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Tag: Holidays

Clover Power Smoothie

Posted on by djbechard

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a festive, tasty, and kid-friendly green smoothie.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup 100% apple juice*

½ cup fresh baby spinach**

2 cups frozen pineapple chunks, no sugar added

1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt***

1 banana

Directions:

  1. Add apple juice and spinach leaves to blender. Blend first to help make it smooth and avoid leafy chunks.
  2. Place the remaining ingredients in the blender.
  3. Blend until smooth and serve.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving (1 cup): 135 calories, 1g Total Fat, 0g Saturated Fat, 35mg Sodium, 31g Total Carbohydrates, 24 g Sugars, 2g Dietary Fiber, 2g Protein

* You can substitute low-fat or nonfat milk or 100% white grape juice for 100% apple juice. Adding milk instead of 100% fruit juice will lower the calories and sugar while adding extra calcium to help strengthen bones.

** You can use kale instead of spinach. Kale does have a stronger flavor than spinach. I like using spinach since it has little to no flavor.

***To make the smoothie even healthier, use nonfat vanilla yogurt or nonfat Greek yogurt instead of low-fat vanilla yogurt.

By: Jamie Rathbun

Valetine’s Day = Family/Friends + Love/Celebration

Posted on by djbechard

Valentine’s Day is around the corner. The stores have already stocked the shelves with Valentine’s candy, cards, decorations, and flowers. This is a good time to think of ways to share love and care for family and friends. Consider ways your family can celebrate together. Some fun ways to show you care include:

  • Make note cards or use post-it-notes to leave messages on mirrors, in lunches, or other special places.
  • For those with a sweet tooth, make a candy bar wrapper with a special thought or message. Consider using the miniature bars to keep the empty calories to a minimum.
  • Plan a special time with each family member or special friend during the week of Valentine’s Day. It may be doing a special activity – baking, crafts, sports, going for ice cream or another treat, or whatever that person likes to do.
  • Make special treats such as Rice Krispie Bars in the shape of kisses, wrap them in foil, and add a special message.
  • Make special foods on Valentine’s Day or when you celebrate. Foods in the shape of hearts – pancakes, cookies, cakes, sandwiches, pizza, Jello jigglers, etc. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to make the shapes easily.
  • Make Valentines to share with school mates, friends, and family. Handmade items are always special.

By: Jamie Rathbun

Sweet Ideas Without Added Sugar

Posted on by djbechard

It seems like most holidays focus on food, and usually include something sweet like candy, chocolate, or desserts. Don’t get me wrong, I love a yummy piece of chocolate! But if you’re looking to make this Valentine’s Day a little healthier for you and your family, consider starting the day with a fruit-filled smoothie or a parfait. I love smoothies and parfaits because you don’t need to follow a recipe. Choose your family’s favorite fruits and yogurt, place in a blender with a little bit of milk or 100% fruit juice and blend to a desired consistency for a smoothie. For a parfait, layer fruit and yogurt, then top with granola or nuts.

Fruit is a quick, easy, and healthy Valentine’s treat. While looking for ideas for my children, I came across two cute ideas using clementines and apples sauce. The messages read, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Cutie” and “You’re AWESOMEsauce, Valentine.” Be creative and think outside the (candy) box.

Visit with your children about healthier alternatives and let them help you pick them out at the store. Here are some additional non-food Valentine ideas for daycare or school:

  • Friendship bracelets
  • Toy cars
  • Bubbles
  • Sidewalk chalk
  • Balloons
  • Glow sticks
  • Bouncy balls
  • Pencils
  • Erasers

By: Jamie Rathbun

Cooking Ahead for Holiday Meals

Posted on by djbechard

Last-minute hurried food preparations can drain any cook’s holiday spirit. This month Post Rock Extension aims to help you take some of the hassle out of your holidays, while keeping food quality and food safety a top priority.

All perishable foods

Avoid leaving perishable foods at room temperature for more than two hours. This includes the total time for preparation AND serving. Perishable foods include: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cooked dry beans, dairy products, and cut fruits and vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables

  • Assemble vegetable casseroles a day in advance, cover and refrigerate. Bake on the day of your dinner, planning 15 to 20 minutes extra heating time. Heat until they are hot and steaming throughout.
  • Cut washed fruits and vegetables within a day of your meal for salads and relish trays. Keep cut fruits from turning brown by coating them with lemon, orange, or pineapple juice, or a commercial anti-darkening preparation. Cover and store in the refrigerator above raw meats and below cooked items.

