Craighead County Extension Family Consumer Sciences

Keep dinner simple with these Sloppy Joe’s: https://www.healthyfamilies.tennessee.edu/recipes/sloppy-joes/

High gas prices can have a big impact on a household budget. Hopefully, gas prices will return to normal but until they do, our personal finance specialist Dr. Laura Hendrix shares some tips to help make ends meet:

⛽ Watch your speed. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, driving 55mph instead of 65 mph improves gas mileage by 15%.

⛽ Avoid aggressive driving. Eliminating “jackrabbit” starts and stops to improve gas mileage by 5%.
Avoid idling when possible. Turn off the engine if you have a long wait.

⛽ Use cruise control when appropriate. Steady driving uses less fuel.

⛽ Use AC less. Use air conditioning as little as possible. However, on warm days, running the AC may be more cost effective than driving with the windows down – which can cause drag and reduce aerodynamics.

⛽ Maintain your car. Keep maintenance on schedule.

For more tips on surviving high gas prices, visit our UAEX Money blog ➡ https://www.uaex.uada.edu/life-skills-wellness/personal-finance/uaex-money-blog/gas-prices-wreck-budget.aspx

Warm? ✅
Rainy? ✅
Humid? ✅
It must be May in Arkansas!
This month, you can start growing several foods: tomatillos, asparagus, pumpkin, cherry tomato, squash, southern peas, sweet potatoes, basil, peppers, okra, eggplant, cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe, beans (snap, pole, and lima!), sweet corn, collards, and radishes! 🌽 🍆 🍅
If you have any questions about planting your garden, reach out to your county extension agent.

Seeing these chubby spiders spinning gorgeous webs around your house? 👀

Meet: The Spotted Orb Weaver 🕷

Here are a few things you may not know about these fellows:

🕸 The orb weaver is one of the most common garden spiders in the northern hemisphere.

🕸 The intricate webs you see this time of year are most often spun by females.

🕸 The spotted orb weaver spiders are mostly nocturnal, but in the fall they have so much work to do they are at it day and night.

🕸 The females are the web weavers and they have a plump abdomen that is variously spotted with rusty-red or yellow-orange dots,

🕸 Their legs are alternately banded in black and yellowish markings.

🕸 The orb spider spins her web anew every evening and, during the following day eats the old web, rests about an hour and then spins another web.

Learn more about the orb weaver spider, and read Gerald Klingaman's latest blogpost ➡ https://bit.ly/3ApIudG

Special thanks to Whitlee Adams, our newest addition to the team of judges at the NEA District Fair! Whitlee brought her tremendous knowledge and experience to help judge quilting entries yesterday. Stop by the Family Living Department located at the NEA District Fairgrounds and check out the beautiful quilt entries.

A Cook's Guide to Zucchini Squash Zucchini squash is a versatile summer-time favorite. Use our guide to learn how to select, handle, cook, and store zucchini.

Physical Activity is an important part of living a healthy lifestyle! Get fitness tips and learn about Walk Across Arkansas! All in this week's EHC blog post! ➡️ https://bit.ly/38xuaEI

Have you seen people walking around your favorite summer spots with clipboards and petitions? Find out more about why you're asked whether you want to sign a ballot issue petition in this month's Arkansas Ballot Issue Newsletter.

➡ https://conta.cc/3mBkX6v

Arkansas Extension Life Skills and Wellness programs empower individuals and families to thrive. Extension affords Arkansans immediate and timely access to cutting-edge, reliable, unbiased information to develop critical life skills in health, nutrition, family life, and personal finance.

What is Family Consumer Science (FCS)? Family and Consumer Sciences, known as FCS, was founded as Home Economics. Today we study and apply the sciences that affect the ways humans relate with their environment, whether it's their home, food, or finances.
Check out all we have to offer at: https://www.uaex.uada.edu/life-skills-wellness/

Don't be a victim. Empower yourself by educating yourself about your surroundings and recognizing risk to your personal safety. Then develop strategies to avoid the risks. Protect your home from intruders by keeping the windows locked and closing your blinds and curtains. Don't make it easy for them to case out the contents of your home and who is there!
Thank you, Officer Richbourgh, for sharing positive steps to avoid being a victim.