Healthy Acadia and Maine SNAP-Ed Issue Challenge to Mark National Nutrition Month

Healthy Acadia and Maine SNAP-Ed are calling on all Hancock County chefs to take the $10 for 4 Recipe Challenge by creating a recipe that will feed a family of four for less than $10. The challenge is open to anyone who likes to cook – whether you are from a restaurant, day care center, school, or hospital,  if you work from home, or if you just like to cook in your spare time!

The goal of the challenge is to call attention to National Nutrition Month (March), which is designed to help promote healthy recipes that can be prepared and served without going over your budget.

“From our program, we know that Maine parents want to feed their families healthy foods, but they don’t often know how. There is a perception that healthy equals expensive,” said Joan Ingram, Program Manager of Maine SNAP-Ed. Maine SNAP-Ed serves families and individuals across the state in collaboration with local Healthy Maine Partnerships. Throughout Hancock County, Healthy Acadia is the local partner providing nutrition education courses. “We offer a full range of programs and classes that help families, but we also think that reaching out to Maine chefs and those who like to cook with this challenge can bring some new creativity to eating healthy on a budget,” stated Ingram.

The rules are simple:

• Use up to $10 to feed a family of 4 (total cost excludes pantry items such as affordable and frequently purchased cooking oils, dried herbs and spices)
• Recipe must be easily made at home with limited kitchen equipment in 30 minutes or less
• Recipe should use low-fat and low-sodium ingredients
• Recipe must use fewer than 10 ingredients commonly found in grocery stores across Maine
• Recipe must include at least 3 food groups following the USDA MyPlate guidelines (choosemyplate.gov):

– Low cost lean protein sources such as beans and legumes o Fruits & vegetables: fresh in-season, frozen, or canned

– Low-fat or fat free dairy products

– Whole grains

To enter, chefs are asked to submit their recipe with a picture of the final product to mainesnap-ed@une.org by March 31, 2015. The recipes will be judged by a panel selected by the Maine SNAP-Ed program, and the winning recipe will be featured in statewide promotions. For more information, call or contact Maine SNAP-Ed at 221- 4560 or reach out to Healthy Acadia’s Nutrition Education Coordinator, Shoshona Smith, at 667-7171 or shoshona@healthyacadia.org.