Continuing its goal of connecting communities, Utah State University Extension prepares to host a variety of events in Castle Country. Christina Pay from Extension joined the KOAL Newsroom to preview some upcoming events, ranging from cooking to budgeting.
The first event covered by Pay is the Budget Mastermind Workshop, which will take place on Friday, March 14. “It’s a hands-on budget tutorial to help people plan their basic budget. And one that works for them because not everybody can have the same budget work for them. And even maybe find a way to make money for yourself,” explained Pay. “This one’s absolutely free. Plus, you get a free lunch.”
The Budget Mastermind workshop will be held on Friday, March 14 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To register, visit Eventbrite.
Moving from money to the arts, Extension is launching a new workshop series in “Creators,” with the first rendition of the class to be held on Monday, March 17, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. “It’s a workshop that invites you to explore your creativity to help you with personal growth, self-discovery, and emotional healing. And so, each session – and there’s a bunch of sessions – we’re going to do throughout the year – will help you explore something different. But you also get to explore creatively with art.”
The first session, “Creators,” will cover Mandela Poetry. “It starts as this circle, and you can create all kinds of geographic or geometric symbols or art. Anything that means something to you that looks beautiful and creative and that means something to you personally. So, again, if the focus is on your own creativity, not what I’m teaching you, not what I’m telling you, but what you come up with in your own mind.”
Registration for the class costs $2.50 and can be done through the following link.
Switching gears yet again, Pay spoke on the Quick and Easy cooking class, which features Josie Hatch, the Health & Wellness Prevention Coordinator with USU Extension as a guest chef. “She tries to find healthy, creative things that fit within a budget. So, this fits perfectly with that theme. People who are familiar with quick and easy cooking know that we’re trying to help families come together and eat dinner as a family. So, we want to have a meal that’s delicious, inexpensive and nutritious. And this is all done within half an hour. So, if she can do it live within half an hour, then families can as well.”
This session, which will focus on healthy curries and naan bread, will be held on Wednesday, March 19, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Registration is free and open to those wishing to attend in person on Eventbrite. For those unable to attend in person, a virtual option is available on the Create Better Health Carbon County Facebook page.
Extension will also host a cook-along class in conjunction with the Quick and Easy cooking series on Wednesday, March 26 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pay stated,” We had a lot of people that would come to our Quick and Easy cookies and say, ‘I really would like to do this, but I want to make it.’ So, we have created a new quick and easy cooking cook-along class where they can actually come and prepare the recipe. And they are going to be making green chicken enchiladas.”
She continued,” Again, we’ll have our Create Better Health Ambassador there, who is an expert on nutrition and cooking. And she will be there to help guide them. But they will make their own entrée and get to eat it as a meal while they’re there. And the best part, it’s only $5 thanks to some help from the Southeast Utah Health Department to provide groceries.”
Space is limited for the Quick and Easy Cook Along, so those interested in attending are urged to register online as soon as possible.
In closing, Pay shared,” We just have a lot of events that are either free or low-cost. They’re all resource-based. Our goal is to improve lives with knowledge.”
You can visit the organization on Facebook to keep up with USU Extension.