By BETH BENCE REINKE for Smart

As the emergency department manager at Memorial Hospital in York, registered nurse Marcia Feehan is passionate about health care. And not just at work.

At home, Feehan has cared for her children and her aging parents. "Health care is very challenging for that sandwich generation," she said. "You can’t do it without being organized — having a planner or notes."

The beginning of a new year is a great time to get on track.

Schedule routine medical appointments, like yearly physicals and trips to the eye doctor, whether you feel you need them or not, Feehan said. "We need to get into the practice of meeting with our health care providers on a routine basis," she said.

Start a family medical notebook. When her parents were ill, she had their pertinent medical information at her fingertips because of her organized and updated notebook. "When you have someone who becomes ill quickly, it is invaluable," she said.

• Designate a section in the notebook for each family member. (Download pre-made pages here.)

• For each person, write down: name, address, Social Security number, insurance card information, Medicare plan or supplemental insurance plan, family doctor’s name and phone number, pharmacy name and phone number, detailed medical and surgical history, current medication list and any drug allergies.

• Write down questions for the doctor in the notebook so you don’t forget what to ask when you’re at the appointment.

• Take the notebook along to every medical appointment.

• Keep a record for every medical appointment, take notes on medication changes or new treatments.

What to schedule For everyone • Complete physical. • Vision checkup. • Dental visit (plan for two per year).

For adults
• Colon cancer screening, if you’re 50 or older.
• Fasting lipid profile (schedule this every five years, beginning at age 20).

For women
• Annual pelvic exam and Pap test.
• Mammogram, if you’re 40 or older.

For men
• Prostate check, if you’re 50 or older.

Sources: American Cancer Society, American Heart Association

Download
• Free health notebook pages on smartmagpa.com

Escaping the cold

If you prefer white sandy beaches to white snowy roads, you had better head someplace tropical. If you’re lucky enough to be going to a warmer climate to escape the York County snow, R. Alan Fox, Chairman & CEO of Vacations To Go, offers these tips for what to pack. (And if you need ideas of where to go, visit the Web site at
www.vacationstogo.com.)

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By NICKI LEFEVER for Smart

Kids dart through the door from sports practice, husbands pull in the driveway from work and maybe wives, too, are walking through the door. What’s for dinner?

“It’s not a good time to try to put a meal together,” Phyllis Pellman-Good said about the hour when everyone’s hungry. “You can’t move fast enough and you are too exhausted.”

But there’s a way to take the pressure off the what’s-for-dinner question once and for all.
The slow cooker.

The author of the Fix-It-And-Forget-It Cookbooks said assembling a meal in the crockpot is a great way to plan ahead.

She said one of the wonders of the slow cooker is that you can assemble the meal the night before, put it in the fridge and even before coffee, you can plop it in the electrical holding unit, turn it on and forget about it.

Pellman-Good learned early on in the process of putting together the slow cooker cookbooks that there’s no limit to what you can cook in the crockpot.

“I assumed it was for making beef stew,” she said.

Based in Lancaster County, Pellman-Good has a network of contributing cooks. She received recipes for appetizers, desserts, chicken and even pasta. While wintertime is a great time to fill the house with the slow-cooking smell of a hearty meal, Pellman-Good said it’s great in the summer, too.

“You don’t have to turn on the oven,” she said.

JoAnn Rachor, author of “Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year,” has been cooking since the early 1970s. When she took on the slow cooker cookbook, said she didn’t realize how much she had to learn.

While writing her book, Rachor tested more than 25 crockpots ranging in price from $20 to more than $100. She recommends steering away from the programmable pots because they cook much faster than the suggested time. Rachor said she makes all of her pots programmable with a lamp timer that she can control. The device costs about $10 to $20 and helps regulate the time the slow cooker is on while you aren’t home.

Slow cooker rules

1. No matter how badly you want to take a whiff, don’t. Taking the lid off to stir food or have a smell extends the cooking time by 20 minutes.

2. It’s safe to leave the slow cooker on while you aren’t at home.

3. One slow cooker probably isn’t enough. Different sizes are great for entertaining with different courses. A 2 quart, a 5 quart and a 7 quart are a good variety to have.

4. A slow cooker works best when it is two-thirds full.

5. If your recipe gets too soupy, take three toothpicks and prop the lid so it’s open just a bit to help the liquid slowly evaporate.

6. Some ingredients are better added near the end of cooking. Put uncooked pasta in 45 minutes before the end of the cooking time, 20 minutes for cooked pasta. Add fresh or dried herbs in the last 30 minutes to keep the zip.

7. If the recipe is cooking for two to three hours, use cooked meat. If it’s cooking longer, small chunks of raw meat are fine.

8. Vegetables take longer to cook than cubed meat. Cut pieces equally to ensure even cooking.

9. Look for accessories. A baking insert is a great way to use the slow cooker for cakes, so you aren’t tying up oven space. Check with the crockpot manufacturer or with the literature that comes with the crockpot.

10. If you are shopping for a new slow cooker, look for upgrades. Newer models have twist-and-lock lids to avoid spilling while traveling.

11. You can make just about anything in a slow cooker, but really watery vegetables, such as broccoli or cauliflower, don’t turn out as well.

Sources: Phyllis Pellman-Good and JoAnn Rachor

Macaroni and Cheese (dairy free)

Yield: 8 cups
1 cup water
1 cup quick or rolled oats
2/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
½ cup (4 ounces) pimento
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 ¾ teaspoons salt
5 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup mild-tasting olive or canola oil
3 cups uncooked macaroni

Blend first seven ingredients until smooth. Pour into the slow cooker.
Rinse the blender with the additional water and add to cooker. Add the oil, then cook until lightly boiling along the edges.
Quickly stir in macaroni. Turn cooker on high for 40 minutes.
Turn off cooker and thoroughly stir. Allow to sit 10 minutes until thickened.
Source: “Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day” by JoAnn Rachor

Heart-healthy Easy Oats
Yield: 6 cups
2/3 cups steel-cut oats or oat groats
6 cups water
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped dried fruit or raisins
½-1 cup chopped nuts, like almonds
2 teaspoons vanilla
liquid lecithin (an oil made from soybeans available in health food stores; optional)

Rub the slow cooker with lecithin (to ease clean up). Stir cereal, water and salt into the cooker. Cook on low. If the cereal has finished cooking before it is time to eat, turn off the cooker, or turn it to “warm” or “serve” if the cooker has that setting. Twenty minutes before eating, turn the cooker on low and stir the cereal. Add a little water or milk if the cereal has gotten too thick.
Stir in any or all of the remaining ingredients at the end of the cooking. Let sit 5 minutes for the fruit to soften.

Source: “Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day” by JoAnn Rachor

Split Pea Chowder
Yield: 5 cups
3 cups water
1 cup rinsed, drained split peas
1 cup peeled potatoes, cut in bite-sized pieces
1 cup thinly sliced, chopped or shredded carrots
¾ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped celery
2 bay leaves
1 ¼ teaspoons salt

Combine all but the onion and garlic powder in the cooker and cook on high until the split peas and vegetables are tender (about 3 to 4 ½ hours). Stir the onion and garlic powder into the cooker at the end of the cooking. Add a small amount of water if the chowder is too thick.

SMART TIP: The chowder may be cooked on low in a “fast” or “extra fast cooker.” (It will take one to two hours longer than if cooked on high.) The peas will not cook up soft if cooked on low of a typical cooker.

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