Extension, WCH team up for Dining with Diabetes series

Extension, WCH team up for Dining with Diabetes series
                        

It may surprise you, but you can have your cake and eat it too when you attend Ohio State University Extension’s Dining with Diabetes series.

Offered in partnership with Wooster Community Hospital, the four-session educational program allows participants to taste diabetes-friendly recipes and learn healthy cooking techniques. On the menu for the first session is oven-fried chicken Parmesan, a strawberry spinach salad and four-bean dish, topped off with a dessert of lemon cake.

All the food is prepared by the hospital’s nutrition services department and beautifully presented to start each session. A registered dietitian from the hospital joins our family and consumer sciences staff to talk about managing diabetes through proper nutrition. We emphasize those with diabetes don’t need to sacrifice taste in their diets and provide tips on how to add flavor to food without using salt or sugar. We also include the recipes for the dishes served at each class and discuss what makes them healthy.

The lemon cake recipe, for example, is made with angel food cake, which is fat free but high in carbohydrates, so the serving is small. The recipe also uses sugar-free instant pudding, skim milk, and lemon-flavored, fat-free, no-sugar-added yogurt. It’s a tasty treat to kick off the first session titled Living Well with Diabetes.

The other three sessions are Carbohydrates and Sweeteners, Fats and Sodium and Vitamins, and Minerals and Fiber and Putting It All Together.

A new series of classes will run from 5:30-7:30 p.m. for four consecutive Mondays, Oct. 7, 14, 21 and 28 at the hospital. The cost is $25 per person and $10 for a family member or support person. To register, visit www.woosterhospital.org/dining-with-diabetes or call the hospital at 330-263-8196.

As we head into the holidays, we are providing an additional stand-alone session. Dining with Diabetes: Take Charge of Your Diabetes During the Holidays will be from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the hospital. The cost is $10 per person, and registration may be made by calling the hospital at 330-263-8196.

Preparing nutritious food that tastes good can be difficult at any time of year, but the holidays present special challenges for those with diabetes. Again, the hospital will provide some dishes to try, and participants will take home recipes to try at holiday celebrations.

We are in our second year of offering Dining with Diabetes classes. Past participants have commented on how the classes have given them confidence to manage their diabetes through menu planning, carbohydrate counting, portion control and label reading.

The program is geared toward adults who have type II diabetes, prediabetes, a family member with type II diabetes or are at risk for developing diabetes.

In addition to the nutritional aspects, the program also covers the following:

—The importance of exercise with ideas for being more active.

—Understanding how diabetes affects your overall health.

—Setting personal goals to manage your diabetes.

Additionally, the series is an opportunity to connect with and learn from others who are living with diabetes and to converse with dietitians and presenters.

If you’re feeling confused about your diabetes and not sure where to start, the Dining with Diabetes program can help. We offer a caring and supportive environment and some tasty offerings and recipes you can easily prepare at home.

Laurie Sidle is an Ohio State University Extension family and consumer sciences and 4-H program assistant and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or sidle.31@osu.edu.


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