UPCOMING EVENTS

Vestibular/Balance Disorder

Education Class October 6

CCES 10:00 a.m.

Take 5 Quilt Class October 10

CCES 10:00 a.m.

Plate it Up Kentucky Proud

Cooking Demonstration October 13

Campbell Co. Senior Center 10:00 a.m.

Money Habitudes October 17

CCES 1:30 p.m.

Money Habitudes October 17

Boone County Extension 6:30 p.m.

Homemaker Council Meeting October 18

CCES 10:00 a.m.

What’s Your Pulse? October 25

CCES 1:30 p.m.

Cookies for the Holidays November 2

CCES 1:30 p.m.

Trip to Nashville, Indiana November 10

See enclosed flyer

Managing Holiday Finances November 11

Boone County Extension 10:00 a.m.

Holiday Treasures November 17

CCES 6:00 p.m.

Gifts from the Kitchen December 1

CCES 6:30 p.m.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Seasonal ................................. 1

Nutrition & Food.................. 2

Recipe ..................................... 3

Life Skills.................................. 3

Healthy Relationships ......... 4

Health & Wellness ............... 4

FALL ALLERGIES

There’s a lot to look forward to in the fall, but if you suffer

from fall allergies, it can be hard to enjoy the season.

Hay fever, also called allergic rhinitis, starts with cold-like symptoms. Unlike a cold that goes away within a week, hay fever lingers until the cause of the allergic reaction is identi-

fied and treated. One of the most common causes, especially during the fall allergy season, is ragweed. Ragweed begins to pollinate in mid-August and sticks around until

a hard freeze.

Mold can cause problems for allergy sufferers any time of the year, but a warmer-than-normal fall, high humidity or windy condi-tions can allow mold spores to be released into the air for an extend-

ed period of time.

Raking leaves, a common fall chore, can also stir up mold and pollen in the ground. Allergy sufferers who rake their yard can use an N-95 respirator mask when raking leaves to lessen the impacts of allergens. Children who have

allergies should avoid jumping or playing in leaves.

Many indoor allergies can worsen in the fall, as you stay inside more. While you can’t get rid of all the allergens in

your home, you can minimize them. Here are some tips:

Wash your sheets weekly in hot water and your blankets

every two to three weeks to kill dust mites.

Replace pillows every two to three years.

Encase your mattress, pillows and other padded furni-

ture with allergen-proof covers.

Sometimes signs of allergies aren’t straightforward as it can be hard to distinguish an allergy from the common cold. This is especially true with children. If you or your child has cold symptoms that last more than a week or seem to occur at the same time every year, you may want to talk with your health care provider about it. Only a certified health care provider can truly diagnose allergies and prescribe treat-

ments.

Source: Nicole Peritore, Senior Extension Specialist; University of

Kentucky; College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Cooperative Extension Service

Campbell County

3500 Alexandria Pike

Highland Heights, KY 41076

(859) 572-2600

Fax: (859) 572-2619

Campbell County

20

16

Kentucky Winter Squash and Pumpkin

The greatest selection of fresh winter squash is available in late summer through fall. Winter squash has a mild flavor that combines well with more flavorful fruits and vegetables such as apples, tomatoes, green beans, and corn. Herbs, spices, and seasonings such as allspice, basil, brown sugar, cin-namon, cloves, fen-nel, ginger, mace, nutmeg, onion, and savory bring out its sweet, nutty flavor. Pumpkin and other winter squash can be pureed, made into soup, roasted, fried, or baked. They can also be incorporated into baked goods or main dish entrees. Small varieties may also be stuffed, boiled, or mashed. All varieties of winter squash are low in fat and sodium; plus, they are excellent sources of dietary fiber and vitamin A. One-half cup of cooked, cubed winter squash without any added seasoning has approximately 40 calories and can add flavor, color, and texture to

any meal. When selecting winter squash and pumpkins, look for ones that are heavy for their size with a hard, tough rind free of blemishes and soft spots. Pumpkin should be brightly colored. Store in a cool, dry

place and use within a month. To prepare win-ter squash and pumpkin, rinse in cold water, light-ly scrubbing with a vege-table brush, cut into halves or quarters, and remove seeds and stringy portions. Use only a small amount of water during cooking to pre-vent loss of flavor and water-soluble vitamins. One pound of squash will yield 2 to 3 servings.

To Steam: Wash, peel, remove seeds, and cut the squash into 2-inch cubes or quar-ter the squash and cook with the rind on. The rind can be easily removed after cooking. Bring one inch of wa-ter to a boil in a saucepan. Place the squash on a rack or in a basket in the pan. Do not immerse squash in the water. Cover the pan tightly and

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Cushaw Pie 2 cups cooked and mashed cushaw squash

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 9-inch graham cracker pie shell

1. To prepare squash: wash and remove rind from the squash. Cut flesh into 1-inch squares. Steam squash

cubes until tender. Drain and mash.

2. Preheat oven to 400o F. In a large bowl, mix together the cushaw, butter, and sugars. Add eggs, lemon extract, vanilla extract, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix until smooth.

3. Pour mixture into pie shell.

4. Bake 15 minutes at 400o F.

5. Reduce oven temperature to 350o F and bake pie for an additional 45 minutes or until filling sets.

Yield: 8 slices

Nutritional Analysis per slice: 250 calories, 13g fat, 70mg cholesterol, 140mg sodium, 33g carbohydrate.

Source: Winter Squash, Kentucky Proud Project; University of Ken-tucky; College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

steam squash 30-40 minutes, or until tender.

To Bake: Wash squash and cut it lengthwise. Smaller squash can be cut in half; larger squash should be cut into por-tions. Remove seeds and place squash in a baking dish. Bake at 400o F for 1 hour or until tender. Seeds can be toasted at 350o F for 20 minutes.

To Microwave: Wash squash and cut it lengthwise. Place it in a baking dish and cover the dish with plastic wrap. Micro-wave until tender. *Acorn squash—1/2 squash, 5-8 minutes; 1 squash, 8½ to 1½ minutes *Butternut squash—2 pieces, 3 to 4½ minutes *Hubbard squash—(1/2 pound piec-es) - 2 pieces, 4 to 6½ minutes Source: Kentucky Winter Squash and Pumpkin, FSHE-1; University of Ken-tucky; College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Holidays are often an exciting time of the year. Spending time with family, enjoy-ing time off work, and celebrating with family traditions are enjoyable activities. However, the holidays also can repre-sent added stress due to the crunch on your wallet. Decorations, gifts, and food

expenses add up quickly.

When thinking about expensive holi-days people often think of Christmas. However, other holidays can be expen-sive as well. For example, Halloween is the third most expensive holiday after Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Alt-hough Halloween does not involve large gifts or family events, the costs of cos-tumes, candy, and decorations can re-quire big spending. To avoid the finan-cial strain of the holidays, it is important to plan for holiday expenses throughout the year and adopt new, lower-cost tradi-

tions.

An important step to reduce costs is to save and reuse decorations from year to year. Also, you can often make deco-rations at a lower cost than buying them

in a store.

Develop a Budget for Upcoming Holidays

One way to reduce impulsive spend-ing is to develop a budget that includes clear expectations for travel, food, enter-

tainment, and gift-giving expenses.

First, review what you did for the holidays last year. Think about to whom you gave gifts. Was there anyone you forgot? Think about the challenges you faced. Did you use your credit card too much? Did you spend more than you expected? Also consider what worked well for your family. Did you draw names with family members to split the cost of buying gifts for everyone? Look-ing at previous years can help you plan for the upcoming year, espe-

cially with holidays and celebrations.

Make a list of everyone who will re-ceive a gift as well as all items that will cost money during the holiday season. Some items often forgotten include gasoline, babysitter fees,

and eating at restaurants more often.

Some people enjoy giving gifts to non-family members (teachers, babysitters, etc.), but they are often forgotten when making a budget. Consider writing handwritten notes expressing thanks or appreciation

rather than buying gifts.

As part of your budget, determine how you will pay for each item. Paying with cash will help avoid un-expected spending. Paying with a credit card without keeping track of spend-ing may cause you to forget purchases for which you’ll have to pay

later.

Plan your shopping trips ahead of time by reviewing store ads for up-coming sales. This step will lower costs while also helping to reduce impulsive decisions while in the store. Make sure the item is a useful

purchase, not an impulsive decision.

Consider making purchases through-out the year and storing the items

until they are needed.

Tips for Specific Holidays

Shop consignment or thrift stores for

costumes before the Halloween. You can also be creative by looking for items that can be turned into a

costume.

Search local ads for sales on Hal-loween candy. Remember to buy only what you will need, so that lefto-ver candy is not wasted. You can also buy small amounts of candy early in the time leading up to the holiday to help spread the cost over

several weeks.

Cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal on your own can be expensive. Consider having a potluck with friends and family to avoid cooking or paying for the entire meal your-

self.

Plan for meals ahead of time to take advantage of cou-

pons and grocery deals.

Using in season produce for recipes can often reduce food costs. For example, sweet potatoes and fall squash are often on sale during the

Thanksgiving season.

Consider setting up new holiday traditions that cost less. For example, some families or friend groups use “Secret San-ta” where each person draws a name randomly so that every-one receives a gift and each

person only buys one gift.

