Recently Trish and Alicia were shopping at the Larimer County Farmers Market and Trish stopped at a tent to ask if they had a bag she could use. It just so happened that the tent was the Larimer County Office on Aging volunteers passing out free produce to those in need over the age of 65. Trish introduced herself and our clinic, and by the grace of God we were able to bring a few leftover bags back to the clinic for our own patients. Over the next few Saturdays, Trish would get a call if there were any extras she could take. St. Luke’s Medical Clinic is officially part of the rotation and we will be steadily receiving bags of fresh vegetables to give to our patients in need who are over the age of 65!
We see this dire need every day in our clinic, and sometimes our food pantry just isn’t enough. Seniors in our community regularly have the difficult situation of paying for their medications or buying healthy food. This program provides a reusable grocery bag full of freshly harvested produce, a recipe, and information on how to get further help from the Office on Aging. If you or a patient you know could benefit from this program, please reach out to Kylie at the front desk. We usually meet at the clinic at 11:00am every other Saturday for pickups. We have many patients in need, and individuals may not be selected every rotation.
Our deepest apologies if you have not been able to get ahold of us. We have been experiencing technical difficulties with our new phone system and are working to solve the issue as soon as possible. We are available through the Patient Portal system for messaging. We are making every effort to make our phone system as reliable as possible.
We are so appreciative of Dr. Carey's support of the mission. We are grateful for his knowledge and expertise with family practice care, and feel truly blessed to have him on our team. Dr. Carey sees patients in our office on Wednesday mornings.
We have the refrigerators and freezers ready for the COVID-19 vaccine! We'll let you know as soon as we have the vaccine or boosters in house. We will have the quadrivalent influenza vaccine this year.
We are still accepting donations to our food pantry! Current needs: Protein packed non-perishables, other canned goods
The first week of September is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Week. Visit this link for more information: https://afsp.org/national-suicide-prevention-week
Our annual Tree of Hope will be returning at the end of this month! Please reach out to Kylie at the front desk if you would like to volunteer, or be included on the tree this year.
The Pope's Monthly Intentions for 2021: September - An Environmentally Sustainable Lifestyle. We pray that we all will make courageous choices for a simple and environmentally sustainable lifestyle, rejoicing in our young people who are resolutely committed to this.
This Month's Recipe: Easy Peasy Banana Pancakes
INGREDIENTS
1 ripe banana
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Butter or oil, for cooking (optional)
Maple syrup, jam, powdered sugar, or any other toppings, for serving
Optional mix-ins (choose a few!):
1/8 teaspoon baking powder, for fluffier pancakes
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or a mix
1/2 cup granola
1 cup fresh fruit, like blueberries, raspberries, or chopped apples
EQUIPMENT
Small bowls
Dinner fork
Cast iron or nonstick griddle or skillet
Very thin, wide spatula, like a pancake spatula or fish spatula
INSTRUCTIONS
Mash the banana. Peel the banana and break it up into several big chunks in a medium bowl. Use a dinner fork to thoroughly mash the banana. Continue mashing until the banana has a pudding-like consistency and no large lumps remain; a few small lumps are okay. You should have 1/3 to 1/2 cup of mashed bananas.
Add flavorings if desired. These pancakes are pretty great on their own, but a few extras never hurt. Add 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder for fluffier, lighter pancakes, and whisk in salt, vanilla, cocoa powder, or honey to flavor the pancakes. Save any chunky, heavy ingredients — like nuts or chocolate chips — for when the pancakes are on the griddle.
Stir in the eggs. Pour the eggs over the banana and stir until completely combined. The batter will be very loose and liquidy, more like whisked eggs than regular pancake batter.
Heat a pan over medium heat. Heat a cast iron pan, nonstick frying pan, or griddle over medium heat. Melt a little butter or warm a little vegetable oil in the pan if desired.
Drop the batter on hot griddle. Drop about 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan. It should sizzle immediately — if not, turn up the heat slightly. Repeat with dropping more batter into the pan, leaving at least an inch or two between pancakes.
Cook for about 1 minute. Cook the pancakes until the bottoms look browned and golden when you lift a corner, about 1 minute. The edges should also be starting to look set, but the center will still be loose, like barely set Jell-O.
Sprinkle with toppings. Sprinkle any loose toppings, like nuts or chocolate chips, over the top of the pancakes as the first side cooks.
Flip the pancakes. I've found it best to do this very gently and fairly slowly — the opposite of regular pancakes. Gently work a thin, flat spatula about halfway under the pancake, then lift until the unsupported half of the pancake is just barely lifted off the skillet. Flip the pancake. Some of the loose batter will probably spill onto the skillet as you do this; just be sure to lay the pancake on top of the spill and nudge any excess back under the pancake.
Cook for another minute or so. Cook until the other side is also golden-brown, about 1 minute more. You can flip the pancakes a few times if you need to in order to get them evenly browned. (Flipping is much easier once the second side is set!)
Continue cooking the pancakes. Transfer the cooked pancakes to a serving plate and cook the rest of the batter. Keep the finished pancakes warm in the oven if cooking more than a single batch.
Serve warm. These pancakes are best when eaten fresh off the griddle and still warm. Serve with maple syrup, honey, jam, or any extra toppings you'd like.
View the full recipe and article here: