Eating Healthy in a Tough Economy!: April 2013

One of my favorite books to read to children is "I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato" by Lauren Child. Lola is a typical little girl who is picky and through imagination, brother Charlie turns this around and by the end of the story, Lola is eating all kinds of healthy things! So, the question is,Do You Have Picky Eaters at Your House? Let's Turn That Around!

Getting kids to eat their fruits and vegetables can sometimes be quite a challenge. The first task is for parents to be good role models themselves in order to achieve healthy eating for our children. Also, it is helpful to cook items that everyone will enjoy and avoid being a short order cook in your kitchen. By following a few simple ideas, meal time can be a fun-time instead of a battle field.

The first order of business is to be a healthy role model for your children. Rather than do as I say not as I do, eat your fruits and vegetables too! Many times, it may be an adult in the household who is not a fruit and vegetable eater. Make this an adventure. Take a trip to your local farmers market or supermarket and try something new. Vegetables can take on new meaning if you try them in a different form. Spinach is a great example. If you have only had spinach from a can, you are missing out on a wonderful treat. Raw spinach added to a tossed salad has no resemblance to the spinach from the can. Also, if you lightly steam spinach and serve it promptly, it also has a flavor that is very different from the can. When you steam vegetables, steam until just fork tender, this also lends to a more flavorful product. Experiment with different herbs and spices, try to avoid adding salt. Fruits are also different when purchased fresh as opposed to canned. Also, if the fruit is not in season, a great option is frozen. This holds true for vegetables as well.

The family that cooks together enjoys eating their food together and they are a healthier family! This suggestion is best attempted when your family has the time. Our family has been doing this on Friday nights. It is a great way to unwind from the long week and when we cook together, we stay away from fast food alley. More money to purchase healthy foods and we are controlling the amount of fat, sugar and salt put into our food. Decide on a menu and divide the tasks up, of course keep the tasks age appropriate. For an example, if Pizza is on the menu, put someone in charge of the dough, someone in charge of the toppings and then you can put the pizza together as a family. I can’t think of a better way to encourage healthy eating than cooking together.

When in doubt, puree up fruits and vegetables and add them to dishes, your family will never know! Steaming cauliflower and blending it in your mashed potatoes or even adding steamed pureed broccoli to spaghetti sauce can enhance the amount of vegetables your family consumes. Top oatmeal or dried cereal with a banana to add fruit, or try adding fruit to your tossed salad, the key is to just be creative in adding more fruits and vegetables to your daily diet.

Finally, make dinner time a special time. Turn off the TV, the cell phones and other electronic gadgets and eat together and converse together. Make meal time family time and add those healthy foods and you will create a life -long good positive habit that will be carried on to the next generation. Don’t forget a plan for physical activity. The family that is active together and eats healthy together will be a healthy and happy family!

Menu Idea For Cooking Together

Main Entrée: Chicken Salad Roll-Ups

Salad: Tossed Salad: Fruits and Vegetables!

Beverage: Fruit Smoothie

Snack for Later: Not Your Average Chips and Dip

Chicken Salad Roll-Ups

3 (10 ounce)cans Chicken shredded and drained (you could also start with chicken breasts and cook them in place of using a can)

1/4 cup Italian salad dressing

6 (8 inch) flour tortillas

6 lettuce leaves

1 green bell pepper, cut into strips

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine canned chicken and salad dressing.

2. Place tortilla on plate.

3. Place 1/3 cup of chicken mixture on each tortilla

4. Add 1 lettuce leaf, bell pepper, and celery to tortilla. Roll like an enchilada.

5. Cut in half and serve immediately.

*Try adding any other vegetables that you like.

Choose MyPlate Salad

1/2 bunch dark green leafy lettuce

1 tomato chopped

1 carrot, chopped or shredded

1/2 cucumber chopped

1/4 c. raisins or dried cranberries

1 apple, cored and chopped

1/2 cup cheese, shredded

1/2 c. cooked ham or turkey, cubed

low-fat salad dressing (optional)

1. Wash lettuce and tear into bite-sized pieces. Place in a large bowl.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix.

