JAN'S GROUP HOME SUPPORT

Bacteria is spread by cross-contamination. This means the bacteria from one food or area comes in contact with another food or area and the bacteria is transfered.

It is pretty simple to avoid food cross-contamination while cooking at the group home that you work at. Simple procedures to follow when handling food:

• Start with a clean food preparation area (washed with warm water and soap)
• Wash hands at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap
• If you are not sure utensils, storage containers, and/or dishes are clean, re-wash them
• In shopping cart, grocery bags, and in refrigerator, keep raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs separate from other foods
• Have two cutting boards-one for fresh produce and one for raw meat, poultry, and seafood. If you cannot get other staff to do this, wash cutting boards in warm water and soap. 1 part bleach mixed with 10 parts water can be used to disinfect cutting boards. Be sure to rinse thoroughly before using
• Once meat, poultry, or seafood is cooked, do not place on a plate that had raw meat on it

For more information go to Fight Bac

If your group home kitchen doesn’t have a cooking thermometer, talk with your group home manager or the support staff that does the shopping. Cooking food until it reaches the proper temperature kills harmful bacteria.

Ground meat and meat meat mixtures (hamburgers, meatloaf, etc):

• Beef, pork, veal, lamb-160 degrees Fahrenheit
• Turkey, chicken-165 degrees Fahrenheit

Fresh beef, veal, lamb:

• Medium rare-145 degrees Fahrenheit
• Medium-160 degrees Fahrenheit
• Well done-170 degrees Fahrenheit

Poultry:

• Chicken, turkey (whole) -165 degrees Fahrenheit
• Chicken, turkey (parts)-165 degrees Fahrenheit
• Duck and goose-165 degrees Fahrenheit
• Stuffing (cooked alone or in bird)-165 degrees Fahrenheit

Fresh Pork:

• Medium-160 degrees Fahrenheit
• Well done-170 degrees Fahrenheit

Ham:

• Fresh (raw)-160 degrees Fahrenheit
• Pre-cooked (reheated)-140 degrees Fahrenheit/em>

Instead of throwing away some of those kitchen scraps, use them to start a garden!

Kitchen scrap garden:

• Root vegetables-carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips, onions (yellow, red, and white)
• Leaf vegetables-lettuce, cabbage
• Stalk vegetables-celery, green onions (scallions)
• Seeds and pits from vegetables/fruits-peach, avocado, dried beans (any that have not been split)

Often there will be results within in a week, so it keeps the group home residents’ attention. Except for beans, seeds may take 2-3 weeks.

Fill a planter (be sure there is a drain hole or add a layer of stones to the bottom) with soil or prepare a small garden outside. Moisten the soil. Following the following planting directions for the type of kitchen scrap you are using.

Root vegetables

• Carrots, beats, turnips-cut off the top of the root vegetable you are using. Leave about 1/2 to 1 inch below the top. Plant in ground allowing top where leaves would sprout to to peak through soil
• Onions-cut a slice off the bottom (where the roots would grow) about 1/5 to 1/6 of the onion. Plant with cut side up, lightly covered with soil
• Potatoes-be sure soil is very loose in a hole about 2x the size of the potato to be planted. Use a whole potato or cut into pieces being sure there is an “eye” (where root would begin to grow). Put eye into soil and cover lightly.

Leaf vegetables:

• Lettuce-works for full heads of lettuce, keep core in tact and cut off leaves around it. Put bottom of head in soil with top of core above ground.
• Cabbage-same as lettuce. Red cabbage adds a beautiful color to the garden.

Stalk vegetables:

• Celery-cut off stalks leaving about 1 to 1-1/2 inches above the bottom. Put bottom in ground with stalk above the ground.
• Green onions-cut off top about 1 inch above root. Plant root in ground with top above ground

Seeds/Pits:

• Beans-most any dry bean works planted directly in soil. Cover with about 1/2 inch of soil.
• Other eeds and pits -they can be trickier so it is best to do a little research to find which part is the top and which part is the bottom. Some sprout best in water and others do better sprouted in soil.

Allow soil to dry slightly between watering. Given time, many plants can be harvested and used for cooking.

Another good kitchen scrap project is to start a small compost pile or have a worm bin to dispose of group home trash. The soil that is created can be used for personal garden use or sold for income at local farmer’s markets.

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