Give Veggies a Chance

September is National Fruits & Veggies Month. While most people love the sweetness of fruit, many just don’t like (or eat) their vegetables.

You can change this by shining the spotlight on vegetables and fruits all month long with our posters, prizes, floor stickers, and health fair materials.

Here are three ways to get your students, clients, or employees engaged with Fruits & Veggies Month and, hopefully, convince them to give vegetables a chance:

  1. Take the pledge. The Produce for Better Health Foundation invites you to take the Have a Plant Pledge to add one more fruit or veggie to your daily routine for a month. Give extra points for those who add vegetables!
  2. Make friends. If you’re not comfortable preparing certain vegetables, our Slicing, Chopping & Cooking Guide for Vegetables poster (which comes with a free handout) will help make all types of veggies welcome in your kitchen.
  3. Cheer for the underdog. Stand up for veggies that get a bad rap, like Brussels sprouts, beets, turnips, and even potatoes. Find recipes in the MyPlate Kitchen, where you can search by food group or a specific fruit or vegetable.

Keep fruits and vegetables front and center all year long! FYI:

By Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

September is Family Meals Month

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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

A Cure for COVID Cooking Fatigue

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:

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

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Nutrition Education in the COVID-19 Era

What does nutrition and health education look like in the COVID-19 era? People want to know how to …

  • Stay healthy, boost their immune system, and reduce their chance of catching the virus.
  • Prevent or manage chronic diseases, like diabetes, that can lead to serious COVID-19 complications.
  • Save money at the supermarket and cook healthy meals at home.

We have a collection of COVID-19 Era Nutrition Education materials to help you teach these topics. But what about social distancing and people who want to learn in a no-contact setting? The PowerPoint shows in our COVID-19 collection make it easy to offer engaging online workshops that meet your clients’ needs.

Here’s one example of how you could use our shows:

Saving money at the supermarket is a hot topic right now. You could offer a two-part online series that appeals to the broad audience of folks who, pre-COVID, were in the habit of eating out a lot.

Start out by dispelling the myth that healthy food is expensive – our Healthy Eating on a Budget PowerPoint presentation proves it. Your clients will learn:

  • Cost per ounce and nutrition facts for choices from each MyPlate food group.
  • How to plan meals, build a shopping list, and limit food waste.
  • Budget-friendly ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
  • Lots of other money-saving tips.

Since saving money means cooking at home more, the second part of your online series should be our 25 Ingredients Into 15 Fast Healthy Meals PowerPoint show. With real photos of real food, your audience will learn to prepare a week’s worth of low-fat, high-fiber meals. We even provide tips on how to use our recipes for your own cooking demo in case you want to add that to your online workshop.

If this idea for a two-part workshop series doesn’t work for you, just change it up. Maybe split the information into 15-minute sessions. And all of our PowerPoint shows come with downloadable handouts that you can send to clients as a follow-up to what they’ve learned.

If you are planning in-person classes or events, check out our new custom printed face masks

Splash Into a Healthy Summer

After a challenging spring, everyone is ready for summer break. While we continue to live with the pandemic, summer can still mean the start of something new and fresh and healthy. What better way to add joy than to add cooking skills, adventures, and projects in the kitchen!

Whether you work with children or adults, here are some ways they can splash into a summer of healthy eating:

Fresh Herbs: Plant a few of your favorite herbs to use in summer salads and salsas. Or buy fresh herbs at the farmer’s market. For more on herbs:

Knife Skills: Practice your knife skills by cutting up summer fruits and veggies. Make it fancy or keep it simple. Even kids can be taught to use a knife safely. Chopping tips:

Plan It: Meal planning keeps healthy eating on track all summer long. Plan for a week or plan for a day … whatever works for you! Tools to use:

Cook Together: Make meal prep a group effort by giving everyone a job … even if it’s a little messy.

Buy Something New: Buy yourself something a new kitchen gadget to use with summertime fruits and veggies. Maybe a salad spinner, a special container for fresh produce, or a new vegetable brush.

Try something new:

  • Outside: Grill salmon, pizza, or a head of romaine lettuce. Imagine all the things you can cook on a grill and have fun making new favorites.
  • Inside: Try salad in a jar. And make your own salad dressing.

Summer with MyPlate: Check out MyPlate Summer Resources, including this cute idea for a “mad-libs” type of activity.

 

Got Gas?

Beans are frequently touted as a great source of low-fat protein along with fiber.  But, many people have an embarrassing problem with beans.  This is one of those topics people don’t talk about…..gas.

One specific sugar in beans —oligosaccharide—tends to be the culprit. It’s just not broken down and absorbed like other sugars.  When beans get into the digestive system this sugar starts to ferment—making gas.