3. Gently mix with your favorite dressing, if desired.

4. Serve with whole grain bread and you have all 5 food groups!

Banana-Strawberry Fruit Smoothie

2 small bananas broke into chunks

1 c. frozen strawberries

1 c. low-fat yogurt ( vanilla flavor is good to use if you do not like the taste of regular yogurt)

3/4 c. low-fat milk

1/2 c. ice cubes

Directions:

In a blender combine all ingredients, blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.

*The great thing about fruit smoothies, you can add a variety of different fruits. Be creative and change things up!

Not Your Average Chips and Dip

When you cook in your kitchen, you are in charge of how much fat, sugar and salt is used! Chips are a good example. Have you ever made chips on your own? So very simple! Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Take 2 large flour tortillas (Corn works as well, may need to increase baking time by a few minutes). Cut the tortilla shells into 8 pieces. Spray top of tortillas if you would like them to be brown. At this point, you may choose to salt if you would like to. I utilize these chips for a fruit dip as well and will share the recipe, if you use it for something sweet, void the salt. Bake in preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully, you do not want to over cook them. For toppings, try a can of chili beans, drain half of the juice and place in a self-sealing bag, then, take turns smooshing up the beans for a bean dip. Put beans in a bowl and then you can top with beans, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, salsa and black olives. Choose items your family will eat. This is a very healthy snack and is very filling too.

Fruit Salsa: 10 Servings

Ingredients:

2	kiwi, peeled and diced	3	Tbsp. raspberry preserves
2	golden delicious apples,	10	(10 inch) flour tortillas
	peeled, cored, and diced		butter flavored cooking spray
1	pound strawberries	2	cups cinnamon sugar

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwi, apples, strawberries, and raspberry preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350^○ F.
Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

I had fun taking a look at some videos about eating healthy for adults. This one is interesting, it is a BBC TV Series. Check it out if you have a minute! Truly, the issues are not unlike what we have here in America.

The mom in the video talks about food being high in fat and low in self-esteem. Nutrition is important in two ways, you need to first know how to eat healthy and you then need to have a mental can-do attitude to go along with it. Do yourself a favor and your family to, eat healthy, exercise and hey, try cooking together! Make it a family mission to be healthy.

Delicious
We all enjoy delicious food,
Makes us happy, fixes our mood.
It's all about the juicy taste,
Doesn't matter, where the food is placed.
We should consider, nutritional support,
We shall need it, if we engage in a sport.
Energy; food provides - plenty
Need a bit more, if we're over twenty.
A great dish, we should all savor,
Eat slowly, as we taste the flavor.
Choose our very favorite cuisine,
Is it red? Or is it green?
by AnitaPoems.com

Here is to healthier eating in your home!

What's For Dinner? TACO PIZZA!

When I am talking to kids about eating healthy, I always hear them say Pizza is junk food. My next question is, why is it not healthy? Well....hm.... does it depend on what you put on the pizza? Just think about this, if you make your own crust and add some whole wheat flour, choose healthy toppings, vegetables, low fat cheese, is it really junk food? Have you ever had a Hawaiian Pizza? If the answer is no, you have been missing out! Ham and pineapple, what a lovely tasty combination! Now, I give you that the ham is high in sodium, but you could go heavy on the pineapple and reduce the amount of ham and cheese you use. When you are the cook, you are in control!

