September is Family Meals Month

Posted on August 30, 2022 by Hollis Bass

Family meals have a lasting impact on mental, physical, and emotional health. Whether you work with children, teens, or adults, let them know that eating together as a family, however they define family, is important and do-able.

One way you can help families is to take the stress out of cooking at home. Teach them how to plan, shop for, and prepare healthy meals with our 25 Ingredients into 15 Fast Healthy Meals DVD/PowerPoint with handouts and leader guide.

Teach a class or series of classes for tweens, teens, or adults.
Offer a lunch-and-learn session for your employees.
Play the DVD in waiting areas and make handouts available.

Here are some tips to go along with teaching and promoting family meals:

Budget: Eating at home stretches your food dollars. The foods in 25 Ingredients into 15 Fast Healthy Meals are budget-friendly. Find more cost-cutting recipes at the Family Dinner Project.
Physical Health: Home-cooked family meals are linked to heart health and decreased obesity. Families get less sugar, fat, and sodium and more fruits, vegetables, and fiber.
Mental Health: Family meals are associated with lower rates of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, and tobacco use. They give children more resilience and higher self-esteem.
- Spread the word with these infographics from the Family Meals Movement and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
Time: Family meals mean less time in drive-thrus and more time talking, cooking together, and having fun.
Fun: Speaking of fun, get your kids talking with mealtime conversation starters from the American Heart Association and these resilience-building back to school questions.

Two more things to think about:

It’s important to acknowledge that family mealtime isn’t easy for some people – there are lots of barriers, and low-income families are often the most vulnerable.
Also, “family” means different things to different people. No matter how it’s defined, a family can benefit from dining together regularly.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

25 Ingredients Into 15 Fast Healthy Meals DVD/CD Video PowerPoint Nutrition Education DVD

$49.00 ~~$59.00~~

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Nutrition Security for Older Americans

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Hollis Bass

While higher food costs make healthy eating on a budget challenging for everyone, seniors living on a fixed income are especially vulnerable. Yet, older adults can’t afford to skimp on nutrition!

Our Healthy Plate for Older Americans poster guides seniors to food and beverage choices that give the most nutrition bang for their buck.

Here are some tips for using this MyPlate-based poster to educate older adults – and their caregivers – about healthy and affordable food:

Protein priority: With sky-high meat and poultry prices, seniors need to learn about less expensive sources of protein. Proper portion sizes can also help – filling just one quarter of your plate with healthy protein is a simple way to stretch food dollars.
Going for the (whole) grain: The cheapest loaf of white bread isn’t the healthiest choice for older adults. Teach them to look for 100% whole grain bread, pasta, and cereal at a decent price.
Fruit and veggie steals: Buying in season makes filling half your plate with healthy fruits and veggies more affordable. Education about choosing and preparing canned and frozen fruits and vegetables can help as well.
Dairy deals: Skipping that cup of low-fat milk may be an effective cost-cutting measure for some older adults, but they need the nutrients supplied by dairy foods. Teach them to choose budget-friendly, healthy dairy products in the right portion size.
Stay home for sodium: Restaurant meals are typically higher in sodium – and more expensive – than home-cooked meals.

Don’t forget about non-profit and government food assistance programs for older Americans, such as the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, SNAP, and Meals on Wheels.

And if you’re a caregiver, dietitian, foodservice manager, or other professional who works with seniors, check out our Diet Facts for Seniors PowerPoint with handouts.

By Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Healthy MyPlate for Older Americans Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

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Diet Facts for Seniors PowerPoint and Handout Program - DOWNLOAD

$49.00

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5 Activities for Healthy Shopping on a Budget

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Hollis Bass

We know eating healthfully doesn’t have to be expensive, but food shopping when you’re having trouble making ends meet can be overwhelming. Sometimes it’s easier to toss the cheap, processed food into your cart.

Help your clients or students learn to stretch their food dollars and purchase healthy food. I like the Healthy Shopping on a Budget PowerPoint because it provides practical information about low-cost choices in each food group. It also includes a collection of recipes that are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and tasty.

