Released November 9, 2009
DALLAS – Every day someone somewhere calls a spouse from work and says, “I’m on my way home, dear. What’s for dinner tonight?”
Sometimes they have an answer, but often they don’t.
For those who could use ideas for quick healthy meals, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service can help, said Susan Ballabina, the agency’s North Texas regional program director for family and consumer sciences.
AgriLife Extension is offering an online program -- “Dinner Tonight!” – a collection of free webcasts of easy-to-prepare nutritious recipes, she said. They can be accessed by visiting: http://healthyliving.tamu.edu .
“Many people become overwhelmed when they think of menu planning and trying to prepare healthy, cost-effective meals for their families,” Ballabina said. “The county Extension agents who appear in the webcasts have the knowledge and expertise to provide families help for mealtime.”
Dinner Tonight! is one of newest among a number of programs offered by AgriLife Extension to promote healthy living. (For information about other programs, visit the agency’s Family and Consumer Science’s home page: http://fcs.tamu.edu/ .)
The site, which has been up and running for several months, is updated weekly with a new recipe and webcast, Ballabina said. Families can sign up to receive weekly e-mails announcing new recipes by contacting Jenny Leone at 972-952-9258 or j-leone@tamu.edu .
The videos run between about 3 and 7 minutes each and resemble cooking shows commonly aired on television, she said. The site already has more than 30 recipes demonstrated by AgriLife Extension agents from North Texas counties.
In addition to the webcasts, the site includes an active blog, and the recipes can be downloaded and printed for convenience, Ballabina said.
Dana Tarter, a webcast contributor whose recipes include “Tex-Mex Beef Skillet” and “Lemon Buttered Fish,” said Dinner Tonight! can be helpful to families who sometimes struggle to come up with new healthy ideas for dinner.
“I think both the videos and the blog are good tools to help in finding ways to stretch the food dollar, prepare food safely and gain tips and hints that can help to answer the age-old question, ‘What's for dinner tonight?’” said Tarter, AgriLife Extension director in Tarrant County.
The program has been well received by the public, Tarter said.
The city of Arlington, for example, has included a link to Dinner Tonight! on the health and wellness page of the city’s employee Web site, said Mary Ann Michael, RN, BSN.
“As the city of Arlington employee health and wellness nurse, I recommend the site frequently and encourage folks to copy the link and send it to their personal e-mail addresses so they have access at home,” Michael said. “The other resources on the site are fabulous, as well. I love the fact that there is an entire section on modifying recipes. It educates people on how to detect excess fat, sugar and salt, and gives tips on revising recipes to make them healthier.”
Michael, whose favorite recipes include the “Spicy Shrimp Spinach Salad” and “Crock Pot Chicken,” admitted that cooking isn’t her favorite pastime.
“But I look forward to the latest videos because the recipes are quick and easy in addition to being healthy,” she said. “Time is an important factor for me, and I like that they usually take less than 30 minutes to prepare, plus there's very little clean-up. And they’re easy on my budget. It’s a win-win all the way around.”
--30--
http://agnews.tamu.edu/showstory.php?id=1515
Sources: Jenny Leone, 972-952-9258, JLeone@ag.tamu.edu
Dana Tarter, 817-884-1945, d-tarter@tamu.edu
Susan Ballabina, 972-952-9229, sg-ballabina@tamu.edu
Editor: Mike Jackson, 972-952-9232
