Whats In Your Pantry?
Do you often feel there’s nothing in the pantry you can use to make a nutritious meal for your family? You might be surprised how easy it is to make a simple but healthy meal from just a few pantry items. Watch our latest video below
Enjoy!
Emily
The cheapest way to improve your health, drink water!
Lucky for us, in America water is free just about anywhere you go. Drinking water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages will not only help your wallet but could help to improve your health.
Although there are currently no set requirements for water consumption, the Food and Nutrition Board recommends that the average women consume 91 ounces daily (about 11 cups) and men consume 125 ounces daily (about 15 cups). (Certain groups may require higher intake levels, check with your doctor for more information).
This may seem unattainable to some but don’t worry, typically 20% of this amount is consumed within the foods you eat. With this in mind, women should aim to drink 8 cups of water-based beverages daily and men, 12 cups. If this still seems like a daunting task, below are some tips to include healthy drinks into your daily routine.
- Reusable water bottles can be a good way to encourage water consumption.
Tip: Look for a 16-ounce water bottle and every refill counts as 2 cups! - Infuse your water with your favorite fruits and herbs. See the recipe below to get you started.
Tip: Freeze fruits when they are in season, and usually a great deal. Once you need them they can serve to flavor your water and help keep it cold! - Soda-lover? Try switching to seltzer water or club soda. Look in your grocery store for calorie-free, carbonated drinks, available in a variety of flavors.
Tip: Most restaurants have club soda available on draft, just ask! - Attention caffeine-lovers: coffee and tea count towards your daily intake as well! Take it easy on the cream and sugar and these drinks can be a healthy way to reach your recommendations.
Tip: As a Northern originally, I am allowed to say that tea does not always have to be sweet…sorry! Try different flavors and make it hot or iced. My new favorite is honey vanilla chamomile!
Strawberry Mint Water:
-1/2 Cup frozen strawberries
-1/4 Cup fresh mint
-8 ounces water
-Combine all ingredients in a cup or water bottle.
Enjoy!!
Megan
Megan is the Adult EFNEP Program Assistant in Orange County Cooperative Extension.
Source: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/ten-tips-make-better-beverage-choices
Are canned fruits and vegetables healthy?
My husband, who grew up in rural North Carolina spent many of his summers with his grandfather. He saw acres of farmland with fresh vegetables including cabbages, collards, green beans, okra, field peas, squash, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupes, Muscadine grapes, peaches, etc. He and his grandfather would get up early in the mornings to gather the crops. Some would be used for daily meals while others were canned and frozen by his grandmother, sold at the farmer’s market, and given to needy families. They would do this every day until it was time to replant for the next season.
While many of us don’t have access to a large family garden for fresh fruits and vegetables, there are still many available healthy canned options.
Researchers at Michigan State University found that canned fruits and vegetables are just as nutritious as frozen or fresh. For canned tomatoes in particular, canning improves the content of B vitamins, vitamin E and carotenoids compared to fresh. Fiber in beans becomes more soluble through the canning process, and thus more useful to the human body. Additionally, a nationally represented survey of American adults found that adults and children who frequently eat canned foods (6 or more items over 2 weeks) have healthier eating habits compared to those who eat 1-2 canned food items in the same time period.
Eat the fruits and vegetables you prefer whether canned, fresh, frozen or dried. Canned foods simply make healthy eating easy. Canned fruits and veggies are convenient to have in your pantry for times you can’t get to the store; they can even be kept at work (with a can opener) for a quick lunch or an afternoon snack. Since they don’t expire quickly, you won’t waste money when buying canned veggies – which sometimes happens with fresh produce that goes bad. Here are a few tips when buying canned fruit and vegetables:
Watch for sodium:
Sodium is usually added to canned foods to preserve them. Look for low-sodium, reduced-sodium or no-salt-added labeled foods. Compare the sodium content on the Nutrition Facts label and choose the product with the lowest amount. Drain and rinse canned veggies to reduce sodium even more.
