Hispanic Cooking Class #2

On Thursday evening, Ian and I hosted our second Hispanic Cooking Class for one of our classes. We had less participants that evening because there were bad thunderstorms and it was raining off and on. We still made some cool recipes though! We made baked chicken nuggets, broccoli salad, and fruit, then Ian taught us all how to make some fancy garnishes out of vegetables.
We made baked chicken nuggets by slicing up chicken breasts into small chunks, then coating them with breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. We made these chicken nuggets healthier by baking them instead of frying them. The broccoli salad was made by slicing up broccoli, adding raisins, sunflower seeds, red onion, and Greek yogurt. By substituting the commonly used mayonnaise with Greek yogurt, we made this dish healthier.
It was fun and all of the food turned out great! Everyone had a good time!

Tomato Skin Roses and Cucumber Slice Roses

Broccoli Salad Fixins!

Lots of fruit and veggies to be eaten!

Mixing the Broccoli Salad

Breading the Chicken Nuggets

So pretty!

Our pretty garnishes! 

Teaching us how to make the roses. It's harder than you'd think!

LIFT Classes

This past week, Ian, the FCS Agent, launched his LIFT classes. LIFT is a research program for a PhD student at Virginia Tech to analyze physical changes in adults who live a sedentary lifestyle but begin to do some physical activity. (That's my best definition of it. It may not be 100% accurate.)
On Monday, Shania, Ian, and I all did pre-assessments with the participants for the class. Each person came in and did a series of exercises that tested their balance, stability, and strength. The participants had to do a range of activities: bicep curls, squats, leg lifts,They will repeat the same exercises after the 10 week class ends to see if there is improvement.
Thursday and Friday were our first LIFT classes. We had many excited and enthusiastic people show up to workout each day. There were a few people out of town, so next week should be even more exciting with more participants.
I'll tell you, the exercises are no joke! We were ALL sweating!

ServSafe Class

The past two Mondays I have spent my day in a ServSafe Manager training class taught by Ian, the FCS agent here at the office. I have worked for a catering company for the past few years so it was cool to learn about the safety side of things and the behind the scenes work that takes place in restaurant settings. I learned a lot and it was fun to listen to the stories from managers and employees of restaurants who have seen many of the things we discussed in the sessions. This past Monday we took a certification class, and I'm really hoping I passed it! I won't find out for about another week, but it will be cool if I did! It definitely makes me think more about what goes on in restaurants and how food should be prepared in any setting. I would definitely advise employees in different settings to take this class. It is very informative and useful in more settings than just the restaurant industry.


Update: I passed the ServSafe Test! I'm ServSafe Certified for the next 5 years!

June 9th Cooking Class

On Thursday night, the FCS agent here in Albemarle/Charlottesville hosted a Hispanic Cooking Class. There were 12 participants who got to experience cooking some familiar and some unfamiliar foods.
The recipes that the participants made were:
Apple Cinnamon Pork Chops (a similar recipe to the one we actually made)
http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/apple-cinnamon-pork-chops/

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Garlic Lemon Aioli (a similar recipe: we actually used greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise and I prefer the greek yogurt instead of the mayo)
http://www.dishingdelish.com/recipe/crispy-baked-sweet-potato-fries-with-garlic-aioli-dipping-sauce/

Spicy Quinoa Salad (a similar recipe to the one we actually made)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/229156/zesty-quinoa-salad/

There was lots of conversation, laughter, and learning that took place and it was awesome to see all of the participants work together to make these tasty dishes. I got to use a little bit of Spanish and listened to conversations that took place around me. I am looking forward to the next cooking class next week!

Some of the finished products!

Spicy Quinoa Salad

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Camper Sign Up Night

On Friday, we held our Camp Class Sign Up Night. We had lots of excited campers and family members come in to get lots of camp information and sign up for the classes they want to take at camp this summer! We have some awesome options: Nature Crafts, Cooking over the Campfire, Performing Arts, Riflery, and Swimming for children to take!
It was a good night, we got to see lots of new and returning campers! It was cool to see how much some of the campers have grown since last year! This should be a good 4-H camp year with Albemarle/Charlottesville/Cumberland/Nelson!
July 11th will be here before we know it! :)

The interns at check-in

Hey Guys, I'm Back! :)

Hey guys!
I am back in the Albemarle/Charlottesville Extension Office for the summer! Instead of just being the 4-H Intern this summer, I will also be working with the Family and Consumer Sciences agent with some of his events. After only being in the office for a few days, I already have my planner full of fun 4-H and FCS events. I am really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces as well as meeting lots of new people of all ages. Although Charlottesville is a much more crowded town than I've grown up in, I love the city adventures and getting to see all the people.
I'll be helping with 4-H camp and some of the 4-H workshops this summer. I'll also be helping with FCS cooking nights, exercise classes, workshops, and trainings.
Can't wait to see what this summer has in store for me and the other intern, Shania. I know it will keep us busy! I'm excited to be back and very thankful I have another opportunity to be back in Albemarle!

My Last Day in the Office

Today is my final day down here with Albemarle 4-H. I have had a great summer, met awesome people, participated in awesome events, learned lots, and had fun! I am glad I had another opportunity work with Karrin and spend my summer with a great group of people and amazing children. The workshops we hosted, camp week we planned, Boys and Girls Club events we helped with, and all the planning and organizing we did was definitely worth the hour and fifteen minute drive down here every day this summer. I enjoyed working with the other 4-H/ANR intern Courtney and feel like we both had a successful summer. It was nice to have another set of hands to help with all kinds of projects and another person to talk through ideas with. I have thoroughly enjoyed all ten weeks of this internship!
In 8 days I will begin a semester of student teaching in Rockingham County, and will finish up my college degree. After that, you may see me back around this area or in another extension office around the state. Only time will tell where I will end up, but I know I will never be far from 4-H. :)
Thank you everyone for making my summer such a great one! I'll see you soon!