Here are some activities you could use along with the Healthy Shopping on a Budget PowerPoint:

Track food spending: Have participants keep receipts for every food and beverage purchase they make over the course of a week. What stands out? What are they spending most on? What lower cost choices could they make?
Learn about low-cost protein: Fancy plant-based burgers and sausages are all the rage, but they are expensive. Discuss budget-friendly cuts of lean meat, fish, chicken, and beans. Do a cooking demo using dried beans, a whole chicken, or other protein sources people may not know how to prepare.
Take advantage of every resource: Find affordable farmer’s markets, including ones that accept SNAP benefits. Many states have programs that double SNAP benefits when you buy fresh produce. Don’t forget about WIC’s Farmers Market Nutrition Program, the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, and USDA’s Farmers to Families.
Make a master list: Participants make a list of healthy items they typically buy, then print out copies to keep on the refrigerator. Circle items you run out of and take the list when you go shopping. Get this started with fun giveaways like our MyPlate Shopping List Notepads and Go Shopping with MyPlate Tearpad.
Brainstorm barriers: Is there a full-service supermarket nearby? Do participants have transportation to get to a store that sells fresh produce? Is the closest supermarket a mega size monstrosity that is hard for an older person or someone with a disability to get around?

Any of your students or clients could be experiencing food insecurity, no matter where they live or how they dress. This makes healthy eating on a budget an important topic to cover!

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

A Cure for COVID Cooking Fatigue

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Hollis Bass

Raise your hand if you have COVID cooking fatigue!

I confess to recurring bouts with this condition. From what I see on social media and in the news, I’m not alone.

What can you do? Buy prepared foods at the supermarket…order carry-out from local restaurants…pay for a meal delivery service. But these options aren’t always the best for your budget or your health.

How about prescribing a 30-minute video that just might cure COVID cooking fatigue? Our 25 Ingredients, 15 Meals video makes food shopping and meal preparation a breeze for even the most reluctant cooks.

Your audience will learn a lot in just half an hour, including:

Menu planning.
Shopping from a list.
Healthy cooking methods.
Money-, time-, and calorie-saving strategies.
Cook it once and serve it 2-3 times

Beyond COVID cooking fatigue, 25 Ingredients, 15 Meals would work well for teaching:

Weight loss groups
Families or individuals at risk for food insecurity
Home-school students who need lessons on cooking, nutrition, math, or budgeting
Addiction recovery programs
Boy Scout, Girl Scout, and other youth groups
Students (middle school, high school, and college)

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

25 Ingredients Into 15 Fast Healthy Meals DVD/CD Video PowerPoint Nutrition Education DVD

$49.00 ~~$59.00~~

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Shop from your freezer

Posted on June 9, 2020 by cheryle

Not wanting to go to the grocery store and have more time at home to cook than usual? Looking for meals you can cook for dinner from what’s already in your house? It’s time to shop from your freezer.

Do you really know what’s in there? Take the time to pull things out and make decisions if I you’ll ever use that food or not. You might want to do an inventory list so you can remember what’s there. Update this list as you use up the food.

Some keys for freezer storage:

The “rule of thumb” for freezing fresh foods (like turkey, hamburger, fresh fruits and vegetables) is that it will keep for one year. Precooked foods and leftovers are best if eaten within three to four months. These time recommendations are for quality not safety.

This loss of quality is what’s often called “freezer burn” and does not necessarily make food unsafe. This can be dehydration, deterioration of quality or just an “off flavor”. Safety wise food can stay in the freezer longer if there has not been any loss of power and the food has been kept at zero degrees. Think quality vs. safety. The US Food and Drug Administration has a great chart online with recommended freezer storage times.

Another key to keeping your freezer items under control and to help with the inventory is to label all items with the description and date. You may think you’ll always remember what’s in that package, but once frozen applesauce can look like gravy and kale can look like chopped broccoli. Mystery food.

If you have find you have a collection of these unknown items….have a Surprise Dinner! Thaw out all of these unlabeled items and serve as a smorgasbord. It may not be balanced nutrition, it may not all go together, but you’ve accomplished several things – cleaned the freezer, learned what’s there and fun (ny) dinner.

When looking at these items and making decisions remember the old saying, “when in doubt about the age, the quality or the safety of a food….throw it out.”

Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS

Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University

Reference:

Cold Food Storage https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/1d403c11-63f0-4671-990e-51c9f8f05b2c/Cold-Food-Storage-Magnet-2017.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Reduce Food Waste with Meal Planning

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Hollis Bass

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American family of four loses $1,500 to uneaten food each year. Food waste can impact your budget, but also the environment. One way to reduce food waste is to plan your meals. Of course, meal planning has many more benefits – it can help with eating on a budget, weight management, eating more family meals, following MyPlate, and more.