There are a few things you can do to help reduce the gas:

  1. Easy does it. If adding beans or other high fiber foods to your diet start slowly. Let your body adjust slowly. Be sure to include beans on a regular basis, a couple of times a week at first and then more often.  The more you eat, the less gas will be a problem.  The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend we eat 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups of legumes (beans and peas) each week.
  2. Soak well.  If using dried beans soak them for at least 48 hours. Change the water at least once during the soaking. Rinse well before cooking and use fresh water for cooking. Cook until very tender.
  3. Cook canned beans a little more, too. Rinse canned beans. This also helps to reduce the sodium.
  4. Use an over-the-counter enzyme supplement that can help break down the gas-producing sugars.
  5. Experiment with different types of beans, some people tend to react to different varieties.
  6. While there is no research to prove this works, some people swear that adding herbs and spices while cooking can help. Try a tablespoon of fennel, cumin, ginger, a Mexican spice called epazote or an Indian spice ajwain to a pot of beans.  Even if it doesn’t help with the gas problem, the bonus is….. you’ve tried a new flavor!
  7. Start the digestion in your mouth by chewing a lot. Slow down your eating and chew. This can help breakdown the carbohydrates.
  8. Drink plenty of water. This helps your digestive system handle the increased fiber. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest 25-38 grams of fiber per day for most adults. And research indicates that a high-fiber diet helps you have a healthier digestive tract, physical health, and even mental health.

One more bean tip:  many grandmothers used to put baking soda in their bean water while cooking—some saying this helps to reduce gas. While baking soda does help make the beans tender, especially if you have hard water, this comes with a cost. Adding baking soda causes the beans to lose some vitamins.

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

 

Heart Healthy Cooking Demos Made Easy

The recently released 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease recommends a healthy plant-based or Mediterranean-like diet high in vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, lean vegetable or animal protein (preferably fish), and vegetable fiber. Sound familiar?

No matter how much people know about heart-healthy eating, the hard part is putting it into practice. Show them how to remake their favorite dishes with a heart-healthy cooking demo.

Why cooking demos? Because we think there’s no better way to get the message across than with food. Show people how to cook, let them taste healthy food, and they’re more likely to try it at home.

Cooking demos are great for:

  • Employee lunch-and-learns
  • Community classes
  • Parent nights at school
  • Health fairs
  • Home school groups
  • Women’s shelters
  • Food pantries
  • Afterschool programs
  • Drug/alcohol rehab
  • Church groups
  • Senior centers

Cooking in front of a crowd may sound daunting, but our Cooking Demo Book and CD Kit will make you look like a Food Network Star. The 300+ page book contains more than 30 lessons plus PowerPoint shows on Recipe Modification and Menu Planning & Shopping Tips.

Each lesson includes:

  • Leader guide
  • Recipes (tested and simple, with easy-to-find, affordable ingredients)
  • Make-ahead & presentation tips
  • Shopping & equipment lists
  • Handouts

For heart-healthy eating, we suggest the lessons on:

  • High fiber
  • Fish
  • Fruits & veggies
  • Hypertension
  • Vegetarian cooking
  • Beans
  • Grains
  • Recipe modification
  • Heart healthy recipes
  • Meet MyPlate

For makeovers, it is always great to show these switches, featured in all of our cooking demo kits:

  • Whole milk to skim milk
  • Butter to olive oil
  • A little grated Parmesan cheese instead of a lot of grated regular cheese like mozzarella or cheddar
  • Adding more veggies for most recipes
  • Lean ground beef or turkey instead of regular ground beef
  • Using more beans instead of meat

You’ll also want to check out our MyPlate Cooking Demo Book & CD, Home Run Cooking Book and Demo Program, and Cooking Demo Toolkit.

Get 15% off all heart health education materials now through the end of March 2019!

What’s Your Word for 2020?

Instead of New Year’s resolutions, choose a word for 2020. This word or phrase becomes your theme for the year. It guides you through making decisions, facing challenges, and just living your day to day life. (For a good overview of the word of the year concept, check out OneWord365.com.)

Why not have your clients or students come up with their own health and wellness word for the year? Help them decide what they want to focus on, then come up with a word or phrase that will remind them of this intention. Here are some ideas:

  • Ten: One of the best words – or numbers – for people trying to lose weight is ten, because a 10% weight loss brings big health benefits. If losing 10 percent is overwhelming, choose ‘five’ as your word. Resources:
  • Cook: Home-cooked meals are usually healthier than restaurant meals, but lots of people are in the drive-thru or delivery habit. Another phrase for this could be ‘eat at home.’ Resources:
  • Plants: A plant-based diet is one of our hot topics for 2020, and for good reason. Keep your clients focused on choosing more fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. Resources:
  • Water: Choosing water as the word for the year can help your clients kick the soda habit. It can also help their wallets! Resources:
  • Whole: This word encompasses a lot when it comes to nutrition. It can remind clients to eat more whole grains, whole fruits (instead of juice), and whole, non-processed foods. Resources:

Your word for the year won’t work if you don’t think about it every day. So have your clients put it everywhere!