Have you ever wondered about the origin of pizza? Pizza is Italian and the pizza we have here has been Americanized. According to http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pizza-history.asp , "Pizza in its most basic form as a seasoned flatbread has a long history in the Mediterranean. Several cultures including the Greeks and Phoenicians ate a flatbread made from flour and water. The dough would be cooked by placing on a hot stone and then seasoned with herbs. The Greeks called this early pizza plankuntos and it was basically used as an edible plate when eating stews or thick broth. It was not yet what we would call pizza today but it was very much like modern focaccia. These early pizzas were eaten from Rome to Egypt to Babylon and were praised by the ancient historians Herodotus and Cato the Elder." I have had pizza prepared by a lovely lady who grew up in Rome Italy, the Pizza crust was very thin, almost like cracker bread and the sauce was spread evenly and lightly on the crust with ingredients that were not poured on but gracefully spread on the crust. when you further examine Pizza here in America, you find New York style Pizza, which is most like what my friend prepared and Chicago which is more of a thick crust with a lot of sauce and loaded with all of your favorites!

Grilling season is fast approaching and that truly is my favorite new way to fix Pizza! So easy and gives a lovely new twist to an old favorite dish. Simply recipes gives you step by step instructions for making pizza on your grill: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_grill_pizza/ Find your favorite way to prepare your own pizza in your own kitchen and get cooking!

My motivation for pizza has been a Taco recipe that has infiltrated my Pinterest and Facebook page. The recipe that has been most shared is one that you begin by making a crust out of refrigerator crescent rolls. Pizza crust is a very simple item to make, once you make it, you will find it is delicious and so easy, you will make it a habit! I plan to try freezing pizza dough into individual balls that I can take out in the morning and have the crust thawed and ready for when I arrive home. This will be an easy summer time change from traditional barbecue items such has hamburgers and hot dogs. Rachel Ray has a great recipe for freezing pizza dough, you will find it at this link, http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe/bean-bacon-coleslaw/ Honestly though, if it is simpler for you to use a refrigerator pre-made dough, go for it!

So, let's get to the kitchen and put together Taco Pizza. The first order of business was to make the pizza crust. When I got to the point of the dough resting, I set about assembling the rest of the ingredients. I browned hamburger, our family likes to add onion to the hamburger, after the meat was browned, I drained and rinsed the hamburger, I then added my favorite taco seasoning and prepared it according to the directions. I then took a can of chili beans and drained half of the juice off and put them in my food processor (A blender or a hand mixer would also work for this). At this point, it was time to work with the dough. I divided the dough in half and rolled each dough into a rectangular shape and placed into a 9X13 pan, my method to this was to have two pizzas, one for tonight and one for tomorrow night as I will be coming home very late and will have a short time for dinner before running to a family event. So, the recipe was in fact doubled for this project. I used my homemade salsa for the sauce (you may use your favorite brand of salsa). I lightly spread the salsa as I did not want the crust to be too soggy. I then spread the refried beans over the salsa, spread the taco meat over top and sprinkled shredded cheddar cheese over the top. Wahla! Ready for the oven! While the pizza is baking, you can prepare taco ingredients such as lettuce, tomatoes, onion, sour cream and olives. If you are using tomatoes this time of year, you can always find Roma Tomatoes to be in your budget. I use low- fat or no-fat sour cream and cheddar cheese to keep it healthy. An easy way to insure that low-fat or no-fat cheese melts and is bubbly is to put it under the broiler in your oven at the very end for just a few minutes, watch carefully as broiling is an intense heat and can burn easily.

Below is the recipe and pictures to walk you through. The first time you make pizza may seem like it is a process, but do it a few times and it becomes easy and fun!

Pizza Crust

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water in 2 1/2 quart bow.. Stir in remaining ingredients, beat vigorously. Kneed in rest of flour till ball nice and elastic, about 12 to 15 times. Cover and let rest 10 minutes (or...however long it takes to assemble your ingredients.) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.

Taco Pizza

1 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa (reserve 1/2 cup for garnishment)

1 can chili beans or refried beans

1 cup cheddar cheese

shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions, black olives and sour cream to your liking for garnishment.

Prepare your pizza crust. Spread the dough in a greased 9X13 pan. Spread 1 cup of salsa over the crust evenly. Spread refried beans over the salsa. Cover with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes, at very end, put under broiler for 3 to 4 minutes. Slice and add the garnishments. By adding the garnishments to each serving, if you have leftovers, the garnishments will stay nice and crisp.