Protein foods

  • Purchase fresh raw meat, poultry, or seafood no more than 1 to 2 days before your holiday meal. Freeze for longer storage.
  • If you have frozen meat, poultry, or seafood, place it on a tray on the lowest shelf in the refrigerator and allow approximately 24 hours for each 5 pounds of weight for it to thaw.
  • If you cook meat, poultry, or seafood the day before your meal, refrigerate it in small portions in shallow pans within 2 hours of cooking. You can place loosely covered foods in the refrigerator while they are still warm. Cover them tightly when completely cooled. On the day of your meal, reheat them until hot and steaming, to 165°F as measured with a food thermometer.

Baked goods

  • Almost all types of cookies, cakes, breads, and muffins can be baked in advance and frozen for up to 2 months. Avoid freezing cakes with whipped cream or other soft fillings, since this will result in a soggy cake upon thawing.
  • Cook baked goods completely before storing them in airtight, moisture-proof containers.
  • Thaw cheesecake in the refrigerator, covered, where it will remain fresh for seven to ten days. Thaw non-perishable baked goods at room temperature in their freezer container to prevent them from drying out.

Adapted from: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension

By: Jamie Rathbun

Happy and Safe Holidays

Posted on by djbechard

Ghosts and goblins aren’t the only thing that can be scary now that Halloween has kicked off the fall holiday season. From fire hazards to online scams, following these tips can help you stay safe during the eventful time of year between Halloween and New Year’s Day.

  • Rather than a traditional candle, consider lighting up your décor with a small, battery operated flameless one. If you do choose to use traditional candles, remember to blow it out before going to bed or leaving home.
  • Use only non-flammable indoor decorations.
  • Whether you’re making Thanksgiving turkey or holiday cookies, practice cooking safely to avoid fires at home. Stay alert in the kitchen and turn off the stove when you leave the kitchen.
  • Water your Christmas tree regularly. Dry branches are a fire hazard. Turn off the tree’s lights overnight or when you are not at home.
  • Place your menorah on a sturdy, non-flammable surface out of the reach of small children and pets. Never leave lit candles unattended.
  • When you shop online for holiday gifts, be cautious and avoid scams by shopping with trusted retailers. Be on the look out for emails that seem too good to be true. Don’t click on suspicious links!
  • Learn the weather and climate risks for the area to which you are traveling.
  • Be sure to consider how COVID-19 may affect your holiday plans.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

By: Jamie Rathbun

Enjoy Simple Holidays

Posted on by mjsaxton@ksu.edu

Retailers want us to be thinking about the holidays. They’re starting to stock holiday merchandise, so it’s a really good time to plan ahead and think how you would like to celebrate this year.

Saving money year-round to prepare for the end-of-year festivities is ideal, but whether that has been done this year or not, it’s not too late.

What you could do is decrease your other spending right now and substitute your holiday spending for that. Try to do this by keeping within the total monthly spending that you have been doing.

Then make a plan.  It’s okay to start by thinking or dreaming big, then, get real.

Take a look at the things you might like to do and then really take a good, hard look at what your resources are. How much money do you want to spend, and how much can you really afford to spend? How much can your budget handle?

Things can be more enjoyable if we keep them simple and focus on the real point of the holidays. Ask yourself: Why are we doing it? What brings us the most pleasure? Those things don’t always cost money.

 

By: Brenda Langdon

Donating Safe and Nutritious Food

Posted on by Marci Metz

Donations of safe and healthy food help provide nourishment to hungry families and also reduce food waste.  When organizing or contributing to a non-perishable food drive keep these tips in mind to enhance the health of your local community.

  • Contact the food bank or pantry that you will donate to. They will know what their clients enjoy and what is needed at the time. Keep in mind that cash donations are also greatly appreciated and allow for discounted bulk purchases.
  • Donate nutritious non-perishable food that fits into the MyPlate model. Healthy canned fruit and vegetable options include fruit packed in 100% juice and vegetables canned with no-salt added. Lean protein options include canned or dried beans, canned tuna or salmon, canned chicken, nuts and nut butters. Choose whole-grains when donating pasta, crackers, oats, rice (brown) and granola bars. Non-perishable dairy items include nonfat dry milk, evaporated milk, and shelf-stable (UHT) milk.  If you are wondering if your local food bank or food pantry accepts fresh produce, first contact them to confirm this before donating.
  • Don’t donate repackaged, expired or damaged food. Don’t donate food that is past its “best by, “use by” or “sell by” dates. Only donate food that is in its original packages with the label intact.
  • Don’t donate home-canned foods. Because of the risk of botulism in improperly canned foods and the large variation in the level of safety of the methods used by home canners, food banks and food pantries should not accept home-canned items.

If you are organizing a food drive, it’s important to encourage people to donate safe and healthy foods and also specific foods that are needed, which will decrease food waste.  Potential donors should be provided with a list of suggested nutritious and safe items that suit these needs. A printable list of nutritious and safe foods can be found here: http://hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/legacy/mp/files/tool_and_resources/files/healthy-food-donation-list.pdf

By: Ashley Svaty