Summertime Pasta Recipe
Try This Recipe For Whole Wheat Pasta (A WIC Food) The Whole Family Will Enjoy
It’s summertime. That means parents need healthy, fast, no-fuss recipes that are also kid-friendly. If you are looking for a quick meal using WIC foods, try this pasta recipe.
You may find yourself using this recipe again and again this summer. It’s easy, fast and doesn’t heat up the kitchen during those warm summer months. It’s great for lunch, dinner and makes enough for leftovers. The best part, it features several WIC foods.
WHOLE WHEAT PASTA AND BROCCOLI
1 16oz box of Whole Wheat Pasta, any kind (elbows, bow ties, spirals or even spaghetti)
3 cups of Broccoli, fresh or frozen works
4 tbsp Butter
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
1.5 to 2 cups of reserved Pasta water
Cooked Boneless Chicken, optional
Cook pasta according to package directions. When you have about 5 minutes remaining, add the broccoli. Once broccoli is tender, drain water In a large colander. Use the cooking pot to melt the butter on low heat. Add minced garlic and saute for a few minutes, stirring often. Add pasta and broccoli back into the pot. Add cheese and pasta water. Stir until the cheese is mixed thoroughly. Mix in cooked, cut up, boneless chicken chunks if using. Enjoy!
Find more great recipes using WIC foods on the Lone Star Family Market blog page. Lone Star Family Market helps make shopping for WIC foods easy for mothers. You can find a location near WIC clinics by visiting our locations page online.
You can apply online for Texas WIC by visiting the organization’s website at TexasWIC.org.
Memorial Day Recipe Round Up
Recipes Featuring Fruits, Vegetables To Make This Weekend
There’s no better time than to start breaking into your summer recipes than Memorial Day weekend. The season offers so many great fruits and vegetables that are perfect to serve up as the weather heats up.
We are spotlighting several recipes using WIC foods perfect for this weekend and for the months to come using some of our favorite fruits and vegetables.
These cool and refreshing treats are fun for kids and are easy to make.
YOGURT FREEZER POPS
YOGURT FREEZER POPS 12 oz of Fresh or Frozen Fruit (strawberries with stems removed and cut in half before blending or blueberries are our favorites)
2 cups of Plain Yogurt
¼ cup of Honey (omit if serving to children younger than 1 years old) 
Puree fruit in a blender. Add yogurt. Add honey (if using) and blend together. Pour pops into molds of your choice (you can use disposable plastic cups, ice trays with wooden sticks or pop molds from the store). Freeze for 6 plus hours. When ready to eat, you can loosen the pop from mold by running it under warm water for a few minutes to remove it from the disposable cup, ice tray or mold.
Memorial Day (and summer) is the perfect time to cook outside with family and friends. So fire up the grill for this healthy and delicious recipe spotlighting WIC vegetables and even a fruit!
FROZEN FRUIT POPS
Another idea is to pop fresh or frozen fruit into those popsicle molds (or plastic cups) and add fresh herbs, water and a pop stick. Freeze until frozen. Your kids will love the cool, fresh treat all summer long!
VEGGIE KABOBS
8 wooden/ bamboo skewers or metal skewers. You can also use an aluminum foil tray on the grill.
Zucchini slices
Yellow Squash slices
Fresh Mushrooms
Onion, quartered
Pineapple chunks
Bell Pepper chunks
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1½ teaspoons Dried Basil
¾ teaspoon Dried Oregano
½ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
Garlic Powder, to taste
Soak wooden skewers in water for 20 minutes.Preheat grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate. Place vegetables of your choice, including these options: zucchini, squash slices, mushrooms, onion, tomatoes, pineapple, and bell pepper onto the skewers. Mix olive oil and seasonings into a bowl. Brush onto vegetables. Cook vegetables on a preheated grill until done, turning and reapplying oil as needed for about 15 minutes.
Turn your beans into a salad with this next recipe. It’s a delicious way to eat your beans in the summertime. The added vegetables also add a lot of flavor to this side.
PINTO BEAN SALAD
1 ½ cups Dried Pinto Beans, soaked overnight and drained
2 tablespoons Salt
2 medium Tomatoes, chopped
1 medium Onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons fresh Lemon Juice
1 tablespoon Lime Juice
1 teaspoon Salt
¼ cup Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic, minced (or garlic powder to taste)
¼ cup fresh Cilantro, chopped
Pepper to taste
After letting dried pinto beans soak overnight, drain them. Place beans in a large pot and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in salt and cook for another 30 minutes, until the beans are tender. Drain beans. Let beans cool. Combine lemon juice, lime juice. Add olive oil gradually until mixed well. Add garlic and cilantro. Pour dressing over warm beans and toss. Add chopped tomatoes and onions and toss well.
