Nutrition Know How

We all have a love affair with finger foods. The words “hors d’oeuvre” and “appetizer” are at most times interchangeable. The main difference is that hors d’oeuvres are served outside the meal and are typically finger foods, whereas appetizers can also be the first course of a meal. Call them anything you like–both hors d’oeuvres and appetizers are eaten with drinks before the main meal. Served at a party, they can be a meal themselves.

Here are a few different types of appetizers and several different ways they can be served:

No matter what you are serving the question of party food quantities to prepare for your guests is as old as hosting itself. Party food planning can be a little tricky. As you will see, there are several different ways to look at it, but the bare bones answer is:

1 Pound of Food per Person for Snack    and    1 1/2 Pounds of Food per Person for a Meal

Those are average figures to toggle between a dabbler and a linebacker. Lets break them down into averages for particular kinds of parties and party foods.

Appetizers:On average, your guests will consume 5 hors d’oeuvres per person per hour for the first 2 hours and 3 per person per hour for each additional hour. So for a 3-hour long party of 10 people, you will need to prepare about 130 appetizers, a little less if the party is to be followed by a meal.

Dips: Add the total weight of the main ingredients and use the 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per person rule.

Here is another way of figuring party tray quantities needed:

Festive times for sharing should not include sharing food borne illness. Here are some tips to help you serve a safe party:

• Always wash your hands before and after handling food. Keep your kitchen, dishes and utensils clean also. Always serve food on clean plates–not those previously holding raw meat and poultry. Otherwise, bacteria which may have been present in raw meat juices can cross contaminate the food to be served.
• Divide cooked foods into shallow containers to store in the refrigerator or freezer until serving. This encourages rapid, even cooling. Reheat hot foods to 165°F. Arrange and serve food on several small platters rather than on one large platter. Keep the rest of the food hot in the oven (set at 200-250°F) or cold in the refrigerator until serving time. This way foods will be held at safe temperatures for a longer period of time. REPLACE empty platters rather than adding fresh food to a dish that already had food in it.
• Foods should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours. Keep track of how long foods have been sitting on the buffet table and discard anything there two hours of more.
• Hot foods should be held at 140°F or warmer. On the buffet table you can keep hot foods hot with chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays. Cold foods should be held at 40°F or colder. Keep foods cold by nesting then in bowls of ice.

No matter which your preference “hors d’oeuvres” or “appetizers” indulge in your love of finger foods.

From Halloween to the Super Bowl—family and friends gather, and there is usually food and sometimes gifts involved.  This can be hard on your waistline and your checking account!  Statistics speculate that the average household spends over $1600 during the holidays.  This year finds many families struggling financially, and adding the holidays to their load shouldn’t put them over the top.  With a few simple tips, you can enjoy your holiday traditions, and keep yourself out of debt in January!

First, look at your family traditions.  What is really important to you?  Do you have to have extravagant meals and give everyone you come in contact with a gift?  You may want to share a meal with the family and have everyone bring their favorite dishes.  Also, drawing names for family gifts will decrease the number of gifts you may need to purchase.  Shop with cash, and leave your credit card at home so you are not tempted to spend more than your budget.

I find that shopping sales and purchasing things ahead of time helps save a LOT of money.  I start shopping for next year’s Halloween party things this year.  When things are discounted at 90%, they are really inexpensive—and I already know that someone will need plates, napkins and goody bags.   I store them with the Halloween decorations so I don’t lose them—and have saved a bundle!  This works with Christmas gifts too!  If someone you know really wants gardening equipment, looks for the sales in the early fall.  It’s all about timing.

Shopping for food ahead of time may not be the best thing to do—but watching the sales is!  Turkey is always really inexpensive right before Thanksgiving.  The prices per pound is the cheapest—so purchase more than one and freeze it for later in the year.  There are always sales on staples needed for big meals (stuffing, potatoes, etc…) and for baking.  Stock up early.  I start purchasing a few baking supplies every week starting in October.  This spreads out the cost, and then I can also start baking for the holidays and freezing my goodies, so I am not rushed closer to Christmas.

Finally—you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a great time.  Looking at Christmas lights with the family, than returning to have hot cocoa is very enjoyable—and cheap.  Think outside of the box to do things that you may not have done before—you may find a new tradition!  Happy holidays!

You’ll feel like super mom when you offer these foods to your toddler. Below are some of my son’s favorite “super” foods. These foods are packed with nutrients and are foods that most toddlers will eat.

Milk. Yes, our little guys and gals still need to be drinking milk. It is no longer their primary source of nutrition like it was during their first year of life but it is still very important. Although, don’t over do milk. If they are filling up on milk they won’t be hungry enough to eat a variety of other foods, thus not getting all of the nutrients they need. It is recommended that toddlers 2-3 years old get 2 cups from the milk group daily. After the age of 2 it is recommended to switch from whole milk to low-fat milk (1% or skim).  Yogurt and cheese is also in the milk group and can be counted toward the recommended 2 cups.

Yogurt. To lessen the mess try buying yogurt in a tube (go-gurt). You can also freeze these and serve them as frozen yogurt.

