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Show ci Minute Family Support class teaches quick, Meals in by Mary Galbralth Hilltop Times staff Homemade meals don't have to be complicated or time consuming. A monthly "Meals in a Minute" class at the Family Support Center specializes in recipes for people who are single, have time constraints, limited cooking facilities or are novices in the kitchen. "I look for taste and ease of preparation in recipes, because I try to show how to cook a meal in one pot," said class instructor Joyce Johnson. Johnson said she also tries to make recipes using cooking appliances available at the base's loan locker (including skillets and microwaves). h meal that takes Last week Johnson made a before it's of time 25 about minutes prep ready to eat. In a large skillet, she combined condensed soup, smoked kielbasa (Polish sausage), rice, frozen peas and a few other ingredients. It was a hit with the 10 people who attended the class. sons Shawn and Cody Vickie Ray and her teen-ag- e attended so the boys could get some tips on making meals "that don't come out of a box." "They're home alone during the day because I work," Vickie said. "I want them to be able to feed themselves something besides bologna and cheese. And they are both interested in cooking so I thought it would be h nice to get some recipes." Ray said she also wants her sons to learn how to feed themselves good meals so when they enter college or the Air Force they're not "eating hamburgers every night." one-dis- one-dis- Sweet and Sour Meatballs can (20 ounce) pineapple chunks 13 cup water 3 tablespoons vinegar 1 tablespoon soy sauce - 12 cup packed brown sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch 30 meatballs, precooked 1 large green pepper, cut into pieces Hot cooked rice Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Set aside. Add water to juice if needed to measure 1 cup; pour into a large skillet. Add water, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and cornstarch; stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add pineapple, meat 1 Cody, who's 13, said he enjoyed the class (except for the peas) and plans to try out some of the recipes so he doesn't always have to rely on mom at home. Alan Kukral moved to Hill about two years ago when the McClellan AFB workload was transferred. . "My wife and family are still in California, so I'm out here by myself," he said. "I've never really had to cook for myself and thought I'd like to make something besides what comes out of a package and learn what to do and what to combine." Senior Airman Dale Crosby has been living for about a year and said his shopping list primarily consists of frozen and canned food. "I eat anything that can go in the toaster, microwave or you can add hot water to," he said. "If it's not processed that way, then it's fast food. Tonight's recipe was good. I might try it at home." Divina Livaudais said, as the single parent of a she needs recipes that are quick and tasty. "This is really great for a busy person and I think my son will really like it," she said. Johnson said they've had a variety of people attend the class and participation is steadily growing. She said a few wives have brought husbands to help them develop cooking skills and several single airmen have attended so they can eat at home instead of picking up fast food. "Eating out gets very expensive and it all starts to taste the same," she said. "This way it's easy and cheaper for them." The next class is Aug. 23 at 5 p.m. Participants will learn how to make marinated salmon steaks with call Ext. asparagus vinaigrette. To sign-uoff-ba- se p, ft. Photo by Mary Galbralth Joyce Johnson serves Colorful Kielbasa during a Family Support Center "Meals In a Minute" class. The class emphasizes simple, but tasty recipes most can be prepared In one dish. Crumble beef into a 1 12 quart microwave-saf- e bowl; add onion. Cover and microwave on high 34 12 minutes or until meat is browned; drain. Stir in rice; cover and let stand five minutes. Remove tops and seeds from peppers and cut in half lengthwise. Stuff with the meat mixture and place in an ungreased microwave-saf- e inch dish. shallow 3 quart or Spoon remaining sauce over peppers, sprin- balls and green pepper. Simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice. Makes 6 servings. Microwave Magic Stuffed Green Cups Pepper 1 pound ground beef 13 cup finely chopped onion can (15 ounce) tomato sauce, divided 14 cup water 1 3 cooking ideas one-p- ot kle with remaining cheese. Cover and microwave minutes until peppers are tenon high der. Let stand five minutes before serving. tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, 10-1- 2 divided 1 teaspoon salt 18 teaspoon pepper 12 cup uncooked instant rice 4 medium green peppers Serves 4. Colorful Kielbasa 1 can condensed cream of celery soup cups water tablespoon butter 1 pound smoked kielbasa cut into 12 inch pieces 34 cup uncooked long grain rice 1 package (10 ounce) frozen peas 1 jar (4 12 ounce) sliced mushrooms, drained 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese In a large skillet, combine soup, water and butter. Bring to boil and add kielbasa and rice. Cover and simmer minutes until rice is almost tender. Stir in peas and mushrooms. Cover and simmer until rice is tender and peas are heated through. Sprinkle with cheese, cover and let stand until cheese is melted. Makes 6 servings. 1-- 1 -.- 5-18 4-- volunteers finish work on Log Cabin EM by Charles Freeman 0 o ofe ! f (.11 f I f.i: S Jcvitt - -- Environmental Public Affairs I Photos by Charles Freeman Paul Bens and Glenn Palmer, above, pour concrete footings for the new deck, added to the Log Cabin, Bldg. 804. Below, Art Ollvas, Dana Mclntyre, Sharon Stone and Palmer hammer deck railings Into place. Betts Inspects the stained and finished deck, right, following the project by Environmental Management. Volunteers also added a new sprinkling system and landscaping as part of the Earth Week and Year of the Family project. two-mon- th r T7! ff - tit I aag: - - - ' Volunteers from the Environmental Management Directorate can now put away their hammers, drills, tape measures and other tools as work to refurbish the base's Log Cabin is finally finished. What began in April as an undertaking by the directorate's Earth Week committee culminated in June with more than 30 volunteers pitching in to help. Although there were other activities organized for Earth Day, the log cabin project was without a doubt the most rigorous and time consuming. Improvements to Bldg. 804 included a new lawn sprinkler system, additional landscaping, a fresh coat of stain and an expanded deck made from environmentally friendly decking material that will never need to be stained. The Earth Week committee chose the log cabin project primarily because it tied in with "Year of the Family" initiatives that benefit the quality of life for base people. In addition, the heavily used landmark facility was also in need of a little TLC and seemed to be the perfect fit for Earth Day. The new deck can easily accommodate 35 or more people with room for tables and chairs. The Services Branch installed electrical outlets as part of the design, which will further expand lighting capabilities during usage in the evening hours. "This really proved to be a labor intensive project for us but after seeing it finished, I believe it was well worth the effort," said Paul Betts, of EM who along with Glenn Palmer, volunteered to oversee the bulk of the deck's construction work. The decking materials were purchased locally and because of its unique nature, funding was made possible from a special budget. "Since it encompassed recycled materials, this was one of the first projects that was practically all subsidized using affirmative procurement dollars," said Craig Shaw, the Pollution Prevention program manager for EM. Affirmative procurement is a fairly new initiative that makes money available to base personnel who have projects that use environmentally friendly products. The cabin was funded in 1983 with money saved from the base's recycling program. To arrange the use of the Log Cabin for meetingsjor private functions, call Outdoor Recre or ation at Ext. |