Here are some ways to teach your students, clients, or other groups about meal planning and reducing food waste:

Zero-based food plan: Have you ever heard of a zero-based budget? You basically plan where every dollar of your income will go for the month – savings, rent, utilities, food, clothing, coffee, postage stamps, etc. (Learn more by reading this Nerd Wallet blog post.) How about applying this concept, in general terms, to the food you buy? By planning your meals, you can buy just as much food as you need. When leftover food is planned into future meals, food isn’t wasted (we call these planned-overs!). Knowing where every ounce of frozen broccoli will go isn’t such a big deal, because whatever you don’t use can go back into the freezer. But if you’re buying fresh vegetables for a recipe, either buy the exact amount you’ll use, or make a plan to use what’s left over. Try zero-based food planning with fresh produce, eggs, dairy products, bread, and other perishables.
Fruit & veggie stock up: Use meal planning to make sure you have enough fruits and vegetables to fill up half of your plate for every meal, every day. Avoid food waste by planning on meals with fresh produce for the first few days after food shopping. Then start using frozen vegetables, and frozen fruits, too (add some to yogurt or oatmeal, heat some in the microwave to use as a topper for toast or pancakes). As you get to the very end of the week, use canned vegetables if you’re out of frozen. Canned fruit, applesauce, and raisins can fill in for fresh fruit.
Meal styles: A more general meal plan with meal styles can make weekly meal planning easier. You have a different style for each day of the week. For example, Monday can be beans (burritos, chili, or soups). Saturday can be salads (entree salad with different proteins and veggies). See our free handout for seven different meal styles and ideas for each. These make the basis for meals, then you can add your own favorites, try new recipes, etc.
Keep it simple: If meal planning makes you think of the perfect pictures of perfect meals you see on social media, think again! Meal planning is whatever YOU want it to be. Maybe you just want to plan breakfast for the week. It’s all fine – check out our free Meal Planning Ideas handout to get started.
Menu planning tool: In our store, we have a great tool to use no matter how you decide to teach menu planning. Use the Menu Planning Dry Erase poster to walk individuals or groups through planning a week’s worth of meals. We also have a larger Menu Planning Dry Erase Wall Decal. And people can take home our smaller Menu Planning Tearpad to practice what they’ve learned.

Remember, planning meals can help you buy the right amount of food and use it before it goes bad. That’s good for you, your family, and the world!

Your bananas, my bananas…Yonanas!

Posted on May 14, 2018 by cheryle

Banana Date Yonananas

We’ve had a lot of fun with Yonanas! Don’t know what I’m talking about? Yonanas is a small kitchen appliance that takes frozen bananas and other fruit and quickly processes them into a creamy frozen dessert-type product that looks like it came out of the machine of your favorite frozen yogurt place.

We had friends over for dinner one evening and we pulled out the Yonanas machine to make dessert. The friend admitted that she thought to herself “there’s a sucker born every day, what is this thing?” But after eating the Yonanas she wanted one for herself.

The joy of Yonanas is you’re eating pure fruit. Although the name implies bananas , you can use any fruit or combination of fruit. It is recommended to use a banana every time because it helps make the creamy consistency— I personally like the combination of bananas, mango and strawberries. The combinations are endless and it comes with a recipe book.

Just think of all the calories and fat calories you can save by eating Yonana instead of ice cream? Two bananas, 1/2 cup strawberries and a half of a mango makes more than enough Yonana for three people for only 112 calories each. Yonanas satisfies the craving for ice cream without the added cream, sugar or preservatives. It’s a fun way to encourage kids to eat more fruit. Plus bananas are a good source of potassium, dietary fiber, manganese and vitamins B6 & C.

A couple tips: the fruit needs to slightly thaw (5-8 minutes) before putting through the Yonana machine to get a creamy texture. It doesn’t take long. If it thaws out too much, your final product will be mushy. The machine also comes with popsicle forms to refreeze any leftover product. I haven’t been real successful with this; you may need to experiment a little.

Another plus…it’s a great money saver. Fruit that would otherwise get tossed (over 40% of food in the US is discarded) is now saved for the Yonana! Simply freeze those very ripe bananas or buy the “mark down” bananas for Yonanas. No more wasted fruit or feeling the need to make even more banana muffins or nut bread. Plus kids can come up with their own flavor concoctions or toppings. It would take an older child or adult to push the fruit through because some exertion is needed.