  • Use sticky notes to post the word throughout your house, office, and car.
  • Cut out the word from magazines and make a collage.
  • Use your word as a screen saver.
  • Set it up so that your word comes to you in an email or reminder once a day.
  • Put index cards with your word on them in your purse, wallet, desk drawer — anywhere you’ll see it frequently.

What’s YOUR word for 2020? Let us know!

 

 

 

Not quite spirals

Eat more vegetables.  I know I’m preaching to the choir here.

But even for real vegetable lovers,  eating the same vegetables over and over can get monotonous. Fortunately there are tools on the market that can help put fun vegetables on your plate.

One of these tools is the spiralizer.  Spriralized (is that a word?) vegetables are the “in” thing. The theory is that these noodle-like vegetables can be add variety meal and can replace higher-calorie pasta in recipes.

Listening to the ads on television and watching some YouTube videos on spiralizing they make it seem easy-to-do.  I’ve tried a couple different types of models–including hand-held, hand-crank and electric.  I have to admit that I’ve had limited success making my own spiralized vegetables.   I think some of this depends upon the type of spiralizer. Prices range from as low as $12 and as high as $300 for restaurant quality.

In my opinion, it’s difficult to get good results with the hand-held (hear: less expensive) spiralizers.  There is also  more of a chance of cutting yourself (note from personal experience).  I got fairly good zucchini and yellow squash noodles.  Admittedly, my carrots looked more like shreds.

There are some table-top spiralizers and others that attach to counter-top mixers.  These seem to have better results with heavier vegetables such as sweet potatoes, winter squash, jicama, carrots and rutabagas. Some have different sized and style blades so you can get strips, ribbons, spaghetti, fettuccini along with noodles.

The shape and density of the vegetable has a lot to do with successful spiralizing. The longer and more uniform the shape of the vegetable the better results. Because of their shape, not all vegetables turn into great noodles.  Bell peppers, onions and cabbage can be cut with a spiralizer, but you might end up with slices and shreds, just due to the layers naturally in the vegetable. Cucumbers are usually not as firm as other veggies and need a little more skill–but with the electric sprializer I got beautiful cucumber ribbons.

If you don’t own a spiralizer (or your skills are similar to mine) look for already made veggie noodles in the fresh produce section or the frozen vegetable aisle of your grocery store. Veggie noodles are becoming more popular and easier to find. I found beets, butternut squash and zucchini “noodles” cleaned, cut and ready-to-go….easy peasy.

If you try spiralizing, I hope you have better success than I did.  But no worries—this is one of those times that you can eat your mistakes.  All vegetables count! 

Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS

Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University

Reader questions onion safety

Question from a reader:  “What information do you have about the idea that onions pose a risk if left in the refrigerator after cutting?  It is something most of us have always done and now there is information floating out there in the internet world that this is not a safe practice.  Thanks for any insight!”

Don’t you just love the internet?  All of these “tales” can cause us to worry about everything!  According to Snopes, this one has been going around since 2008 and there isn’t any scientific proof to support this statement.

Nothing mysterious happens to onions once they are in the refrigerator. Like all fruits and vegetables, once cut, onions should be kept in the refrigerator (National Center for Home Food Preservation and National Onion Association).  I’ll refer you to another article I wrote about Keeping Fruits and Vegetables Safe.

Once a fruit or vegetable has been cut, the barrier to the outside world has been broken and the plant’s natural defenses have been compromised. This opens the food up to the environment. Plus, the moisture and natural sugars in fruits and vegetables help create a great place for bacteria to grow. Refrigerator temperatures, on the other hand, can help slow this development of bacteria. The biggest problem with onions in the refrigerator is the odor.  Be sure to wrap well or keep in a sealed container.

But don’t store your uncut onions in the refrigerator. Whole unpeeled onions should be kept in a cool, dry, well ventilated place. Don’t store them in a plastic bag. Sweet onions tend to have higher water content and are more susceptible to bruising and will have a shorter shelf life than yellow onions. Once peeled or cut, onions should be stored (well wrapped or covered) in the refrigerator at 41 degrees or below.  A peeled or cut onion will be of good quality for 7 in the refrigerator.

If you have a few too many chopped onions they can be frozen. I have frozen leftover chopped  onions (without blanching) for a short time, they are not crisp when thawed, but work great for cooking. Be sure to wrap well.  Use within 3-6 months for best quality. For longer freezer storage, The National Center for Home Food Preservation (nchfp.uga.edu) recommends they be blanched and cooled before freezing.

One final tip: according to the National Onion Association (www.onion-usa.org) it’s the sulfuric compounds  in the onions that cause us to cry when cutting onions. To help reduce this,they recommend chilling the onion before cutting and cutting into the root end of the onion last.

Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS

Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University