Healthy Bits Newsletter
February 6 2007	Student Nutrition Organization ~ San Diego State University
2006-2007 SNO Officers: President: Christine Skorup Vice President: Dana Riccio Secretary: Lauren Fraim Treasurer: Lisa Booth Health & Fitness Liaison: John Haubenstricker Outreach Coordinator Diana Martin SNO-SDSU Coordinator: Kaitlyn Carrozzi Agricultural Representative: Lorena Pacheco PSFA Representative: Sabrina Rosas SDDA/SDNN Representatives: Claudia Berlie Penny Price Website/Newsletter Coordinators: Cristylory Aquino Michele Daniel SNO Calendar: www.calendar.yahoo.com/sno_sdsu SNO Website: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~sdsu_sno/	SNO Meeting This Wednesday, 2/7! Our second SNO meeting of the Spring semester will be held this Wednesday, February 7th at 1:00 PM in the Calmecac room (downstairs in Aztec Center). See you on Wednesday! Food for Points! Food will be allowed at the meetings, so please bring some tasty, healthy snacks to earn extra points! No homemade items please. It is also a great idea to pair up with another SNO member to share the cost and both receive a point. Wear your SNO T-Shirts to get Points! Remember to wear your SNO T-Shirt at SNO meetings or SNO events and get 1 SNO point each time! This semester we are selling t-shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops, gym shorts, lunch boxes, and aprons with the SNO logo! Starting at this week’s meeting you can sign-up to buy these items. SNO Upcoming Happenings: Nutrition Bowl Date: Saturday, April 14th Time: All day Where: CSU Northridge The deadline to sign-up is February 14th! Contact Christine Skorup at sno_sdsu@yahoo.com if you are interested in participating. Woodstock’s Fundraiser Date: Tuesday, February 20th Time: 5:00pm-8:00pm Where: Woodstock’s Pizza Come to Woodstock’s pizza and help SNO raise money! A portion of the money you spend will go toward SNO. Flyers will be available at this week’s meeting and will also be on the SNO board. The Nutrition Care Process Date: Thursday, February 22nd Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm Where: San Diego Hospice 4311 3rd Avenue, San Diego 92103 $15 for students. This event is put together by the San Diego Dietetic Association. San Ysidro Health Center Kick-Off Date: Saturday, February 24th Time: 10:00am-4:00pm Where: 4486 Camino de la Plaza Join us and help educate the community on healthy cooking habits! FROM THE FARM Welcome back SNO members! Hope you all had a great winter break. Many members enjoyed last semester’s “From the Farm” column and have asked me to talk a little bit more Mexican ingredients and their origin. I think this happened thanks to info I provided about Tortillas and Maiz previously. This time, I am going to talk about chiles (chile peppers). Hope you learn something new about this fruit (Yes!...a fruit) and hopefully enjoy one once in a while. Also, from now on I will be selecting a fruit and/or vegetable for each month for you to try and explore. Let’s begin. Featured Fruit for February is: Tangerines. These are a type of mandarin orange in an orange or red color. Flavor is often more sour and sweet too. Best crop is from November to January, but can last up to February. So load up on these for a great citrus and refreshing taste!!! I scream, you scream, we all scream for chile peppers?! The chile is a fruit belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which also includes potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, and eggplants. It is used as a spice, condiment, and vegetable. It is a staple in cuisines such as Thai, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Hungarian, African, Mexican, and others (Pic. 1). Pic. 1. Variety of Chiles Chiles are a product that originated and were domesticated in the Western Hemisphere. They are from the southeastern part of the country of Bolivia and near Brazil in South America. It is said to thank the pepper-eating birds for the distribution of the seeds and thereby of the chile peppers in that region. As well, migration of people and customs, along with foods, also made possible for chiles to be available in Central America and then in Mesoamerica (where Mexico is located) and in the Caribbean. After the discovery of the New Continent, trade was a major activity. Chiles were traded and also shipped to Europe, specifically Spain and Portugal. Also, when Brazil was conquered by Portugal and with importation of slaves from Africa, the expansion of chiles as a food and trade good was greater. In Mexico, chiles are important in the diet and used almost for every meal. It was makes Mexican food Mexican. The most popular and widely used chile is the Cascabel chile (jingle bell chile), also known as Bolita, meaning round. It is called Cascabel (jingle bell) because when it dries the seeds inside rattle when shaken (Pic. 2). Pic. 2 Cascabel chile Pic. 3 Chiltepin chile Pic. 4 Guajillo chile Another popular chile is called Chiltepin or Bird chile because a lot of birds like the flowers that grow from this chile (Pic.3). Guajillo chile is used dried (called Marisol when it is fresh and used for other purposes) and mainly used to make sauces, especially for Mole Negro (a Mexican sauce used on several dishes) (Pic. 4). It comes from the Mexican state of Oaxaca and it is considered an expensive chile, $25 dlls per pound! The Habanero chile comes from the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico and considered one of the hottest chiles in North America (Pic. 5). The well known Jalapeño chile is widely used not only in Mexico but in other countries as well, like the United States (Pic. 6). Pic. 5 Habanero chile Pic. 6 Jalapeño chile Today, the consumption of Mexican chiles is more common in the US. Mainly because of the acceptance of a new culture and a new cuisine. The chile culture has risen and chiles in the US are popular. There are events, days, and centers devoted to chiles and the chile way of life. This is mainly noticeable in a town called Hatch, New Mexico. Hatch is called Chile Capital of the World, and they celebrate chiles with the Festival of Chiles each Labor Day weekend. There is Jalapeño-eating contests! (Anyone interested????). Chiles are now becoming as American as apple pie. Enjoyment is all around and evident. So next trip to the grocery store walk on by the Mexican or Ethnic Cuisines aisle and stop and smell the chiles!!! Until next time, enjoy chiles and I leave you with a traditional Mexican salsa recipe. Hope is not too hot. Habanero* Chile Salsa Ingredients: 2 Habanero chiles (sliced in half) 1 onion (cut in large pieces) 1 garlic clove (whole) 1 Tbsp vegetable oil 2 ½ Tbsp cilantro (fresh) Salt and pepper Procedure: In a pan, add the oil and the chiles, onion, and garlic clove, and let them cook/roast. When roasted, put the ingredients into a blender for 15-20 seconds or until completely combined. After, serve into a bowl, add the cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. * You can use any other chile if you want!!! It is a basic salsa recipe.