Get Foods For Your Memorial Day Recipes at Lone Star Family Market
Get all your WIC groceries at Lone Star Family Market locations in Austin, Round Rock and Waco. Find a location near you online. Find more great recipes on our blog.
3 Reasons To Join Texas WIC
WIC Program Helps Mothers Raise Healthy Babies
Texas WIC can be a mother’s best friend.
Many moms and their children across Texas are benefiting from this nutritional supplement program aimed at getting babies off to a healthy start. It’s a FREE program for eligible mothers and their children up to age 5.
If you haven’t heard about Texas WIC or aren’t sure of it’s benefits, we are giving you our top 3 reasons to consider applying for the program:
1. MOTHER’S HEALTH
There are few better ways to help a baby grow healthy than by helping an expecting mother with nutrition and health. A healthy mother can help create a healthy baby. That’s why the program is open to pregnant women.
The Texas WIC program helps mothers with nutrition counseling and guidance along the way. There are so many health considerations to make once you become pregnant: What should I eat? Should I exercise? How much? Am I getting the right nutrients? It can all be a lot to take in for any mother, but Texas WIC nutritionists can be there along the way to help you make healthy choices.
One of the best parts is that Texas WIC provides free, nutritious food package supplements each month to help you eat healthy in order to give the baby (and you) the nutrition you need during pregnancy.
Once the baby arrives, they are also there for support. WIC experts help with breastfeeding guidance and nutrition support for your child up to age 5. That means there is help for so many of the concerns you have as a new mother, like: “Am I feeding my baby the right way and enough’ Texas WIC offers FREE counseling and guidance to so many of these health questions.
2. YOUR CHILD’S HEALTH
2. YOUR CHILD’S HEALTH Texas WIC is an amazing gift for your child. The program ensures that your baby doesn’t go without healthy nutrition. Aside from breastfeeding support, Texas WIC even pays for baby formula (which can be very expensive). If your baby needs a special baby formula, it will pay for that too with a doctor’s prescription. As the child gets older, the free monthly food package changes with your child’s needs.
Keeping your child fed with the right nutrition isn’t the only support you will get. Texas WIC also offers free counseling and guidance to help make sure your baby is growing healthy. There are even free online nutrition classes.
3. JOIN TEXAS WIC FOR FREE NUTRITIONAL FOOD
There is no better benefit than free, nutritious food for you and your baby. Knowing your baby is getting the nutrition they need is enough to calm almost any anxious mother. The best part is that it’s free to qualifying mothers and their babies.
Each month Texas WIC will load benefits onto an ebt card. WIC clients can use this card to redeem their benefits for WIC foods at stores. The food benefits will change as your baby grows and has different needs. The food packages can cover everything from baby formula and baby food to milk, cheese, yogurt, beans, whole wheat bread, tortillas and pasta and fresh fruits and vegetables.
To make it even easier, Lone Star Family Market locations are open near Austin, Round Rock and San Marcos area WIC clinics to help WIC clients redeem their benefits in an easy shopping format. Lone Star Family Market stores are not affiliated with WIC – but are a Primarily WIC grocery store – which means they mostly carry only WIC-approved items. At Lone Star Family Market, WIC clients don’t have to go searching for WIC items in the store. Instead, they simply walk up to a counter where a staff member will walk them through the shopping process for getting their WIC groceries. It’s a super easy and convenient way to get your WIC groceries.
JOIN TEXAS WIC TODAY
Want to find out if you qualify for Texas WIC? The program is open to pregnant women, breastfeeding women, infants and families with children under age 5. There are also income requirements to qualify for the program. If you would like to join Texas WIC, you can start your application today by visiting: https://texaswic.org/apply
You may soon learn what so many families already know: Texas WIC can be a mother’s best friend.
Smoothies Feature WIC Foods
Chill Out With A Refreshing Smoothie
Smoothies are a quick and easy way to get an extra dose of fruits and vegetables. They also don’t require a lot of ingredients. Gather some of your favorite WIC foods and blend away.
