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Elder Law and Medicaid Planning
Cliff Rice Elder Law Attorney
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www.seniorlifenewspapers.com
Vol. 26, No. 12
March rch 2023
Northwest Edition R Reaching Seniors In Illiana: Cook, Lake & Porter Counties
‘Cooking Matters’ —
Preparing
on limited
7H[W DQG SKRWRV %\ 67(9( (89,12 )HDWXUH :ULWHU Put 12 women in a kitchen, give them cooking recipes and utensils, and their creativity will do the rest. That’s one way to describe the Portage Township YMCA free class to help adults stretch their shrinking dollars for good food. “Cooking Matters” teaches families how to prepare and shop sensibly for healthy meals on a limited budget. Each week, participants are sent home with a bag of groceries to prepare the recipe they learned during the course that evening. They also sample the meals
0($7%$// 0$.(56 ³ 'HEELH =RPELN OHIW 3RUWDJH DQG -HQQLIHU %XFN 9DOSDUDLVR ZRUN WRJHWKHU RQ PHDWEDOOV GXULQJ D ´&RRNLQJ 0DWWHUVµ FODVV DW WKH 3RUWDJH 7RZQVKLS <0&$ 7KH IUHH VL[ ZHHN FODVV VKRZV SDUWLFLSDQWV KRZ WR FRRN QXWULWLRXV PHDOV RQ D OLPLWHG EXGJHW they prepared at class. Britney Mendoza, Me the class’s instructor, explained she wants to provide “tips and tools to make m healthy and affordable meals.” At the first of six classes, Mendoza’s students made healthy h spaghetti and meatballs using wheat w pasta and ground turkey for meatballs and made their own sauce. Follow-up meals m may feature brunch items, a break breakfast sandwich and banana and peanut b butter pancakes. This YMCA program began in 2020, prior to the start st of the COVID pandemic. Some cl classes involve families while other others are for parents only. “We “W want to give parents some good goo ideas or just let them feed ideas id off other people,” Mendoza said. sa Some class members are single moms. Some are grandmas. singl Some just j like to cook. Others admit
they hate to cook but want to learn to cook better. Debbie Zombik of Portage thought the class would be fun. “I cook from scratch a lot,” she said, “and I wanted to get out. There’s always something to learn.” Some class members are serious about calorie counts. Others are diabetic or have food allergies. Alex Pavlinovac of Valparaiso wanted to “learn to make something more than tacos.” “I wanted to learn how to cook healthier,” Forma Fierro of Portage added. Fierro, whose specialty is lasagna, noted, “I want to learn a healthier way of eating.” Jessica Garnoski, a single mom with a young daughter, wants to be more outgoing. “I want to improve my cooking skills a little,” the medical assistant noted, adding that she and her daughter, 8, work on meals together. Continued on page 2
&TUBUF 1MBOOJOH .FEJDBJE #FOFGJUT 1MBOOJOH 7FUFSBOT #FOFGJUT 1MBOOJOH 5SVTU BOE 1SPCBUF "ENJOJTUSBUJPO 57 Franklin Street, Suite 203 1PSUFS $PVOUZ 0GmDF -BLF $PVOUZ 0GmDF
Valparaiso, Indiana 46383 57 Franklin Street, TU 'MPPS Suite 203 & -JODPMOXBZ 1MVN $SFFL $FOUFS 7BMQBSBJTP *OEJBOB *OEJBOBQPMJT #MWE 4VJUF Phone: (219) 548-0980 4DIFSFSWJMMF *OEJBOB , LLC 1IPOF Fax: (219) 548-0993 'BY 1IPOF 'BY $FSUJmFE BT BO &MEFS -BX "UUPSOFZ CZ UIF /BUJPOBM &MEFS -BX 'PVOEBUJPO
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