not to overcook them because they will losesome of their nutrients.

Creole Green Beans

(Makes 8 servings at ¾ cup each)

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh green beans, ends snapped off

2 small cloves garlic

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 cup chopped tomatoes

½ cup chopped celery

½ teaspoon hickory salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Wash green beans, snap off the ends and cut in half.

2. In a large skillet, sauté garlic in oil over low heat for 1 minute.

3. Add green beans and bell pepper.

4. Increase heat to medium and cook for 5 more minutes.

5. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve warm.

Fun Filled Summer Camp at RL Stevens!!

Katie O'Looney, Supervising Teacher

For the past 4 weeks, both Wright Charter School and RL Stevens Elementary School students have been enjoying the sunshine and activities that our AmeriCorps members have been planning. Each day, the Boys and Girls Club and our students are provided a free nutritious lunch from the Redwood Empire Food Bank. After they eat lunch, they rotate through 4 different centers from 1:30-4:00pm. This year we had a HUGE jump in enrollment up to 100 students. The mentors are doing a wonderful job ending their year of service and the kids are enjoying each and every minute from the water games to the arts and crafts activities.

Summer Fun: Recreation Sensation

Lindsday Rizzo, CalSERVES Program Coordinator

This summer, CalSERVES and the Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks Department are partnering to bring the Recreation Sensation program to three school sites in Santa Rosa. Both CalSERVES and Rec and Park staff members have come together at each site to provide an amazing summer recreation program that provides kids ages 5-13 with a fun, and safe place to be this summer. 

CalSERVES mentors alongside Recreation and Parks staff members trained for a week in June to gear up for this summer's program. They bonded over team-building activities, songs and games to form a united Recreation Sensation staff.

Recreation Sensation is a free program for kids in the surrounding community. The program engages kids in activities and field trips from 9am to 4:30pm each day. Whether it's playing soccer, singing camp songs, getting fancy during salon day or letting loose on the slip-n-slide, the mentors and the kids are having a blast.

Making a Difference One Child at a Time

If you were to ask our AmeriCorps members why they give hundreds of hours of their time in service to the community, you might expect to hear:

• to build my resume, and gain experience,
• to earn an AmeriCorps Education Award (a full-time award is $5,300.00), or
• to get student loan forbearance.

And those are good reasons. But when it gets right down to it, the things that keep you going during a rigorous year of service are the moments with children that let you know you've made a difference in the life of a child. Here's what some of this year's AmeriCorps mentors had to say:

One of my second grade tutees was having a lot of trouble saying the word “asked”. So one day we kept repeating it back and forth for a minute or two. She finally got it down, but still felt a little unsure. The next day when she was reading aloud she read the word perfectly without hesitation. Instantly she realized what she’d just done and looked at me with a huge smile on her face. It was very triumphant.

A 4th grader asked me what “puke” meant. I told him it was the same as throwing up. He asked if it was a bad word. I said I didn’t think so. I told him “vomit” was the technical word, so he started saying, “This makes me want to vomit”. “ I am going to vomit”.

I had a very discouraged tutee who usually hates to read. After reading a book together, he told me “I thought this story was goanna be boring. But after we read it, it's good! It’s exciting!”

I have the best tutees!!! They are all great kids and look forward to seeing them everyday. They have all been improving and it makes me feel good to see them trying so hard. My hardest kid to tutor (who really isn’t that hard) has made the most improvement.

One girl I’m tutoring is graduating from the program because she has improved so much. When I told her, she was sad to go and started messing up her words on purpose and said she was doing it so she could stay in tutoring with me. It was nice to hear that she has fun and she’s learned a lot too.

My tutee Jackie has finally come out of her shy shell, and even her teacher has noticed improvement. She told me she reads books at home, and sometimes during tutoring read-aloud, she gets really excited and tells me she knows what’s going to happen next. Then she recalls the entire story in detail. I’m SO proud she’s reading on her own.

What's Cookin? Tuesday - Fruit Salad with Jicama

Kristen Mowers, CalSERVES Nutrition Coordinator

A Slice of Melon History

• Melons were first cultivated in Persia and northern Africa nearly 4,000 years ago, and later by ancient Greeks and Romans.
• Introduced to western and northern Europe during the Middle Ages, melons were harvested by the Spaniards and later the French and British.
• Christopher Columbus brought over the first melon seeds to North America on his second expedition, while watermelons arrived with African slaves.
• In 1683, the melon was introduced to California by Spanish missionaries.
• Melons and watermelons were grown almost exclusively in home gardens until the first half of the 20th century, when more disease- and wilt-resistant cultivars were developed by the USDA.

Fruit Salad with Jicama

Yield: 7 servings

Ingredients:

1 small jicama

2 cups watermelon cut into pieces

1 mango

1 small papaya

1 lime

2 kiwis

1 teaspoon lime or orange juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Instructions:

1. Wash, peel, and cut the jicama into thin slices.

2. Wash, peel, and cut the rest of the fruit into slices or medium sized pieces.

3. On a large plate, arrange the fruit. Sprinkle the lime or orange juice over the fruit.

4. In a small bowl, mix the salt and chili powder. Sprinkle over the fruit and serve.

5. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

Calories 80, fat 0g, Sodium 90mg, sugar 12g, protein 1g

What's Cookin? Tuesday - Summer Vegetable Spaghetti

Kristen Mowers, CalSERVES Nutrition Coordinator

Veggie Facts

• Green beans are nitrogen fixers, which means they have the ability to draw nitrogen from the air and return it to the soil. Because of this, farmers often plant beans and legumes in their crop rotations to replenish the soil.
• Fresh beans are classified into two basic categories: edible pod beans and shell beans. Green beans are the most popular edible pod bean, while Lima beans are the most common shell bean sold in the United States.
• Compared to dry or shell beans, green beans provide less starch and protein, and more Vitamin A, Vitamin C and calcium.

Summer Vegetable Spaghetti

Serving Size: 1 cup spaghetti and 3/4 cup sauce with vegetables

Yield: 9 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups small, yellow onions, cut into eighths

2 cups chopped, peeled, fresh, ripe tomatoes (about 1 lb)

2 cups thinly sliced yellow and green squash (about 1 lb)

1 1/2 cups cut fresh green beans (about 1/2 lb)

2/3 cup water

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

to taste black pepper

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 pound uncooked spaghetti

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Combine first 10 ingredients in large saucepan. Cook for 10 minutes, then stir in tomato paste. Cover and cook gently, 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender.
2. Cook spaghetti in unsalted water according to package directions.
3. Spoon sauce over drained hot spaghetti and sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top.

Calories 260, Fat 2.5g, Sodium 290mg, Sugar 6g, Protein 11g

Another Great AmeriCorps Year

The time is running out for this year's group of AmeriCorps members. Together, they have given thousands of hours in service to the community - tutoring children, running after school programs, teaching nutrition, mentoring, enrichment, and the list goes on and on. They have Made a Difference!

Here are the faces of that service - team pictures from each of seven sites.

Bellevue Elementary

Kawana Elementary

Meadow View Elementary
  

RL Stevens Elementary

Roseland Elementary

Sheppard Elementary/ RAMS

Wright Charter

Good job everyone on this year of service!