Smoothies are a combination of fruits and/or vegetables, liquid, protein and ice (if you aren’t using frozen fruit) blended together. The fun part is that they are easy to switch up to find a fun new flavor. Some common smoothie ingredients include:
FRUITS (FROZEN OR FRESH): Bananas, Mangos, Apples, Berries and Even Avocados
VEGETABLES: Spinach, Carrots, Celery, Cucumber
PROTEIN: Peanut butter,
LIQUIDS: Milk, Soy Milk, Yogurt, Juice or Water (like ice if you aren’t using frozen fruit)
OPTIONAL FOR FUN: Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice
There are so many WIC foods to pick from – Fruits, Veggies, Peanut Butter and Milk. Those are all super healthy WIC-approved foods you can include in your morning smoothie.
The fun part is you don’t need a recipe. Use the recipe below provided by TexasWIC as a guide, but substitute any of the ingredients or combinations above to come up with new favorites.
Because smoothies are packed with nutrition (and WIC ingredients) they make a great breakfast or snack for adults and kids. They are especially tasty as the long hot days of Summer approach.
If you have fresh fruit you think might go bad before you eat it (like bananas or berries), just cut and put it in a freezer-safe container and store for your next smoothie.
SMOOTHIE BOWL
SMOOTHIE BOWLSmoothie bowls are a hot trend and is a fun new way to eat smoothies.
If your tot isn’t ready to drink from a straw, but is trying purees, this version might be perfect for them. If making for a child, be mindful to avoid certain ingredients (like nuts because of choking) and even peanut butter if you haven’t yet determined if they aren’t allergic. Also, skip adding the whole fruit on top.
Note: It’s best to try ingredients that a child might be allergic to one at a time instead of blending multiple items together. This is helpful so you can easily identify which food might have caused the allergy. Once a child has individually tried all the ingredients you want to add to a smoothie bowl, you should be safe. Just make sure everything is blended well.
A smoothie bowl is also a fun way for adults to enjoy fruits and veggies. You can even top off your bowl with a handful of fresh berries or sliced fruit for extra texture.
RECIPE FROM TEXASWIC.ORG
Texas WIC offers this recipe on their website. Of course you can add more or substitute as you like:
FRUIT SMOOTHIE
1 Banana
2 cups Frozen Strawberries (without added sugar)
¾ cup Milk
8 ounces low-fat Vanilla Yogurt
Tips: You can use any fruit – try mangoes, peaches or blueberries! If using all fresh fruit, try blending in ice cubes to thicken it up. You can also use 100% fruit juice or soy milk instead of milk, or even silken tofu instead of yogurt!
Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Pour into glasses and enjoy!
TEXAS WIC
Texas WIC is a supplemental nutrition program for expectant mothers and their children up to age 5 who meet certain criteria. The program provides nutrition counseling and support, free monthly food packages and breastfeeding support. To find out if you may be eligible, visit TexasWIC.org to apply.
Get the ingredients for your smoothie at Lone Star Family Market, a primarily WIC grocery store chain in Austin, Round Rock and San Marcos. Lone Star Family Market locations are conveniently located near WIC clinics. To find a location near you, visit LoneStarFamilyMarket.com/locations.
Texas WIC Increasing Fruit, Vegetable Benefits
This summer, Texas WIC is increasing its fruit and vegetable benefits.
WIC will be offering benefits for $35 for fruits and vegetables per person starting June 1st.
WIC clients can use the benefits for fruits and vegetables that are fresh, frozen or in cans/jars or plastic containers, according to TexasWIC.org.
According to TexasWIC.org: “You will see this increase on your shopping list under your benefit amount for June through September 2021. If you already have benefits for June or July, your WIC office will contact you for an appointment to update your benefits.”
Contact WIC or visit a WIC clinic if there are any questions about your fruit and vegetable allowance.
The additional WIC benefits will be available starting in June through September and return to the regular benefit amount in October, according to TexasWIC.org.
WIC normally offers $11 in fruit/vegetable benefits for pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women and $9 for children age 1 to 5.
You can redeem your WIC benefits at any Lone Star Family Market location in Austin, Round Rock and San Marcos. Lone Star Family Market provides WIC clients an easy shopping experience. WIC clients can find all their WIC items at one store. Plus, it’s easy to get in and out since the locations can be found close to WIC clinics. Learn more about shopping at Lone Star Family Market on our website.
To join Texas WIC, apply online at Texaswic.org/apply.