If you’re a diabetic who finds sticking to your diet a chore, the Sandoval County Cooperative Extension Service has just what you need.

The extension service’s Kitchen Creations course offers a roadmap for simple preparation of a variety of meals appropriate for people with diabetes. The 12-hour course, consisting of four, three-hour sessions, is designed to achieve the following goals:

• Increase knowledge of healthy food choices and meal planning for people with diabetes.
• Present healthy versions of familiar foods and introduce new foods that are economical and easy to prepare.
• Provide hands-on opportunities to learn cooking techniques that use new or more healthful ingredients. 
• Encourage healthier food choices by preparing and tasting healthy foods.
• Provide opportunities for participants to share and learn from one another. 
• Help participants learn about pre-diabetes and share the information with families and friends.

The course is co-taught by Extension Service Home Economist Nicole Lujan and Licensed Dietician Ruth Baldwin. The first part of each class session is devoted to sharing information about making proper food choices, such as balancing carbohydrates and proteins in a manner will allow for maintaining proper blood-sugar levels. The rest of the session is a hands-on cooking class in which students will prepare tasty meals that they can take home.

Students also leave the class with two cookbooks, including one that features only recipes that require no more than four ingredients. Perhaps the best part about the class is the price. It’s free for Sandoval County residents. The only requirements are that you be a diagnosed diabetic and agree to attend all four sessions.

Classes will be held on four consecutive Wednesdays from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM, starting March 18, 2015, at the Sandoval County Cooperative Extension Service Office, 711, Camino del Pueblo, in Bernalillo. To enroll, call 1-800-678-1802 or 505-867-2582 by March 12, 2015.