Broccoli. Broccoli is a super food packed with nutrients that will make your toddler’s bones stronger and smile brighter. If your child doesn’t like broccoli try having them dip it in Ranch dressing or cheese. My son likes broccoli better cooked than raw.

Beans. Beans rank right up there with broccoli as a super food. Beans are a great source of protein and many other valuable nutrients. Make up a fun song about beans when you serve beans to your child. They are also more likely to eat them if they see you eating them.

Water. As mentioned before when children fill up on drinks such as milk and juice they are not as likely to eat at meal time. Thus their bodies are not getting the variety of nutrients it needs. 60% of our body is made up of water. Drinking water is essential to good health. Offer water between meals and snacks. It is also okay to serve water with meals.

Oatmeal. My son starting eating oatmeal with my husband and continues to insist on oatmeal almost every morning.  My husband used to be a donut kind of breakfast eater but this new breakfast bonding experience with our son has even changed his ways. So score to my husband because oatmeal is great source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Fruit Juice, Maybe Not. Fruit juice is not required to grow a healthy toddler. Whole fruit is a much better choice than fruit juice. If you and your toddler can’t live without fruit juice make sure it is 100% fruit juice and limit juice to 6 ounces per day. Or try diluting juice with water. Fruit juice is a concentrated source of calories and sugar. It can lead to child overweight issues and tooth decay.

Create Your Own Trail Mix. Make your own trail mix by combining a cereal, dried fruit, pretzels, small crackers, and peanuts/soy nuts (if appropriate for your child). When planning snacks try to include 2-3 different food groups. This will help your toddler stay full longer and work toward getting the wide variety of food their bodies need.

Finally, I am very excited to share the newly released MyPyramid for Preschoolers, children 2-5 years of age.  Go to this web site to get a customized MyPyramid plan for your preschooler:  http://www.mypyramid.gov/preschoolers/

What foods do you serve your toddler that make you feel like a super mom?  Share your advice below.

Have you seen the commercial where a fast food chain challenges you to make a fried chicken meal for less than $9.99? It shows a mom with her two kids racing around a grocery store adding up all the ingredients needed to make the meal. In the end, the mom announces they’re going out because it’s cheaper than making the meal herself.

I had my doubts.

And as friends know, I’m always up for a mathematical challenge. So I did my own research to see if I could cook the meal for less than $9.99.

The first thing I did was call our local fast food joint to see exactly what was in the meal. Turns out the meal includes: 7 pieces of fried chicken (specifically 1 breast, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs and 2 wings); 1 large (32 oz.) side dish (which was mashed potatoes and gravy in the commercial); and 4 biscuits.

Next, I found my favorite oven fried chicken recipe – so good and so much healthier. Then I went online to find a good biscuit recipe and gravy recipe. I make mashed potatoes a lot so didn’t need a recipe. I put every single ingredient necessary on my grocery list, even if I already had it, and went off to my local grocery store.

I set a few rules for myself. I only went to one store and bought everything there. Normally, I go to two stores as they tend to have different items on sale. I also bought all the ingredients. Normally, I’ll pick things up when they’re on sale. For example, I never buy chicken legs at full price. I always watch when they come on sale and then buy several packages and freeze them. Same goes for pantry staples like whole wheat flour, spices and chicken stock. But for this challenge, I went ahead and (gasp!) paid regular price for these items - all for the sake of this experiment.

Then I came home and started cooking…and calculating.

So, how’d I do? Let’s just say with my meal you can swap those little chicken wings (is there even any meat on there?) for a drumstick and thigh and enjoy a side of green beans to make your plate look prettier (and healthier).

Here’s the breakdown:
Cost to make 7 pieces of my delicious oven fried chicken: $4.57
Cost to make 4 whole grain biscuits made with real butter: $0.58
Cost to make mashed potatoes: $2.16
Cost to make homemade gravy: $0.93
TOTAL COST: $8.24

Adding the steamed green beans and swapping out the wings for the drumstick and thigh brought the total up to $9.86, still under budget.

And this is without shopping sales. I’m confident I could make this meal for at least a dollar less using my regular cost-saving techniques. Beyond cost, my dinner tasted fantastic - just ask my husband - and was A LOT healthier.                                              

So next time you hear someone say it costs more to make a meal at home versus going out, let me know. I’m always up for a tasty challenge.

Recipe for Amazing Oven Fried Chicken

Breading Ingredients
1 cup cornflakes, crushed
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Additional Ingredients
8 pieces of chicken, skin removed
1/2 cup skim milk

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farhenheit.  Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan and set aside.
2.  Combine and shake all the breading ingredients in a plastic zip bag.
3.  Pour milk into small bowl.  Dip each piece of chicken in milk.  Shake to remove excess milk.  Put into bag with breading.  Shake until well coated with breading.
4.  Place chicken in prepared pan.
5.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake 40 minutes or until the chicken reaches a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Farhenheit.
6.  Throw away any left over breading.

Source: The Cook’s Helper, 2nd Edition

Fluffy Whole Wheat Biscuits
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fluffy-Whole-Wheat-Biscuits/Detail.aspx

Savory Turkey Gravy
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Savory-Turkey-Gravy-2/Detail.aspx
(I made using chicken stock.)