Recipe Roundup

Roughrider Electric Cooperative members Mike and Sara Steier balance a busy work schedule with family life. Mike, a journeyman co-op lineworker, and Sara, a kindergarten teacher, are raising three wonderful kids – and feeding them, too!

They share favorite family recipes, including a crunchy, creamy, comforting zucchini casserole. This recipe was given to the Steiers from Sara’s aunt, Tami Ballard. The Steiers typically have an abundance of zucchini during garden season.
“It was the only thing we could keep alive!” Mike remembers of their first garden.

“What’s to eat?” our kids would say when they were younger and living at home.

Actually, they still say that when they visit.

When our son was a rapidly growing teenager, he sometimes made multiple trips to open the fridge within 30 minutes.
“The food hasn’t changed since the last time you checked,” I’d say.

When I went to retrieve some food from our basement food pantry, I’d pick up a box of crackers. My hand would fly upwards at no resistance. The box was empty.

With schools back in session this month, families will adjust to a new school year routine. Meal planning can be daunting, and it’s not always possible to sit down at the dinner table to eat together. Find helpful tips to feed your family and save time in the kitchen from NDSU Extension here.

Plus, let us help! These sheet-pan meals are easy and quick to prepare. They also feature loads of veggies. What better way to incorporate all the garden produce readily available in North Dakota this time of year?

If you’ve ever been to McIntosh County (or neighboring Emmons and Logan counties) in southcentral North Dakota, chances are you’ve heard the German-Russian phrase, “Mach’s gut!” It’s a parting phrase in the German-Russian dialect and translates to “make it good.” “Make it good” could also be used to describe how generations of Germans from Russia families have approached food and how they prepare the dishes of their cultural heritage.

Each growing season, Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Cooperative member Diane Schmidt picks more than 500 pounds of chokecherries and sells over 700 pounds of juneberries to customers in the Bismarck-Mandan area. She shares all her recipes freely – except her famous “Slippery Hots” pickles – including her chokecherry jelly and juneberry crumble.

Earthlodge people were primarily farmers along the Upper Missouri River. The men hunted game like bison, while the women maintained the gardens, protecting the crops from animals, birds, raids or little boys attempting to sneak a corncob. The women even sang to their gardens as a form of care.

What we eat and drink can affect our health, and studies suggest the foods we use to fuel our bodies can actually help reduce stress. Foods rich in good fats containing omega-3, fiber and probiotics can counteract negative stressors.

The next time you’re feeling stressed, reach for these stress-busting recipes.

Berries and oats are high-fiber ingredients in the berry baked oatmeal. Serve with yogurt, which offers natural probiotics to make your gut happy.

As I have been exploring genealogy with my son, we are finding connections to earlier generations. Through the technology of online searching and the translation of marriage, baptism and death certificates into English, we have reached the mid-1600s on our family tree.

Like many of us in the Midwest, our family members were mostly farmers in their home countries. My maiden name meant “rural farm” in Norwegian. My distant grandparents came to America for all the usual reasons: They sought new opportunities while escaping political issues and seeking religious freedom.

Facing the challenge of finding and recruiting teachers to fill eight openings at the start of the 2023-24 school year, the Mott-Regent School District looked across borders to find talent in the Philippines. The rural school district eventually hired two North Dakotans and six Filipino educators, who are teaching kindergarten, first grade, science, math, music and special education this year. Beyond sharing their teaching talents, the Filipino teachers are also sharing their culture, with students, the school and the local community.

Americans like food. A lot. In fact, the United States has a long list of national days dedicated to certain foods, which have been carefully researched and catalogued by Marlo Anderson in the National Day Calendar – the official, authoritative source for fun, unusual and unique national days. (Read about it on page 6.)