A word of caution: as with any small appliance, it’s only good if you’ll use it. It’s easy to clean. I put it in the dishwasher.

Check out their website at www.yonanas.com (note: you can get a refurbished machine for 20% off with Amazon’s Warehouse Deal).

Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS
Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University

Check out the savings:

Food:	Calories per half cup:	Fat (g)	Calories per week for a year:
Yonanas	112	0	5,824
Ice cream	250	16	13,000
Savings	82	16	7,176

Lean Protein Spotlight: Turkey

Posted on October 9, 2017 by cheryle

The other day, I roasted a 15-pound turkey, but I was only serving two people. What was I thinking?

Actually it’s a simple answer.

Before Thanksgiving last year, our grocery store offered whole turkeys at $0.37 per pound if you bought $35 worth of groceries. I had to take them up on that deal, which meant that I had two turkeys in the freezer. Recently, I decided to cook one of them for guests, but they cancelled. Since I already had the turkey thawing in the fridge, I cooked it anyway. That’s the easy part: no dressing, no basting, cook until the thickest parts reach 165 degrees F. Results: a lot of food for two people.

Frozen turkeys will keep for a long time if held below zero degrees. They’re usually packed in air- and water-resistant plastic wraps that help prevent loss of quality during freezer storage. The general recommendation for freezer storage is one year, if the food has been frozen that whole time. This is a quality recommendation and not a food safety deadline.

According to the National Turkey Federation, removed bones typically reduce the weight of the turkey by 25% and my turkey was fairly true to that estimate. I weighed the bones after I cooked them down for soup and picked the meat off, and I had 3.3 pounds of “waste” (there was additional fat and moisture I couldn’t weigh) from my 15-pound turkey. We ended up with about 10 pounds of meat at around $0.50 a pound. What a deal!

The usual recommendation is to purchase one pound of turkey (on the bone) for each person served. This is geared for holiday meals with all the trimmings and to save leftovers too. With my February turkey, we had a few meals of roast turkey and then two big pots of soup. We also had lots of leftovers for sandwiches at a much better price, taste, and quality than that expensive processed turkey meat in the deli. Plus, I froze a few packages of cooked turkey for quick meals later. The recommendation for frozen cooked turkey is to eat it within three months.

The US Dietary Guidelines suggest choosing lean or low-fat meat and poultry as your protein source. Turkey is lower in fat and calories than many other foods in the protein group and can be a good choice. According to the USDA Nutrient Database, 3 ounces of whole turkey (meat only) contains 135 calories, 24 grams of protein, and only 3.26 grams of fat.

Even if you can’t get as good a price as I did, roasting your own turkey or turkey parts any time of the year can be an easy job with lots of nutritional benefits. Why wait until Thanksgiving?

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

Shopping with MyPlate: A Handout

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Stephanie Ronco

Balance your cart for a balanced plate!

Shopping with My Plate:

The food you buy has a huge impact on your eating habits. Make sure that the choices you make are healthful and balanced, starting at the grocery store.

What does that mean?

Well, since MyPlate advises you to fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables at each meal, roughly half your cart should be full of fruits and vegetables in the store. Make lean protein choices, and select dairy foods that are low in saturated fat and added sugars. When it comes to grain foods, make sure that at least half of all the grains you’re eating are whole grains. Skip those processed grains whenever you can.

More Shopping Tips!

My Plate advises people to “Compare sodium content for similar foods, using the Nutrition Facts label to select brands lower in sodium.” The next time you’re in the store, grab a couple of different options for an ingredient and compare the sodium content. Choose one of the options with lower numbers.

Watch out for portion size! When you’re in the store, look at the serving size and number of servings in the food that you’d like to buy. Is it realistic? Will a sugary soda bottle really be used for 2 or 3 separate servings, or, despite what it says on the label, is the drink really going to be consumed all at once? Remember, MyPlate wants to help people enjoy food but eat less of it, counseling, “Avoid oversized portions.”

Here’s a printable MyPlate handout that you can use however you see fit!

And here are even more MyPlate educational materials, fresh from the Nutrition Education Store!

Art of Health MyPlate Poster

Health Hopscotch Floor Sticker and Game

Salt and Sodium Poster

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