ICAN program helps focus on nutrition

Eating and cooking are fundamental parts of life but sometimes we need a little guidance and inspiration.

The Ideas for Cooking and Nutrition — ICAN — program offered by the Valencia County Extension Service focuses on helping lower-income families and individuals eat healthy on a budget, says ICAN nutrition educator Katrina Uptain.

“The real key to the program is basic nutrition on a budget. We talk about the different food groups, shopping on a budget, understanding nutrition labels,” Uptain said.

To reach more of the community, Uptain has recently partnered with the YDI Family Resource Center on Los Lentes Road in the village of Los Lunas to hold weekly ICAN classes.

“I was looking for more locations to hold classes and someone at the Income Support Division office suggested YDI, and they actually got in touch with me before I reached out to them,” she said, laughing. “So it all came together like it was supposed to.”

During the classes, Uptain says she helps people understand the goal isn’t to go without their favorite foods. She uses pizza as an example.

“There’s a lot of way to ‘clean up’ the recipe and infuse flavor without having the excess grease and salt,” she said. “Pizza is actually a fairly well-balanced meal. You’ve got grains, vegetables, meats, milk. It covers all of our food groups but it’s often well balanced in poor choices.”

An alternative Uptain presents is a pizza made using a tortilla — a staple in most New Mexico households — as the crust.

“We start with a tomato sauce, something low in sodium. Or, if you have fresh tomatoes, slice them thin and use seasonings to get that good, robust pizza flavor,” she said. “If you want to put on sausage or pepperoni, find some with lower salt and fat. Use more veggies. You don’t have to give up your favorite foods. We can adjust things and make little changes to make a big difference.”

While creating nutritious, healthy meals is a core of the ICAN program, keeping food costs down is an increasingly high priority.

“Shopping on a budget is a big part because the prices of groceries keep going up but wages aren’t,” Uptain said. “We have to think outside the box a little bit and maybe look ahead at things.”

One suggestion is to purchase ears of corn at the farmers market during the season and cutting the corn off.

“A large ear of corn will give you almost as much corn as a can. So, you could spend somewhere around $2 for a can or buy a fresh ear for 30 cents. Take it a step further, if you have several ears you can freeze it and use it throughout the year,” she said. “We try to give people tips about thinking in the future and how to use food later.”

In addition to going over the nuances of nutrition labels, Uptain’s class also covers the importance of exercise and movement.

“It’s not just what you eat that makes a body healthy,” she said. “We also cover recipes and how to make them bigger for your family or reduce them if you’re cooking for just a single person. We do cook in class and try a new recipe together. It’s not a full meal but it’s enough for everyone to get a taste.”

Uptain is in the process of scheduling classes in Los Lunas and hopefully a location in Belen for 2025.

For more information about the ICAN program, call the extension service office at 505-565-3002.