Watch for added sugar: Look for fruit that’s canned in water, its own juice, or light syrup (drain and rinse).
Delicious uses:
- Add drained cans of corn, tomatoes and pinto beans or any other vegetable to low-sodium chicken broth for a super-fast and filling vegetable soup.
- Use a blender, food processor or a fork to smash drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, northern beans, or any beans into a bean dip for baby carrots; add a little lemon juice and garlic powder for some zip.
- Serve canned fruit as a dessert topped with low-fat, no sugar-added yogurt; or top whole grain cereal with canned fruit.
You can feel confident that canned fruits and vegetables are nutritious, safe and full of flavor. Fill up your pantry with your favorite canned produce to help you prepare nutritious, quick everyday meals for your family more often while saving time and money.
ENJOY!!
Stephanie
Sources: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyCooking/Fresh-Frozen-or-Canned-Fruits-and-Vegetables-All-Can-Be-Healthy-Choices_UCM_459350_Article.jsp#.Vp0xBVMrJmA
http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/canned-fruits-and-vegetables-are-good-for-you
Spring Clean Your Kitchen!
Spring is just around the corner which means it’s time to start planning my spring cleaning activities. Top on my list this year is the kitchen. It’s important to give the kitchen a good food safety check and cleaning, especially refrigerators and freezers where raw meat, poultry and seafood is stored. There are three basic areas in cleaning a kitchen.
SHELF LIFE
I always start with checking the shelf life of food in both the pantry and the refrigerator.
This is a good time to throw away foods that are losing their quality or have spoiled. For
a detailed listing of the shelf-life of foods, as well as a kitchen safety quiz, download the free app
Make spring the time to begin new food safety habits. Once a week, make it a habit to throw out perishable foods that should no longer be eaten or even better, turn your leftovers into planned-overs and use them before they spoil.
REFRIGERATOR
Next, move to your refrigerator. You should routinely be cleaning your refrigerator, but spring is a perfect time to do a more detailed cleaning.
- Check that the refrigerator temperature is set to below 40°F. Purchase a refrigerator thermometer if you don’t have one.
- Keep the refrigerator clean always; this is a good time to look for unnoticed spills and
remove lingering odors. Wipe up spills and clean surfaces with hot, soapy water and
rinse well. If shelves, produce drawers, and door bins are removable, take them to the
sink and wash them there. Check to see that the door gasket still has a tight fit. - To keep the refrigerator smelling fresh and help eliminate odors, place an opened box of baking soda on a shelf. Avoid using solvent cleaning agents, abrasives and any cleansers
that may impart a chemical taste to food or ice cubes, or cause damage to the interior
finish of your refrigerator. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. - Wipe down the top and outside of the refrigerator. How does all that dust end up on
the top of my refrigerator? Since I’m only 5’2” tall, I can’t see that dirt unless I’m on a
chair reaching for something in the cabinet above the refrigerator.
KITCHEN SURFACES
The last area I clean are all the kitchen surfaces. Remove all items from your countertop and wash with hot soapy water. Sanitize your counter top by spraying the surface with a solution of 1 Tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of water. Let the countertop air-dry. Clean all countertop appliances and decorative items before returning to the countertop.
This is also a good time to get rid of unnecessary items taking up room on your counters. I’m going to go minimal this year! Having a clean and sanitized kitchen will help reduce cross contamination in the kitchen, and minimize the risk of food-borne illnesses.
Now, to empty out all the kitchen cabinets…that’s work for another day! I think I’ll go outside and enjoy the spring sunshine.
Enjoy!
Suzanne
Go Nuts!!
Nuts are my favorite snack to munch on in between meal times. They are bite-size nutritional powerhouses, packed with heart-healthy fats, protein, vitamins, and minerals. When I choose this vitality-boosting snack, I stick to a handful mix of unsalted nuts to get the best valuable vitamins and minerals in my diet. All nuts have different nutrition credentials and will offer various health benefits. Here are our top 5 nuts and with their benefits.