Reduce travel expenses by visiting out-of-town family for just one holi-

day during the winter season.

Source: Managing Holiday Expenses: How to Reduce Spending to Decrease Financial Stress, FCS5-462; University of Kentucky; College of Agriculture, Food and Environ-

ment

Managing Holiday Expenses: How to Reduce Spending to Decrease Financial Stress

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CAREGIVING AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

The Mayo Clinic stresses the importance of carefully under-standing the impact that caregiving can have on a marriage. According to Mayo, caregiving affects relationships because of the stress it can add to couple and family time, routines and finances. Caregiving can cause resentment toward your loved one who demands your partner’s time and energy. It can create tension between your partner and other family members in-volved in the care and cause more things to which you and your

partner may disagree.

To help preserve your relationship while caring for a loved

one:

Don’t spread yourself too thin. You cannot be everything to everybody; therefore, you need to balance your time, effort, energy, love and responsibilities so that you don’t shortchange yourself or others. You might not be perfect at

times, but learn that this is okay sometimes.

Don’t feel guilty. Remind yourself that you are not ne-glecting your loved one when you put your needs or your partner’s needs first. On the flip side, don’t feel guilty around your spouse and make assumptions that you are

disappointing them. Instead, be honest and open with all.

Communicate and compromise. Honesty is the best policy to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard and people are more forgiving of limitations. Talk about caregiver roles, your relationship and how you can support and be

present for each other.

Work as a support team. Healthy relationships are strong for a reason—because you and your partner are team-mates. Even in the shadows of caregiving, you cannot ne-glect or ignore this very important teammate who is also

your future.

Prioritize. Sometimes it can be helpful to triage care recip-ient’s less urgent needs so that you can focus on your part-

ner.

Spend time together. Pre-serving a relationship means that you have to look for ways to enjoy your relationship. Therefore, it is important to make or even schedule quality time for each other and to cel-ebrate both the big and small things that make you laugh,

smile and appreciate each other.

Ask for or say yes to help. Accepting assistance helps reserve relationships. It allows you time to do things as a couple, including something as simple as running errands or as elaborate as a getaway if someone is able to stay with

or invite your loved one to their house.

Source: Family Caregiving Health Bulletin, October 2016; University of

Kentucky; College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

The Importance of Staying Positive

Staying positive is an important part of mental health. When you are positive, it does not mean that you should ignore chal-lenges or tough times; it just means that you should try to see the bright side as much as possible. It may take some time and practice to start thinking more positively. Here are a few ways

that you can try:

Write down dreams and goals. By writing them down, you are actually setting the groundwork for reaching your goal. Be detailed about what you want and how you think

you can reach that dream or goal.

Say thank you. You can do this in many ways, including keeping a jour-nal of things you are grateful for, writ-ing a letter to someone who made a difference in your life, and making an effort to say “thank you” to all people

who helped you throughout the week.

Avoid worrying. If you worry a lot, instead of worrying try to find a way to solve the problem that you are facing. You may also try to distract yourself from worrying if it is

something beyond your control.

Watch out for all-or-nothing thinking. Remember that if something does not go the way you think it should go, it does not mean that it will always be that way. That one time was that one time. Take steps to have a different out-

come if it is something that you can control.

Slow down. Sometimes, when things are moving too fast, we get stressed. With lots of stress we may move towards negative thinking. If you are feeling stressed—whether that is happening while talking, eating, or even rushing around to get something done—take the time to slow down. Slow-ing down will allow you to think clearly about what you need

to do.

Eat well and stay active. Did you know that eating un-healthy foods and not being active can actually make you feel worse? That is right! Eating healthy foods and staying

active on a regular basis will actually make you feel better.

It can be hard to develop healthy habits like staying positive. Try some of these different ways to stay positive and see how

much better you will feel!

Source: Adult Health Bulletin, October 2016; University of Kentucky;

College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Ronda Rex

Kate Vaught Thompson

Campbell County Extension Agents for Family and Consumer Sciences Page 4

Homemaker

Kathy Vickers and Mary Lou Vogel man the

Homemakers booth at Reiley Elementary’s Fall Festival.

Homemaker Council Meeting

October 18th, 10:00 a.m.

Extension Service Office

Interested Homemakers, Please Come!

We need your ideas!

Claryville Club

9:30, Plum Creek Valley Club 10:00,

Extension Office

WannaBees 9:30 Extension Office

Crazy Quilters 9:30, Extension

Money Habitudes

Homemaker

Council Meeting

10:00 am

Balance Disorder

Class 10:00, CCES

Take 5 Quilt Class

10:00, CCES Cooking Demo

10:00, Senior Ctr.

Pulses Class

1:30, CCES