The Putnam County Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Putnam have partnered to create the Thrifty Bites Cookbook to support Putnam County’s PEP Foundation.
Foundation Executive Director Katelyn Steakley said the Leadership Putnam class created the cookbook for the foundation, with resources for recipes that met myplate.gov standards from Putnam County Health Department nutritionists. Steakley said the book provides access to affordable meals under $10, emergency numbers of local first responders and basic survival information.
“The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in peoples’ house(s),” Steakley said. “So for it to be something that can look pretty, be created locally, and sit on the counter, you can open it up and find everything from CPR to emergency prep for severe weather from how to talk to your kids about guns and what to do in those situations.”
Steakley said they hope the cookbook can be a household resource for families to rely on. The book contains health department information in the front, recipes in the middle and safety information in the back.
Health Department Nutritionist Samantha Sanders said she looked at protein and carbohydrate content in meals and marked what dishes would provide a well-balanced diet. Sanders said the cookbook is for families including school-aged children, so larger portions for bigger meals.
“Being able to give families an easy resource that they know that they can provide these meals to their families and kind of bringing me on as the registered dietitian,” Sanders said. “Kind of looking at the nutrient content and just seeing if, you know, kind of, we’re hitting all of our bases with providing nutrients to these children and families.”
The foundation held an art contest through the Putnam County School System and selected 10 student artists to feature in the cookbook.
“I just think its so much more meaningful when students and local people create the art that we see within any space,” Steakley said. “So this was a wonderful opportunity to engage students in the process and be part of telling our story just across the county.”
Steakley said the book will be available at different school system events across the district. Locations include the Family Resource Center and LEAPS Program. The books will be free.
