What’s Happening

What’s Happening

Time Change Tips

Wintertime changes bringing you down? Research suggests there is an 11% increase in depressive episodes during the switch from daylight savings to standard time.

Try these tips to stay happy and healthy during this time of year.

– Eat vitamin D rich foods. The time change brings on less opportunities to get vitamin D naturally from the sun. Eating things like salmon, mushrooms, and eggs can increase your vitamin D levels.

– Go outside. Many people go to work in the dark and leave when it is dark. Try to step outside during your break to soak up the rays when possible!

– Get moving. Working out, going for a walk, dancing, or even just cleaning the house can get the endorphins flowing and that is especially important this time of year.

*Information from aarp.com and the New York Times

 

Let’s Support Local Businesses

Mark your calendar: Small Business Saturday is November 28th, just in time for holiday shopping!

Whether you’re picking out gifts for friends and family or grabbing a treat to bring to dinner, consider shopping at a local business and showing your support.

According to Civic Economics, every dollar spent at an independent business returns three times more money to the local economy than a dollar spent at a large chain, and 50 times more than one spent with an online retailer. That money goes right back into the community where you live and work, helping support valuable programs for you and your family.


Easy Thanksgiving Dessert: Pumpkin Dump Cake

Love pumpkin pie but not the fuss of making crust? This easy dessert has all the cozy fall flavor, comes together in about ten minutes, and lets the oven do the rest.

Ingredients

  • One can (fifteen ounces) pumpkin purée
  • One can (twelve ounces) evaporated milk
  • Three eggs
  • One cup sugar
  • Two teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • One box (fifteen and one-quarter ounces) yellow cake mix
  • Three-quarters cup butter, melted
  • One-half cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit and grease a nine-by-thirteen-inch baking dish.
  2. Whisk together the pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Pour into the dish.
  3. Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the top (don’t stir), then add pecans if using.
  4. Drizzle the melted butter over everything and bake fifty to sixty minutes, until golden and set in the center.

Tip: Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. It can also be baked the day before. That’s one less thing to juggle on Thanksgiving Day!